Mick O'Dwyer says the GAA's players "are about the only amateurs left in the game".

The Kerry legend feels that the proliferation of professionalism across the Association is undermining the contributions of its most important members - the players:

"It is still an amateur sport, well the players are still amateurs anyway," he notes in The Irish Examiner.

"You have a lot of professionals running the game but it is still an amateur sport. I can't understand how you can call it an amateur sport when you have a certain amount of people being paid and have full-time jobs and then the players are about the only amateurs left in the game.

"Everywhere I went, to be very honest, the first thing I said to my backroom team put in place is have all these players got jobs. The most important thing is that any player has a job to go to on the Monday morning after a game.

"The first thing I would do is try and find jobs for the lads on the panel who didn't have one. That is most important. If a player has a job they will be more content and give you 100%."

Tweet

Most Read Stories