There’s paranoia and then there is this.
At the highest levels of the game, there will be a certain level of secretness or confidentiality when it comes to naming your team on the eve of a match.
Managers often want to keep their cards close to their chest with the hope of keeping the opposition guessing.
We are all too familiar with the last minute changes made to starting line-ups but at senior inter-county level, where the stakes are highest, this could perhaps be considered understandable.
There are a lot of arguments against this too.
This practice frustrates supporters and the media alike with GAA Director General, Páraic Duffy, stating that it “treats supporters with a degree of contempt.”
When this type of thing begins to filter down into the lower levels of the game and through the underage grades then you’re beginning to have a problem.
It seems that it certainly has in Donegal GAA circles anyway.
Ryan Ferry, a sports journalist with the Donegal News, says he was refused the teamsheet of the Donegal U17 team, stating that the management were worried about the information getting leaked to other counties.
Donegal Under 17 management team refused to give me their starting fifteen. Worried about other counties getting too much info apparently
— Ryan Ferry (@RFerry92) March 11, 2017
It is a bit worrying that this type of behaviour has filtered down to this level but with the game because increasingly competitive and driven by results, perhaps it’s not all that surprising.
Inevitably, there was quite a reaction to this news.
@McCoyNiall that's horrendous. Intl rugby coaches name their team 5 days in advance but GAA managers wallow in a bizarre secrecy.
— Anthony McNamee (@a_mcnamee) March 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/ChrisDoherty87/status/840564963429228547
report on the game put the names of the other team in your report and do not mention any Donegal player and see how they like it
— Tom O Donoghue (@TomODonoghue4) March 11, 2017
typical of the way the #GAA is going at the minute. Power gone to heads of mentors all around the country!
— The Empty Seat (@TheEmptySeat) March 11, 2017
that's laughable. What has happened to the gaa. Not the game it was. Tactics, blankets and budgets today.
— Hugh (@gilmartinhugh) March 12, 2017
