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11th October 2016
05:05pm BST
Finally someone involved has publicly criticised the farce that is the Dublin senior football championship. It helps when it is All-Ireland-winning Ballyboden boss and new Meath manager, Andy McEntee.
Dublin played the first round of the club championship on the last weekend of April. They resumed the club championship last weekend, some 23 weeks later. Think about that for a minute, that’s over five and a half months later. During those 23 weeks inter-county players played exclusively with Dublin and there was no club championship games.
Dublin played their first championship game against Laois on June 5, five weeks after the first round of the Dublin club championship. Dublin county board chose not to play any club championship football during those five weeks.
Dublin’s next game was on June 26 against Meath, three weeks later. Again they chose not to play any club championship.
Next up was the Leinster final three weeks later and again, you guessed it, no club championship either.
Dublin won their three games in Leinster by an average of 12 points. They have cruised their way through Leinster in recent years, routinely hammering weaker opposition, yet the county board chose not to fix any club games during this time.
There is a 13-day rule in place nationwide, but it’s being completely ignored by county boards. Why is that being allowed by the GAA? Altogether there were gaps totalling 11 weeks from Dublin’s first round of club championship games to the Leinster final. If the 13-day rule was enforced Dublin could have played two, three or even four more rounds of their club championship.
If Dublin chose to suspend club action after the Leinster final, I could understand the decision. The standard of opponent increased dramatically. Donegal, Kerry and Mayo were the opposition when they entered the All-Ireland series, so you could make a good argument that a full commitment to the county team was required.
Dublin resumed their club championship last Friday, six days after Dublin won their All-Ireland title following two titanic battles with Mayo. I’m sure most of the players celebrated last Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and rightly so. I’m also sure some of them went on the sauce again on Tuesday. It would have been Wednesday, Thursday or Friday before many of the Dublin players reported to their clubs before the championship games at the weekend.
I'm not blaming the Dublin players for that at all, they should be allowed at least a couple of weeks off to celebrate a victory like that together. They give enough commitment during the year, the last thing they deserve is to be summoned to club training when they are in a completely different place mentally to the other players.
I’ve been there, I know how it feels. When Laois had a good run in the championship I needed about a month to get back into club mode. I needed two weeks off and then a couple more weeks to reintegrate back into the team before I’m fully immersed into a new team culture. The worst part is inter-county players are expected to be leaders immediately on their return, even if it’s the last place they want to be.
Coming down from the highs of big games in Croke Park to early rounds of club football isn’t easy. You want to be there for your club mates but you need time before you’re in the same place as them, mentally. They’ve been chomping at the bit all summer; you've been consumed by something else. Because most of them don’t understand your situation there can be some resentment towards you in the early week as you try to adjust.
The Dublin county board and Jim Gavin have to take responsibility. They have a duty of care to their players and that shouldn’t just apply to the inter-county season. Would Jim Gavin allow the players to go on the beer for three or four days in the week of a Dublin match? I think we all know the answer to that. We know the dehydrating effect that alcohol has on the body and, coming after such a draining battle in Croke Park, the players' bodies were wide open to serious injury.
Why is it okay for players to put their bodies at risk for their clubs the following weekend when it wouldn’t be accepted at county level? Does Jim just wash his hands of the players after the final whistle in the All-Ireland or should there be a bigger picture?
Where is the GPA's duty of care to their members or does that only include the inter-county season too? This situation could be avoided if more club games were played before and during the early rounds of the Leinster championship. It’s a mess but it’s a mess Jim Gavin and the county board have allowed happen.
Who is looking out for the club players who wait around for 23 weeks for the inter-county season to finish only to get their stars back carrying knocks, hungover and with little interest being there? What a kick in the arse that must be for them. Cian O’Sullivan couldn’t play for Kilmacud Crokes in their massive game against Ballyboden because of injury.
Dublin also play their club championship as a straight knockout competition. Yes, they only guarantee their club players one championship match. Oliver Plunketts lost on April 30, which meant players of the calibre of Alan Brogan, Tomas Corrigan, Garreth Smith and Declan Lally were out, with no meaningful games left for the year outside of league games and an embarrassing ‘B’ competition. Again you’d have to ask how the GAA allows the Dublin county board treat their club players in such a manner.
It seems to me the Dublin county board is interested in one thing – the juggernaut that is the Dublin senior football team. The rest, going on the evidence of their club championships, is a waste of their time. We know ‘The Dubs’ brand is big money now. I wrote earlier in the year of their many sponsors and their ability to generate millions in revenue for the Dublin county board. The Dublin team winning and appearing in All Irelands is the attraction for their sponsors, why would the county board allow club football jeopardise that?
Club players make up more than 90% of the playing population but somewhere along the line county boards have lost track of what’s important. There has been talk for some time of a Club Players' Association. It is needed more than ever. Somebody has to stand up for club players and take the power back from inter-county managers.
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