Rebel Army with or without a cause! I never thought I would see the day when the hurlers of the Rebel Army would be up in arms over the how managers and selectors of intercounty teams are picked. Nor did I believe that there would be so much coverage in the press and television on this very one issue. This is what I wrote last January and here we are again in exactly the same position but no sign of a resolution in place. Am I dreaming? No I am not; this is reality GAA - live and kicking on the banks of the Lee. We are not called the Rebel County for nothing and believe me this has got a lot of airing in every household, every club and every pub over the last few weeks. At the time of writing this is very much at stalemate with neither side willing to budge an inch to solve matters. Okay Gerald McCarthy has put a team out on the field of play in the last number of weeks and trial matches have been played but it is with a new panel of players. It is called a development squad with mostly ex minors involved. The one good thing here is that matches in the New Year will be played and any doubts that a team will not feature in national league matches after that seems to have been avoided by the forming of this new development squad. The coaches has had 26 players in training and for trial games in the last number of weeks but sadly none of the 31 from this year are involved. To see them training themselves has made a lot of us Corkonians very angry indeed. Who is right? Who is wrong? Should the players get back to doing what they do best and that is playing - should they not have any influence or say how the various committees are selected? That is what I feel most people around the country are saying and thinking but when you are closer to the scene and having played for 12 years or so, it is not that easy at all to let it all pass you by. Regular phone calls have taken place with Jimmy Barry Murphy, Dr Con Murphy, Teddy McCarthy and so on to discuss how best this can be sorted, and at all times keeping well in the background and let them at it themselves. Will there be winners here if it is all sorted? Sadly I say no and the repercussions could be felt for a long time yet to come. Cork GAA is bigger than any one individual and any one team or even any county board but because this has been left to simmer over the last few weeks without a solution being found, it has now reached boiling point and friendships, personalities, individual characterisation are now to the forefront and will take some time to heal, if indeed it ever will. Action is needed now and leadership wanted, lets hope the county board now take the necessary steps to get all parties together and sort out this mess. Remember it only got sorted in early March this year which meant very little time to prepare for the first round of the Munster hurling championship and look what happened there. There is no doubt that Cork people love their sport and particularly GAA but nobody envisaged that trust, friendships; camaraderie would be sabotaged in this sorry mess. It is them against us and win at all costs at this stage. Nobody can deny any individual the right to wear the red jersey of Cork and nobody has the right to deny the younger generation of Cork hurlers their day in the sun to showcase their talents. I will leave it at that, as a frustrated Cork man. Victorious De La Salle Waterford Munster hurling has new club champions and deservedly so and how fitting and rewarding it is for this club to be on top of the world and eagerly looking forward to a shot at the All-Ireland club title. Once they had won the county championship in their native Waterford for first time in so many years, many predicted that celebrations would go on so long that to re-energise themselves for the following week after that great win was going to be next to impossible to achieve, but this is exactly what they did. They took on and defeated the mighty Sarsfields from Cork in their own backyard to qualify for the final against Adare of Limerick for the first time. The decider was not the prettiest of games in difficult conditions but try and tell that to Mr Mullane and company. Roll on the New Year and it is a deserved success for John Mullane who has been by far the most successful Waterford player this season - he has shown great leadership when needed most and that is on the field of play. Around the country in other provinces the trend is not the same with Portumna and Ballyhale Shamrocks looking pretty strong. The winner is more than likely going to come from these two but with De la Salle playing the Ulster champions a place in the final should be secure and in any two horse race, you certainly have a chance. Strategic Review Plan One is always very apprehensive when you see glossy brochures and long term plans laid out and presentations are made to launch these new ideas - the reason being is that we have seen so many in the past look so good on paper but they were never fully implemented. The jury is still out on this latest version as to who is going to continually follow this through to completion. There are many good ideas contained in this document. If done properly it would benefit so many areas of the GAA over the next number of years, growing it and turning it into a much more solid unit. The key to its success now is to let everybody else get access to the document and give the people on the ground the opportunity to work on it through their own club structures. The future of the GAA is not about Croke Park or Corporate Ireland - it is about the grassroots and these people have more than ever the need to embrace change and new ideas to take us forward and keep unearthing new talents on a continuous basis. We are facing many challenges from different organisations and therefore need to keep our finger on the pulse at all times. May I take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very Happy and Sporting Christmas. Tweet

Most Read Stories