Kieran Bergin is just like any inter-county player.
The only difference is that he’s retired. He can speak his mind now without fear of being dropped as a result. And now that he has spoken his mind, we need not only to listen, but we need to take head of his point that inter-county players are being let down by the GAA.
That they’re being treated like babies, that they’re not trusted and that unrealistic and completely pointless demands are being placed on them.
He felt imprisoned, he felt controlled by the GAA, and his interview on Wednesday’s GAA Hour sums it all up.
“You really have to watch every single thing you do,” he said to Wooly.
Bergin’s commitment was never found wanting in his Tipperary career from 2013-2017.
This is a man who you’d find on a flight from Ireland to London at 5.00 in the morning for work just so he could make it back for a Tipperary training session in Thurles at 7.00 the same night. And he’d feel guilty about it if he was late.
This was a man who loved the physical graft of training. A man who thrived because of his work-ethic because he wanted to be the best he could be.
Kieran Bergin wasn’t a dosser. He wasn’t a hurler on the ditch. He loved hurling and still does, he loved playing for Tipp but he just feels that the whole persona required of an inter-county player isn’t fair.
He’s not bitter now, he’s just setting it straight on what he went through as a county player for four years without complaining, and most other county players go through without opening their mouths all the time.
He’s just letting us in on some home truths. The home truths of the inter-county player. The GAA’s exploitation and lack of appreciation or gratitude for what they do.
“The real aspect that annoyed me is the lack of appreciation you get for doing it,” said the Killenuale man on Wednesday’s GAA Hour Show.
And as he explains himself more, this man makes it impossible to argue against him. Because he picked and nailed so many faults with the whole set-up of the Gaelic Athletic Association.
This was done with no personal vendetta or motive against Tipperary GAA. That’s obvious because Bergin departed of his own accord this year. He’s saying it to give the powerless GAA player a voice.
The thing about all this is, every single inter-county player will be set up differently. While Bergin had to travel long distances from work to training, some home based players only had a five minute drive.
That’s why you can’t say all other inter-county players feel this way.
1. Gym
“You couldn’t do your gym work on your own which to me was a massive trust issue. Everything had to be a group gym. I had to drive into Thurles every night of the week. A lot of the time, it suited me to do my gym work early in the morning before work,” he said in the interview with Colm Parkinson.
“When you constantly have to be somewhere, it’s so mentally draining.”
It would have suited him as a working man to get it out of the way before work. Instead he had to put himself out and rush home after work to meet his team.
https://twitter.com/Woolberto/status/950742252590190597
2. Drinking/Trust
“Maybe if you’ve a family wedding or a family do. Having to be told that you can’t go drinking because you’ve a game in 3/4 weeks. When you’re that far out, three or four drinks won’t hurt anyone.
“This is why there’s such a binge drinking culture in the GAA. You’re on hold for weeks and weeks, and then when you get the chance, you nearly poison your body.”
They’re treated like spoiled children. There’s no trust, no understanding.
3. Work
“I had issues with work, and being late. I actually genuinely feel guilty asking for the time off, say when I had a meeting over in England.
Tipp manager Liam Kearns gets in on the action on this week’s Endline Challenge. Send your attempts to fans@SportsJOE.ie.
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“I know myself, I often organised flights at 5.00 in the morning, and flew back in that evening just to be back for training, and you wouldn’t get any thank you. Even though I paid for it out of my own pocket. It’s just, yeah you do it, or you’re sliding down the pecking order.”
GAA players are working men. They’ve bills to pay. They’ve to put food on the table. They make sacrifices to make it to training, to make it to games. Risky sacrifices, and then, one slip up and they’re made to feel guilty.
4. Relationships
“If my wife wants to go for dinner on Friday night and you’ve training Saturday morning, you’re conscious that you can’t be in a restaurant or bar after ten. You know it’s going to be reporting back, and then it’s said to you at training.
“It takes an awful toll on relationships and that’s why when it comes to team holidays, it’s the partners that deserve it more than the players themselves. Because, finally, they get to do something with their other half.”
This can lead to more guilt for a player. More problems with their personal life. All because the GAA is so pure. Let’s not forget, as Bergin says himself, even professional rugby players and soccer players can get away with it.
In the GAA, it’s different.
And it’s not just in the inter-county game.
That’s why he was dreading getting back into the swing of it with his club this winter.
“I don’t know how guys in the club are training all year around, and not knowing when the games are going to be on. I was dreading it, coming back playing club this year.”
Kieran Bergin is just a normal inter-county player. He might just be the voice for all of the others who stay quiet.
Listen to the interview here from 41″00′.
