IF there’s a more passionate ambassador for the ancient game of hurling than Neil McManus, no-one has met him yet.
At Monday night’s Ulster Club Hurling Championship launch at The Dub, the Cushendall captain spoke movingly about Saturday’s fundraising game for Gaza at Corrigan Park; how his respect for Slaughtneil’s hurlers is absolute; the desire to see more teams competing in the provincial series and the sense of pride that grows within him every time he wears the Ruairi Og jersey.
If ever a competition is sagging, call McManus.
Not that the Ulster series ever disappoints; it just needs a few more clubs to raise the bar and make it even better, according to the former Antrim ace.
Cushendall, Slaughtneil, Portaferry, Dunloy, Ballycran, Loughgiel and Ballygalget are just some of the game’s finest who have given life to Ulster over the last decade or more.
Anything to do with hurling, McManus gets it. He gets heritage, a sense of time and place. Every chance the 36-year-old gets, he’ll wax lyrical about the greatest game on God’s earth.
Participation-wise, Munster and Leinster are in a good place - and McManus wants Connacht and Ulster to follow.
“Connacht and Ulster – half the country doesn’t have hurling flourishing - and we have this sport that is simply magic.
“We should be sharing it with every child, it should be part of everyday life here, it’s poetry in motion, it’s unrivalled and is the envy of every country because people come from all over the world to see our scenery and the people on this island, and then they see hurling and they’re absolutely blown away.
“We need to do much better for the people of Ireland with this game because we are spoilt with it.”
McManus is greatly encouraged by the energy of GAA President Jarlath Burns has added to building and expanding the small-ball game.
And, clearly, RTE chose well by screening Saturday’s Ulster semi-final between Cushendall and Slaughtneil at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds, with Gerard McGrattan’s Portaferry side awaiting the winners.
“We want – we need – more clubs up at that standard,” McManus said.
“Ulster hurling is so underappreciated and undervalued because football is so strong and that’s the truth of the matter. And it’s under-invested in too.
“We need to change that. There is work going on in that regard, but it’s really only started under Jarlath Burns’s tutelage and there’s a long way to travel.”
Despite the emerging rivalry between the Ruairi Ogs and Robert Emmets over the last decade, the Derry men have yet to record a victory over them.
Cushendall required a replay in 2014 and extra-time a year later to see off Slaughtneil in three epic contests.
More recently, Brian Delargy’s Cushendall denied them in last season’s provincial decider. Despite their flawless record, McManus couldn’t be more complimentary of Saturday’s opponents.
“You could nearly pick any of our games with Slaughtneil as an absolute epic in the last decade or so. I’d say we’re similar enough: quite athletic, physically strong, brilliant hurlers – and that’s why the games are so good because you know nobody is going for a handy eight or nine-point victory.
“That just doesn’t transpire in games between us. You’ll fight for every line ball, every puck-out and possession won… That’s why people will enjoy the game because there will be a purity to it.
“I think the Ulster Club Championship is brilliant, it throws up some amazing games. Last year’s Portaferry semi-final game was mentioned but I thought the final [against Slaughtneil] was a cracking game too.
“Even some of the games we haven’t been involved in have been great.”
Respect for Slaughtneil’s hurlers travels far beyond Ulster’s borders too.
Under Michael McShane, they went mightily close in the All-Ireland series, notably against Na Piarsaigh (2018) and Ballyhale Shamrocks (2020).
“I was at Richie Hogan’s book launch last week and we were up doing a Q&A and having a bit of craic with Tommy Walsh, Paul Murphy and Richie and the number of people who were milling around afterwards who mentioned Slaughtneil because there was a big Ballyhale contingent there – Henry Shefflin, TJ Reid – and they were talking about Slaughtneil because of the epic game they had with them in Newry.
“I think anybody who has ever played against any of the Ulster teams speaks very highly of the clubs they come up against. I know where the top teams are at in Ulster – they would compete with any other team in the country. We just need more operating at that level.”
While Slaughtneil, under new boss Paul McCormack this season, claimed their 12th successive county championship title, Cushendall were made to fight to the end in reclaiming the Volunteer Cup against north Antrim rivals Dunloy in treacherous conditions at Ballycastle just short of a month ago.
McManus added: “Coming through those games you get momentum, you get learnings and experiences that you can’t get anywhere else and it really helps your preparation the next day because it only gets harder.
“And you have to use that performance that you’ve just given to try and get up another couple of percent, fix another few things. That’s how it works.
“I think our club going back a long, long time have always prided themselves on hard work and toughness - something our community stands for. Very rural, coastal, [with] climactic weather. I would be very proud of the people that went before us because they saw tougher times than we have.
“We’re just trying our best to add to that very, very strong heritage.”