Cillian Buckley is strongly opposed to the notion that inter-county players should be barred from playing in the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cups.

Roscommon football star Cathal Cregg, who is a strength and conditioning coach with Connacht GAA, and DCU's Niall Moyna both feel the workload on inter-county players has become unsustainable and that something has to give.

But Kilkenny hurling star Buckley, who is on a scholarship in UCD, believes such a move would greatly devalue the blue riband third level competitions and lead to sponsors pulling out.

"It's a hectic time of the year, this six weeks," the All-Ireland winning defender said at the launch of the GPA's annual report on Wednesday.

"You have the college set-up in between the pre-season with the county but, as regards leaving county players out of the Fitzgibbon and the Sigerson, it would definitely devalue the competition.

"You look back at players that made their names in the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson over the years, so I wouldn't agree with that at all. It's something we look forward to, although I have to agree it's interrupting the pre-season training."

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