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17th January 2018
10:56am GMT
"We have started the process to see if we can double it up. They are all talking about player welfare, couldn't we double it up and save us the 18th of February? We'd like to play it next Friday..." (Kevin McStay)
Kevin McStay, quoted above, wants the FBD League final to take place next weekend instead of February 18th which was the original fixture for the final. He wants this because Galway and Roscommon have both qualified for the final already and are due to play each other in a meaningless dead rubber game next weekend, before playing each other again in the final in February in the middle of the league.
And the league is so intense this year with only two free weekends available to county teams and, of course, the first break of those two breaks comes on February 18th after three games in three weeks - an ideal time to rest niggling injuries that might need two weeks to recover from... or a better time to play another FBD League game.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/953038083733311492Seven national league group games will be played in nine weeks and Kevin McStay, sensibly, would prefer not to have to play an FBD final on one of the weekends off, especially when there's already a weekend free next week and both finalists are already known.
Galway and Roscommon are in the final but they're being made to play a group game before that. Just make this game the final.
Sounds logical? Of course it does but not to the Connacht council who are refusing the manager's request. A spokesman said:
"We have to protect the integrity of the competition and play the final round as scheduled, with the final going ahead as planned next month."
Showing a complete disregard for players on both teams, he would prefer to protect the integrity of a competition that most counties play their second and third sides in anyway. Last year, Mayo went on holidays during the competition.
But this is the attitude of GAA officials all over the country, the players are often the last for consideration. And, sadly, it's nothing new. Sometimes you get the feeling that they're basically saying who cares about players being flogged by intercounty managers for over nine months? Even when the season could be reduced, even when they could have more time with their clubs away from the all-consuming county scene, no-one seems to even look at a way of helping out.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/950437660451065856After writing last week about what a waste of time these January competitions were initially, I was disappointed to see Westmeath manager Colin Kelly come out in support of them this weekend. The December 31st start for these January cups means training is pushed back into November and December, sometimes October.
But Kelly said:
"There is too much emphasis in the GAA with this craic about down-time. What's wrong with playing every Sunday? I want to play games. It's all about games."
Because of the dysfunctional structure of the GAA season, Colin Kelly is actually right. Westmeath exited the championship on July 8th in 2017. Bringing them back into training in November sounds like they are being flogged but it’s still giving them four months off from intercounty action. I know players would be looking forward to getting back in with the county.
Westmeath have no chance whatsoever of winning the Leinster championship nor the All-Ireland so their season revolves around the irrelevant January competitions and, most importantly, the league.
They have a right good chance of winning the O’Byrne Cup now and getting promoted from Division 3 of the league. That is their season right there, which runs from around November to the end of March. During this period, they will play 11 winnable games in 14 weeks. Fantastic, but at the wrong time of year.
It’s difficult to be critical of counties getting back into training in October or November when you take the championship structure into account. Stronger teams like Dublin and Mayo go on holidays in January and get back into it properly during the league, focusing on the championship because they have a chance of winning things and will be involved until August and September. It’s like they have a completely different season to weaker counties when they all play in the same competitions.
There is a groundswell of support for a shortened intercounty season. It would alleviate fixture congestion and stop players' lives being controlled for most of the year. The current championship structure has a knock-on effect on all the issues facing the modern player:
It's all directly linked to an unnecessarily long intercounty season.
But how will it change? Will we be talking about this again next January?
Unless the CPA can get enough support to threaten a strike we will. Unfortunately, the GPA is a part of the GAA now and is useless for any issues like this because they are slaves to the money handed to them by the GAA and have to toe the line.
A CPA strike would be highly embarrassing for the GAA - the grassroots striking against the association would make them stop in their tracks, for once. It's the nuclear option but what other choice is there? Talking isn’t working.
It might get all parties into a room together - the CPA, GAA, GPA and third level university representation to thrash out a season that suits everyone, not just the intercounty game. Bringing a proposal to congress that has the backing of all parties would have a great chance at congress.
Sounds logical?
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