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Former Antrim hurler Neil McManus believes that some county boards regard hurling as a "nuisance" and that counties that ignore the game should be penalised in terms of grants from Croke Park. At the elite level, the 2026 hurling championship was widely viewed as an unsatisfying affair, with an unusually high number of lop-sided games in the Munster championship, culminating in a drab All-Ireland final. While there had been humdrum hurling championships in the past, in 2026 an unflattering light was cast by a newly invigorated football championship, where both the playing rules and the competition format had contributed to one of the most exciting seasons in living memory. Some observers have contended that the commentariat are over-reacting to a single underwhelming campaign but McManus feels the sport has deeper structural issues that need addressing. For the ex-Antrim stalwart, the primary issue is an age-old one - the narrowness of the field at the top tier of the game. "I think there are a number of reasons for this year's championship not really sparking to life but it comes back to one main reason - that we are looking to the same teams to produce the big moments on the big days for us," McManus said on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. "Really and truly, when that's the case, we're going to have years like we had this year where we don't have memorable days outside a very competitive Munster final. "We have two real significant problems in hurling. Number one is the participation levels. We have such a low participation level in our national sport here that it's embarrassing. "Second to that, we need to increase that top tier pool. We need to look at the Joe McDonagh counties and ascertain exactly how we can support them finally, logistically and technically to ensure that they climb up and challenge the teams that are competing in the Munster and Leinster championships. "Because if we do not deepen that top tier pool, we are going to see what we saw this year again and again and again." McManus argued that one of the chief drags on hurling's potential is the indifferent attitude of county boards in football-centric regions. He cited the example of the Táin Óg and Cúchulainn League competitions. The former was launched at underage level in 2018, with the aim of providing more competitive games for hurling clubs in the lower tier counties by grouping them together in the one competition which cut across county and provincial boundaries. In 2022, the latter was launched as a senior equivalent. While the GAA had touted the competition as a success, McManus said that many of the scheduled fixtures in these competitions have not been played in recent years. "There was about 800 matches across all those competitions to be played last year. And around 50% of them were played. "The fundamental issue is that some counties do not put any effort into hurling. They view it as a nuisance. "Those figures speak to that. They're not rolling out the Táin Óg and Cuchulainn Leagues as they should. "What we need to do is have Croke Park holding all counties to account. And saying if you do not play the games that are scheduled, without good reason, you will be receiving less of a grant from Croke Park. "We have a head of hurling in place now. We must give that position the teeth and the power that it requires to actually make meaningful change. "The games development officers who are in each county. We know there are not enough of them in some counties. One hurling development officer in a whole county. It's crazy. Hurling will not grow when it's under-staffed. "But those people should be reporting, not to that county board, but to the head of hurling." Speaking as part of the same discussion, five-time All-Star John Mullane argued vigorously that there needed to be more hurling championship games on free-to-air TV, suggesting that the current broadcasting rights deal was not fit for purpose or serving hurling well. And he argued that the current hurling championship format had run its course and that something more in line with the football format should be adopted. The provincial round robin structure, devised by Liam Sheedy's Hurling Development Committee and endorsed by GAA Special Congress following the conclusion of the 2017 championship, has been wildly popular for most of its existence and had proven a staggering financial boon for the Munster Council in particular. However, in the last couple of years, an increasing number of people have argued the format has grown stale and it may also have contributed to a growing gulf between the two provinces. Mullane - whose own Waterford have yet to advance from Munster under the current structure despite reaching an All-Ireland final during 2020 when the format was suspended - suggested an alternative. "We go the football route where we play our Munster and Leinster championship, where it's straight knockout - you can still have your home and away fixtures. "Then you go into two groups of six. Seed the two groups. Have your top three advancing from each six. That way you wouldn't be relegating Kildare. "And in time, you'd be hoping to grow the Liam MacCarthy championship up to 14. You would two groups of seven."