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The state of the game

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Codes of conduct are embarrassing. Any manager, especially club managers who think it's good to have one are a joke. Nothing wrong with training hard, 2 nights on the pitch with 2 nights in the gym is acceptable for any club trying to compete in senior championship. That should go down to one night in the gym during the season. Our club has no drink ban ever but you are dropped if your Saturday night turns into a Sunday and Monday, and players know that. There is a middle ground between a manager being a dictator and a pushover. Too many clowns on power trips.

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 7902 - 08/03/2017 15:35:38    1965477

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Replying To PoolSturgeon:  "May not be the fault of the GAA or Croke Park but it's hard to point the blame at the club officials either. It's a society-wide issue. Professionalism has crept into the GAA due to the influence of other sports (principally rugby) and there is pressure on every club that has ambition to follow the leaders and pay out the money or risk being left behind."
Club officials should be liaising with the senior team before appointing mangers who are not going to be compatible.

It's Definitely not in the clubs best interest to have a tonne of players deciding against being involved.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4226 - 08/03/2017 16:02:18    1965488

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Replying To Soma:  "If everyone took responsibility for their own patch rather than blaming some outside influence things would be a lot better, and that applies across many sectors outside GAA. A clubs ambition should be to have as many of their community playing the games as possible, not silverware at any price. The same applies at county level also. This idea that players have no option but to follow the leader reflects worse on the players themselves than anyone trying to impose the various codes of conduct."
I actually agree with you Soma -- that would be the ideal -- but the world and Ireland has changed a lot since I was a kid and probably since you were one too.

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1903 - 08/03/2017 16:04:57    1965491

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I think some on here are fooling themselves, I won't be popular for saying it but here goes ambition championship ambition doesn't begin and end with county teams , every serious div one team in Dublin will have a strict regime , that's how Cula and Boden Vincent's ballymun etc have all gotten their paddies day out , the fitness of castleknock last year a new young team was a feature of their game plan and that didn't come from two old school training sessions , there is a pressure rightly or wrongly at juvenile level in schools colleges and at club level to be the best , is it a society thing I honestly don't know , I'm outlining it as to how I see it ,Day in day out its not what I believe is ideal far from it , I believe it's an amature sport , there should be fun and competitiveness , but many inter county lads are well looked after lads signing contracts and drink bans without the glory well it wouldn't be for me, if the CPA as a first order of business told players not to sign contracts etc would it make a difference , is there any one bunch of players who would stand up and say we as a group are not doing a-z would others follow ? I somehow doubt it , so where are we left well high turn over of players , quicker movement of players into junior a junior b codes were the social fun element still exists ,for country lads that only have one team god help you guys is all I can say

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 08/03/2017 16:58:51    1965505

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Replying To TheFlaker:  "Codes of conduct are embarrassing. Any manager, especially club managers who think it's good to have one are a joke. Nothing wrong with training hard, 2 nights on the pitch with 2 nights in the gym is acceptable for any club trying to compete in senior championship. That should go down to one night in the gym during the season. Our club has no drink ban ever but you are dropped if your Saturday night turns into a Sunday and Monday, and players know that. There is a middle ground between a manager being a dictator and a pushover. Too many clowns on power trips."
Totally agree with this post, there has to be a happy medium struck for club players. Its just plain ridiculous that club players would have to sign a contract like this. They cant even plan a weekend away with family or friends.

Green_Gold (Donegal) - Posts: 1876 - 08/03/2017 20:48:04    1965555

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According to what expert advice I've read you can drink a beer or two the same day as you train and it will have minimal effect. Once you're body starts recovering the next day a beer will have greater effect. Obviously this is only one or two light beers we are talking about, not ten pints and a takeaway. But it goes to show how the GAA line of outright banning is wrong.

LoyalRoyal (None) - Posts: 452 - 08/03/2017 21:08:24    1965557

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Replying To LoyalRoyal:  "According to what expert advice I've read you can drink a beer or two the same day as you train and it will have minimal effect. Once you're body starts recovering the next day a beer will have greater effect. Obviously this is only one or two light beers we are talking about, not ten pints and a takeaway. But it goes to show how the GAA line of outright banning is wrong."
One of the stupidest posts I have read on here and that is saying something. Nonsensical and laughable. Don't even know where to begin. Head back to the pub for more advice because you must have heard that on a bar stool.

