The treatment of the players has to match the money going into the game. I was in O'Neills yesterday and the place was packed and not just Dublin fans, the game in a lot of ways has never been more popular.

It just doesnt ring true, the money that must be coming into the game and the adversities many players face almost daily and sacrifices made.

Every county should be audited root and branch to see how funds are spent, i think the current structural system is poorly managed, with players at the this end of the wedge. I think if this was done it would take the chip of the shoulder mentality out of finance. Before allocations are actually quired a review must be done on the management of allocated funds. A percentage of which must go toward player welfare.

Commercial deals as well need to be brought into the new century, TV, Merchandising deals and corporate sponsorship also needs to reviewed.

Ive long held a suspicion that the at times archaic way players are treated is down to bad county board management rather and poor decision making of allocated funds with the players at the thin end of the wedge.

Of course the strructure of the championship etc can also be looked at. But no 1 is player welfare, lads/ladies need to feel supported if they are making so much sacrifice or the trend will continue.

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 30/05/2016 14:13:09    1859959

Players have the power. They are not 'indentured slaves' as Brolly said in another recent outburst. Players who are enjoying the game continue to play it, those who don't walk away. It has always been the same. It doesn't matter at what level you play at, it isn't fun if you are not competitive and continually losing. Media pundits and sportswriters continually bang on about how poor our games are and how the fun has gone out of them. You are made to feel like some kind of oddball if you disagree. I certainly don't get any fun out of watching our paid football pundits using the games to push their own agendas and ride their particular hobby horses to death. If they are paid to analyse the game being shown then let them get on and do it in a professional manner. If, on the other hand, they are simply paid to entertain us, they would need to up their game big-time. Roll on the summer and enjoy all that is good about the games.

neverright (Roscommon) - Posts: 1648 - 30/05/2016 15:24:21    1859996

Brolly does have a point to a degree.

I watched the game yesterday and I feel the Armagh players just had no bite and just where basically a bi burnt out to be honest.
Its just Armagh one of the Limerick players also mention the workload they have to endure is just getting to much.Players playing for lower level Counties are starting to ask the question about the football/life balance and is it worth putting in all the effort County football entails.

I read an article about youth soccer players controlling their training schedule and basically when they where in danger of training too much the basically had to rest.Compare this to county minors and county u21 who are being flogged by managers with a very short term focus.

ifindoubt (Donegal) - Posts: 133 - 30/05/2016 15:53:17    1860019

The Championship formula leads to multiple mismatches of Div 1 v Div 4 etc. If this was soccer we would see "park the bus" defending for similar match ups in differences of quality. The is no fun for Sligo conceding 6-25 against Mayo in last year's Connacht final either so teams need to have structure. Coaching gets a bad rap for why the game isn't fun from Joe Brolly. Over coaching isn't necessarily good coaching for sure, good coach's will trust their players as individuals within a system. I find Brolly praises top teams for their systems but criticises small teams for trying a system of play, he can't have it both ways.

A lot of top level players, I believe, like being elite athletes. I think sometimes there is too much of an outcry at training commitments as, for example, a lot of individuals choose to dedicate themselves to long distance running with 3,4 and 5 nights per week of pounding the road. That being said, it is easier to make the elite level commitment when there is a tangible reward, much easier for Mayo, Dublin, Kerry players to be motivated to commit than Galway, Meath, Carlow, Leitrim etc. A tiered system is great in theory but it has been shown that players from smaller counties have no interest in that. An overhaul of championship, combining with league and creating a system like the NFL/AFL would provide more meaningful games and more fun for players.

Rather than have the same debate through the months of May and June annually, the players, through the GPA need to be clear on how they would like their year to look and common ground be reached. Only then will the fun return for the majority.

mayoman007 (Mayo) - Posts: 159 - 30/05/2016 16:34:30    1860040

I don't like Brolly.

I hate the way he hijacks the Sunday Game to peddle his own agendas.

He has a point on this one, though.

The way I see it is much of the problem is the rise of the paid manager.

These guys don't care about the well being of their charges. They'll do whatever it takes to try to get success and move up the ladder. It looks likes it's starting to become counter-productive with players opting out.

I hope more players continue to do this, the better in my opinion.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4226 - 30/05/2016 16:35:12    1860041

I don't think the fun has gone out of the game , I do believe its short lived and its not just at county level its at club level , Our club captain basically retired at age 27 , Im seeing more and more lads opt for our Junior A side as the demands are less , they love the game but the commitment to playing to a high standard in Dublin Club football is savage .
I like many a fan am in constant contact with Club players and have a few acquaintances at county level , Ive never been privy to a conversation were lads bemoaned lack of monetary recompense , they have said the pressure of winning, staying fit , lack of matches , worry of injury and many many more similar concerns .
So where does it come from ? well lads have admitted to putting a lot of pressure on themselves in striving to be the best ,club bars are very unforgiving as are fans from the stand if club are not doing to well , managers coaches are under pressure for results , there also seems less time for actually enjoying a win .from a county perspective one look at this site will tell you of the expectations we have of county footballers as fans realistic or otherwise .
I think the future will be 5-6 year careers giving it everything in the spotlight and then lads moving on , and who can blame them.

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 31/05/2016 13:18:37    1860237

Young lads know what's coming down the line if they want to commit to inter-county football. It's their choice from now on. If you're not interested in a win at all costs regime, don't bother seems to be the message.
Yes the fun is gone, and it ain't coming back anytime soon.

KerryKillers (Dublin) - Posts: 711 - 31/05/2016 15:49:36    1860307

I agree, I am involved in management at club level and I am probably expecting too much at times as well but everyone is trying to keep up with everyone else, it is hard to shout stop!

