Mickey Harte cannot understand why Gaelic football gets such bad press.

The Tyrone manager took the opportunity at yesterday's Allianz Football League Division 2 final press conference in Croke Park to hit back at critics of the game.

"We need to get on with the business of being more positive in promoting what we have to offer instead of bringing it down and talking it down. I don't know of any other organisation that does this, in business or sport or anywhere else, that decry their own product," he is quoted as saying in The Irish Times.

"We should be aiding our own products. I'm a football man only, but all the products we have are good for the people to see, to enjoy, to be involved in. And we should have lots more people at them, if we market them right."

He continued: "I just cannot understand why so many people have been blighted by Donegal-Dublin last year, as if it was a total reflection on all that Gaelic football has to offer. In the totality of what went on even last season it had minimal bearing on the overall outcome.

"There are lots of very, very attractive games played, lots of very attack-minded teams out there, and teams do want to score, do want to entertain.

"But they'll entertain in a way that is relevant in today's game. And we shouldn't be harking back to this catch and kick mentality, which really bores me to tears. Go take a look at the TG4 Gold series, and it's not that exciting. It was the best there was at that time, and I've always acknowledged that, and I enjoyed it.

"Now we have something of a different era that I find equally exciting. And we hear people decrying it and demeaning it from all parts. Let's be real about it." Tweet

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