It’s the biggest match of the year.
The players line up for the All-Ireland final, the player parade has just happened and now they’re expected to shake hands.
Nobody minds shaking hands, it’s the sporting thing to do but in GAA the tradition is to go to the man you’re marking and do it.
The ‘Champions League’ handshake is brought in for the All-Ireland final and it all seems a little unnatural, the players aren’t used to this they just want to get on with it.
A video did the rounds of Paddy Andrews supposedly snubbing Cillian O’Connor before the match, it seemed uncharacteristic of Andrews, He’s one the good guys in GAA.
Paddy Andrews ignoring Cillian O'Connor in the pre match handshakes. Bad form. #DublinVMayo #gaabeo #gaa pic.twitter.com/7Tj9rdfYGj
— Ciaran Crawley (@StretchMusic) September 17, 2017
But Andrews clarified the situation, there was no malice involved he just wasn’t paying attention:
“I’ve seen the clip. No, I didn’t mean to do that whatsoever I want to clarify that,” Andrews said.
“I’ve a lot of respect for Cillian O’Connor, I think he’s one of the best players in the country obviously, he’s a phenomenal player for Mayo.
“I didn’t even notice it at the time, genuinely.
“Someone showed it to me that night. No, I didn’t, I absolutely didn’t mean to do that.
“I wouldn’t be a fan of that sort of thing, if anyone has watched me for 10 years it’s not really what I get into so it’s just a mistake and I don’t think Cillian will be bothered about it too much either.
“You don’t pay too much attention to it, as you can see,” Andrews concluded.
Anyone that has met the Dublin forward will know that he’s a genuine man, a focused individual but certainly not one that would intentionally snub an opponent.
The pre-match handshake certainly isn’t a big deal, it’s just a handshake but it’s clear the players don’t have too much time for the tradition,
“I think it’s before the Leinster final and the All-Ireland final…the reason behind it I don’t know, the GAA obviously brought it in. It’s not really important at all, I don’t know the reasoning behind it but that’s it,” Andrews added
The intentions behind it are probably right, showcase players being sporting before the biggest match of the year but the All-Ireland tradition messes up the usual tradition of going up to your man and being sporting with him.
As you can see from Andrews along with Dean Rock after him, they don’t pay a whole lot of attention to Cillian O’Connor not because he’s Cillian O’Connor rather that he’s the last man on the line and they just want to get on with it.
So is it time to just let the players get on with it or leave it be?
