Dónal Óg Had Predictable Tirade About Pitch Marking Ahead Of Cork v Galway Semi-Final
In typical fashion, Dónal Óg Cusack had a sly dig at the pitch markings ahead of Cork's All-Ireland semi-final against Galway on Saturday.
Cusack's beloved Rebels were in pursuit of a third-straight final appearance, up against Leinster champions Galway at a packed Croke Park.
It's been a hectic few weeks at GAA HQ, with Galway's footballers among those eliminated from last weekend's All-Ireland football quarter-finals.
This was the eighth championship game at Croker since the start of June, but only two of those games have been hurling games.
It was for that reason that Dónal Óg Cusack took issue with the football two-pointer line still being present on the pitch ahead of throw-in.
Dónal Óg unhappy with Croke Park pitch markingsJoe Canning and Dónal Óg Cusack were on punditry duty for Saturday's All-Ireland semi-final, alongside Wexford camogie great Ursula Jacob.
Canning and Cusack were furious pre-match as Cork's Tommy O'Connell was prevented from bringing his hurley onto the pitch, before Cusack launched into a seemingly more tongue-in-cheek tirade.
'What's that line out there, what's that big circle? Is that the piggery zone? What's it doing on a hurling field?'Donal Óg Cusack queries some of the markings on the field ahead of Cork v Galway hurling semi-final📺Watch on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
📻Listen on RTÉ Radio 1 pic.twitter.com/1gv0KqIIdF
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 4, 2026
Cusack pointed to the 40-metre arc which was painted onto the pitch and questioned why it was still present for Saturday's game.
What's that line out there? What's that big circle?
Is that the piggery zone there that Kieran McGeeney was on about? One of the piggery zones.
What's it doing on a hurling field?
"You get a two-pointer if you hit it outside today," Joe Canning quipped in response.
Cusack continued on his tirade.
Is something gone wrong with football, you get two points for kicking the ball over the bar?
But anyway, what's it doing here today? What is it?
Last weekend saw four All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals played at Croke Park, and the arc was evidently not removed ahead of the clash of Cork and Galway.
Cusack does perhaps have a point that it remains unusual to see an essentially redundant pitch marking for such a big game.
However, this is par for the course, with 40-metre arcs visible on the Croke Park pitch for last year's hurling final between Cork and Tipperary.
To remove the paint would appear to be an unnecessary complication, but the presence of football pitch markings for a hurling game is evidently going to remain a bugbear for Cusack and the hurling purists.
It wouldn't be like Dónal Óg Cusack to have a hurling-centric view of the world, though, would it?
Balls
