MORE drama in the club championships as the Ulster senior football final and the All-Ireland camogie final bettered pretty much everything else on display over the weekend, including the major Munster rugby game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

I’m all in favour of Cork GAA hosting this game, and hopefully plenty more besides, but for the most part the Champions Cup clash of Munster and Gloucester highlighted how spoiled we are to have our games available to us so regularly on our doorstep.

There are reports issued regularly by the likes of the GPA about the social and economic benefits the inter-county game brings nationally, particularly when it comes to the big days in Croke Park, but a comparative study should be done for our club games. Take Cork alone, with thousands of games across the year, from young boys and girls to our adult championships in both codes – the benefits are unquantifiable. This is true of sport in general, and continued investment in sport will pay itself back many times over, however I don’t think I’ve ever seen the club game valued as it should be.

I would love to see someone take on the task of quantifying the number of people who get to play, coach or watch our games on a weekly basis throughout the country across the course of a season, because at a time when many high-profile media people continue to bang the drum for the inter-county season to consume the clubs again, those of us who see the value in more games and better structures for club players need to keep our best foot forward.

Maybe there’s a piece of work there for someone, be it a student, a reporter or just someone with the time and the means and a love of our club games. Big inter-county games are fantastic, but nothing beats seeing our pitches across the country active and alive with the sounds of games all through the year, culminating in the waves of excitement we’ve been privileged to witness yet again over recent weeks and months. Long may it continue.

And while we are down the final four in the men’s senior All-Ireland club championship race – with Ballyboden St Enda’s, An Daingean, St Brigid’s and now Scotstown the lucky four still in the hunt – in Cork we are already looking forward to next year’s county championship after the draws were made.

The premier senior draw threw up some interesting groups, even if the people of Clonakilty and Castlehaven will be sick of the sight of each other. Clon, in particular, would have been hoping to avoid their neighbours given their lack of success against them in recent seasons.

The Haven will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing 2025 campaign that saw defeats to both Newcestown and St Finbarr’s resulting in elimination at the quarter-final stage. Having not tasted defeat since the semi-final in 2022 – a run of around 14 games I venture – those two consecutive reverses will have stung around Union Hall and Castletownsend, and they will be out to make amends. This year’s semi-finalists, Ballincollig and senior A champions, Knocknagree, make up what is a very spicy group indeed.

It's a tough draw for the newcomers, and they will have their work cut out to avoid finishing bottom, but it is also an exciting one – they are more than capable of bloodying a few noses here also. We are a long way away, and much can happen in the interim by way of injuries – emigration, retirements and even club transfers – so we will hold off on making any firm predictions for a later column, other than to say there are some very enticing fixtures in this group alone.

This year’s champions and Munster runners up, St Finbarr’s, will renew acquaintances with Carrigaline in Group 1, and also Mallow and Douglas who they have faced in recent seasons also. Mallow remain the only team to lower their colours in the group stages since their inception, but the Barrs will expect to qualify again with the rest vying for the runners up place.

In Group 2, Newcestown will get the chance to atone for their narrow defeat to Nemo Rangers, as well as facing Valley Rovers again after beating them in the group stages this year. St Michael’s are the last team in this group and most will expect that their game against Valleys could decide one of the relegation places, even if new Rovers player-manager Fiachra Lynch will want to aim higher than mere survival again. As already noted, we are a long way away from August of 2026 so we reserve the right to revise our opinion closer to the time, but I get no prizes for suggesting St Finbarr’s, Castlehaven and Nemo Rangers will lead the betting again.

Newcestown and Ballincollig both made semi-finals last year and neither were too far away from their more illustrious opponents, so both will be hoping to kick on again without the fear many teams have of looking over their shoulder. Ballincollig will likely have two good, hard championship encounters with Clonakilty and Knocknagree to navigate to make it as far this time around. Any one of those three teams are capable of a run deep into the championship, but could also end up facing the relegation final if luck is not on their side.

The same is true of Group 2, with little to choose between Carrigaline, Mallow and Douglas. Mallow made a semi-final in 2024 and Carrigaline were within a whisker of making the same stage this year only to lose on penalties to Newcestown. The championship is getting more and more competitive, and hopefully soon someone will make the quantum leap to dethrone the big three and bring fresh impetus to what is an excellent Cork club championship scene overall.

The senior A championship is absolutely wide open with no clear favourite from the pack. This year’s beaten finalists, Cill Na Martra, may just about take the favourites tag, and they find themselves in Group 2 with Newmarket, O’Donovan Rossa and Carbery Rangers. This will mark the first championship meeting between the West Cork neighbours in recent memory. Someone will have to trawl through the archives for any previous meetings. Group 1 has a tasty look about it also, with newly-promoted Aghabullogue joining three sides with aspirations of a long championship run in Kanturk, Beal Athá’n Ghaorthaidh and Dohenys. Bishopstown, Éire Óg, Clyda Rovers and Kilshannig round out the most even of championship grades.

Uibh Laoire will start favourites to make up for last year’s final defeat in the Premier IFC, while the Intermediate A grade again has a more open look. Will Ilen Rovers go one better next year? Or can Bandon bounce straight back up? Gabriel Rangers won’t be too far away either, with Kilmurry and Adrigole among the teams to beat here. Kilmacabea’s reward for their county junior A championship win will be contests with a fancied Canovee, last season’s beaten finalists St Nick’s and their city compatriots Na Piarsaigh. Canovee will take some beating, but the Kilmacs can progress here at the expense of the city duo.

Again, the premier junior championship is a grade where it’s very hard to predict clear winners, and it reflects the levelling of the grades that a proper structure with promotion and relegation has given us. All that, and we haven’t even got to look at the Carbery championships yet. It is a great time for clubs in Cork and I’m looking forward to the end of summer and Autumn next year already. Is there a better value for money sporting competition anywhere in the world? If there is, I’d like to know about it.