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 7902 - 31/05/2016 16:16:19    1860321

Young lads know what's coming down the line if they want to commit to inter-county football. It's their choice from now on. If you're not interested in a win at all costs regime, don't bother seems to be the message.
Yes the fun is gone, and it ain't coming back anytime soon.

KerryKillers (Dublin) - Posts:421 - 31/05/2016 15:49:36

Depending on what age you describe a young lad , by the time the demands hit they are young men , they have probably been on the journey since they were 14-15 and at that age the don't know there ars7 from their elbow.

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 31/05/2016 16:51:13    1860337

KerryKillers (Dublin) - Posts: 711 - 31/05/2016 18:06:47    1860351

Gaelic football can only be played by a certain elite now like rugby before it turned professional years ago..in other words people who work decent hours and dont have to exert themselves to much during the day!

Its nonsense what Gaelic football has become from a players prospective and just a even bigger nonsense to watch..evolution of Gaelic football the buzz word the experts call it..man back to monkey !

WhyTheLongFace (Meath) - Posts: 876 - 31/05/2016 19:07:18    1860361

I don't know how many of the posters on here play football (I'm certain none of them play county football, they wouldn't have the time to post), so I'm not sure how they can speak for the footballer, particularly the county footballer.

neverright (Roscommon) - Posts: 1648 - 31/05/2016 20:01:56    1860373

I retired at 29 after 14 years of club football (mostly junior). It became a chore and required far, far too much commitment required. I miss playing, but the rest?? No.

Brolly (Monaghan) - Posts: 4472 - 31/05/2016 20:45:53    1860385

you are right- very few on here play intercounty football or hurling I would imagine.

Aidan O'Shea does however. He was extremely critical of the football championships. Richie Hogan and Brian Cody have also complained about it. People like Dr. Niall Moyna and Mike McGurn have said several times that players are overtrained for so few games. These guys are experts in training and preparing teams.

There are plenty of examples where top players are walking away. Jamie Clarke is the most high profile but counties like Carlow, Wicklow and Galway have recently stated that players will not make themselves available.

In short, our top players in both codes and pretty much everybody else is saying that the current competitions are deeply flawed. I have heard very few people coming out and saying that they are really enjoying this structure.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 31/05/2016 21:06:11    1860391

No footballer is really going to stand up and complain about it...years ago during holy week nobody ever stood up in a chapel and said they were bored stiff and everybody was bored stiff including the priest ! Players are afraid to stand up and say what they think because they feel they are letting the manger down..the team down..the fans down and there families down! It's torture dressed as fun for gaelic footballer now..gaelic football for most of its life was a game to be enjoyed a get away from work and problems of everyday life..so you went training and played football to clear the mind and enjoy the break...now as a footballer you go to work and come home and pay the bills to get away from the torture of football !

WhyTheLongFace (Meath) - Posts: 876 - 31/05/2016 21:33:24    1860396

Training for the 1966 hurling All Ireland consisted of pucking the ball around for an hour...jogging around the Old Athletic Grounds....doing a few leapfrogging routines...joking around with the trainer (Tough Barry). A few pints didn't come amiss also.

Rockies (Cork) - Posts: 947 - 01/06/2016 10:13:59    1860437

The whole thing is based on here say and rumour, managers get players to do ever increasingly insane amounts of training because x, y and z are doing it. I remember my school hurling team won the mageean, the coaches had them in at 7 in the morning before school running around doing cardio because they'd heard thats what Kierans' and Flannans' and the like do. Took a hiding in the croke cup semis to boot so didn't really pay off.

You have a lot of managers now, and there's no point naming individuals, who are serial inter county fodder, you have folk who have managed or been selectors for 3 and 4 teams whereas in the past an outside manager would be rare but one whom had managed another IC team would be rarer still. So you can have BS like when I was with X we trained 5 nights a week and we got Y and Z.

The beauty of our games was always the fact that all counties played in the same championship and whilst unlikely you always had an upset along the way (Antrim 89, Clare 92, Leitrim 94, Laois and Westmeath in Leinster and so on). The back door for GAA has done what the champions league did for soccer, it allows the bigger teams two bites of the cherry and the chance of upset at this current time is practically nil. As the back door will not be scrapped anytime soon there has to be another way of introducing some more equity.

Quality has arguably increased as the best games in the championship compare favourably with any era its just there arent enough of them because the elite bracket is small, and any romantic notions of the minnows toppling one of the big boys are pipe dreams.

duckula20 (Antrim) - Posts: 175 - 01/06/2016 10:41:58    1860447

If players aren't happy to commit why do they not walk away and just play club ? Then things will change . Its pretty obvious why they stay . Money.
GPA are a curse in all this . Their aim to get players paid is suited perfectly by all the training sessions . They are the main reason players are afraid to stand up and say enough is enough or indeed walk away . They are the reason players are always bitching about the GAA and fixtures . GPA appeals to the vanity which seems rife now in a lot of players , setting them amongst a pseudo elite , making them stick with the county teams because if they leave they are no longer GPA members .
I thought Colm O'Rourke was a bit full of it last year when he said he preferred the club game but he's 100% right .

Finsceal (None) - Posts: 559 - 01/06/2016 11:07:46    1860455

Why the long face
Two posts two rants , .one of which contained this .in other words people who work decent hours and dont have to exert themselves to much during the day!
that's an insult to our players ,

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 01/06/2016 11:12:35    1860460

Why anyone would imagine that county championship football should be "fun" is beyond me.

Would any athlete describe training for the Olympics as fun? Of course not.

At the top level in any sport fun goes out of it, if you want to have fun then stay away from county football.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 01/06/2016 11:34:48    1860467