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 7902 - 08/03/2017 21:35:13    1965567

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Replying To Damothedub:  "I think some on here are fooling themselves, I won't be popular for saying it but here goes ambition championship ambition doesn't begin and end with county teams , every serious div one team in Dublin will have a strict regime , that's how Cula and Boden Vincent's ballymun etc have all gotten their paddies day out , the fitness of castleknock last year a new young team was a feature of their game plan and that didn't come from two old school training sessions , there is a pressure rightly or wrongly at juvenile level in schools colleges and at club level to be the best , is it a society thing I honestly don't know , I'm outlining it as to how I see it ,Day in day out its not what I believe is ideal far from it , I believe it's an amature sport , there should be fun and competitiveness , but many inter county lads are well looked after lads signing contracts and drink bans without the glory well it wouldn't be for me, if the CPA as a first order of business told players not to sign contracts etc would it make a difference , is there any one bunch of players who would stand up and say we as a group are not doing a-z would others follow ? I somehow doubt it , so where are we left well high turn over of players , quicker movement of players into junior a junior b codes were the social fun element still exists ,for country lads that only have one team god help you guys is all I can say"
I think it's fine for teams to decide that they want to go for it and put everything in to winning. To set a standard that needs to be met by the whole group.

I think it should come from the players though. Managers forcing these codes of conduct on teams that don't really want it are only serving themselves.

That's why the club committee's are at fault in all of this, they are the ones picking unsuitable managers.

I'm playing for a team where the commitment is high, 2 pitch, 2 gym, drink isn't banned but it's kept an eye on. We've all bought into it though, it's what we as a team wanted and it's enjoyable for us because of that.

For other teams they're happy to put in 90% commitment, that's fine. You know what as well they might still be able to be competitive.

Whammo86 (Antrim) - Posts: 4226 - 08/03/2017 21:44:46    1965568

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Replying To benjyyy:  "Whilst I agree with this, the issue is more of a broader cultural one in Ireland. European culture is very much about having a beer or a glass of wine with food. The Irish one is more about going for pints, with or without food. You would seldom see lads sitting down for a glass of wine with a meal and leaving it at that. It is something that isn't helped by these drink bans though but you can see why they have come about."
I agree with your post - drink is a major problem in Ireland and it's probably no harm if players learn that they don't need it to enjoy themselves. I don't agree with formal 'contracts' . Football/hurling is a pass-time to be enjoyed by all who play but, even in a kick-about there has to be a competitive edge if you are to get real enjoyment out of it, If the players in a club feel that they might have a chance of winning a c'ship then, I think, they will set an agreed commitment for the duration of the c'ship but will be understanding of the unforseen problems that can arise for any family.

neverright (Roscommon) - Posts: 1648 - 08/03/2017 23:27:15    1965578

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Replying To bugsie:  "Madness, did anyone notice on Michael Murphys toughest trade episode that players shared a drink with him over there meals. The Gaa relationship with alcohol is very dangerous. Young men and Women particularly in rural Ireland need social outlets other than their local GAA team, purley for mental health. For some people this may be music or some other other way to release tension or stress. Drink bans produce a very negative relationship with alcohol and encourages binge drinking. In my opinion a relaxed player has more opportunity of producing a good performance than a stressed one. Especially at Junior and intermediate level."
This drink ban stuff is a result of the Irish disfunction around alcohol - its like the guy giving up pints for Lent but getting rat ***** for the rest of the year, no sense of moderation, its either lads are 'Off the Drink' or drinking 12 pints friday and saturday nights - if a young lad goes out friday night for 2-3 pints he would not do any damage to fitness etc. but he's not trusted but to get blotto and then go on the beer for 4 days...as I say disfunction

73forever (Limerick) - Posts: 89 - 09/03/2017 16:26:30    1965722

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Replying To TheFlaker:  "One of the stupidest posts I have read on here and that is saying something. Nonsensical and laughable. Don't even know where to begin. Head back to the pub for more advice because you must have heard that on a bar stool."
http://dailyburn.com/life/fitness/post-workout-alcohol-muscle-growth/

There's some scientific evidence to back it up. There's lots of articles saying similar things.

Perhaps you might want to do some reading into what people say before making knee jerk judgements.

LoyalRoyal (None) - Posts: 452 - 09/03/2017 23:08:54    1965855

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