A few years ago, the GAA decided to move the running of the National Hurling League to a calendar year basis, beginning in February and finishing in May. This was done partly to avoid the widespread disruption to county teams arising from the running of the provincial club championships in October/November. It was also a response to the view put about by elements in the 'meeja' that hurling is not a winter game and is best played in the spring, summer and autumn. Apart from the fact that conditions in February and March are not much different from October and November, there is also no doubt that winter hurling regularly throws up marvellous contests. The fact that it requires a different approach and gives defenders more of an advantage than the summer version is lost on many so-called "meeja" experts who think that the only good hurling game is a high-scoring game.

The removal of the National Hurling League from the late-year calendar created an obvious vacuum for county mentors who normally start putting together their panels for the following year around October, and for whom the League provided a useful testing ground for trying out new players. The Waterford County Board, therefore, showed commendable initiative in getting their neighbouring counties to agree to participate in a new league-type competition. They even got Waterford Crystal to sponsor the tournament and present a magnificent trophy for the winners (although one of these days someone will surely drop the trophy during the presentation ceremony and give the Walsh Park groundsman a nightmare task picking up the pieces and trying to glue them together again!).

The new Southeast League (as it is still rather inaccurately called - the Waterford Crystal League being the proper title) offered particular advantages as far as Waterford were concerned. Because of their slim playing resources, the Déise traditionally struggled to retain their place in the National Hurling League's First Division. This put them under pressure to play their strongest team throughout the competition, thus limiting the opportunity to blood new players. Even when they were going well in the competition and in no fear of relegation, they were still inclined to continue putting out their best team in the hope of winning the competition (which they haven't done for almost forty years).

Waterford therefore saw the Southeast League as a tournament which could provide meaningfully competitive matches and thus a reasonable test of the mettle of new players, without placing these players under undue pressure. Other counties quickly saw the value of the competition, which subsequently was expanded to embrace eight counties operating in two sections.

However, the attitude of the GAA authorities to the competition has not been one of whole-hearted support. It may be that the control freaks in Croke Park frowned on a competition which did not originate with themselves. They also seem to have been concerned with the League's possible impact on the Oireachtas Cup, a once-great tournament which has long been on a life support machine.

Thus, this year GAA headquarters decreed that the Southeast League should revert to a four-county competition, and that Kilkenny would only be allowed take part if they also undertook to play in the Oireachtas Cup. To give them their due, the Waterford County Board protested and sent a delegation to Croke Park to make their case. As a result, the eight-county format was restored, with Clare entering for the first time, thus giving the geographical term 'South East' a very broad definition. Still, the GAA's grasp of the niceties of geographical terminology has never been strong, since they organise Europe and large swathes of North America as 'county' boards... a kind of inverted Gaelic imperialism!

The first series of games this year produced reasonably interesting fare. Clare showed there is still a lot of pride in the Banner by making a late surge to claw back a big Tipperary lead, while Eamon Cregan will have welcomed the opportunity presented to his youthful charges to get one over on the men from Cork. Beating the Leesiders in any kind of game remains a big confidence-booster for teams on the second or lower rungs of the inter-county hurling ladder: Waterford's closely-fought victory over them in the final of the 1997 Southeast League played an important role in setting the Déise up for the near-heroics of 1998. When managerless Dublin withdrew, Laois took their place, but they hardly seemed prepared for it, with their second-string outfit being blown away by their Kilkenny counterparts in the first round.

Ironically, after all their efforts to maintain the integrity of their competition, Waterford were put to the pin of their collars to even get a team on the field for their opening game against Wexford. Mount Sion's upcoming Munster semi-final date against the Kerry champions ruled out up to eight of the likely senior county panel. Lismore's qualification for the county intermediate football final eliminated four or five more. Some of the Ballygunner big guns apparently felt they needed a break after their collapse in the county final, although three of them did eventually figure in the match against Wexford. Meanwhile, much of the upcoming young talent in the county is still involved in the unfinished intermediate, junior and under-21 championships in the county.

With a few other individuals unavailable for various reasons, not surprisingly, the Waterford team which appeared on the pitch in New Ross had a distinctly odd look about it. It included not just a couple of unknowns, but no less than four Mount Sion players who are not members of their club's first team! No doubt, the Monastery club welcomed the opportunity to give these players some useful practice, but it still indicates the dire straits in which the Waterford mentors found themselves.

Inevitably, Waterford proved too green against a Wexford team which included at least seven first team members. One cannot read too much into these games, but the Slaneysiders will have been happy with the performances of some of their own newcomers, including the sons of former 'greats' Christy Keogh and Mick Jacob. The Waterford defence fought bravely throughout, but - apart from the first half when débutante John Mullane of De La Salle gave Colm Kehoe a hard time - their forwards had little real punch and inevitably cracks appeared which allowed Wexford in for three second half goals.

The sizeable attendance which turned up for this game on the worst weekend of the year indicates that this is a meaningful competition which deserves a more central role in the GAA calendar. The obvious thing to do is to merge it with the Oireachtas tournament (An Moltóir is sure Waterford Crystal would continue their sponsorship), open it up to all first division hurling counties (who could opt in or out as they wished), and give it a permanent position in October and November.