http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/joe-brolly-elitism-is-destroying-our-games-and-our-players-34201462.html />
Hopefully link has pasted across , Firstly can people get over the writer (Brolly) and have a read of the subject matter ,for me I have to say I agree with the sentiment of the piece , at club level Im seeing it reaching stages that aren't a kin to county standard rules and regulations but the players not getting anything like the county benefits .
The win at all costs mentality is more prominent than ever , the drop off rate is huge after minor ( for many reasons ) if as the piece suggests the paid manager continues with his own military agenda are clubs going to have trouble holding onto players ?
Discuss

I enjoyed the piece yesterday.Agree with most of it.The fun does seem to taken out of a lot of the game at inter county level.Having to have breakfast at home?Why would someone even think of telling a grown man that??

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 16/11/2015 16:56:14    1807661

Agree fully. Players afraid to pass wind unless it is on the booklet of rules handed to them. The Cork, Kerry, Dublin, and Offaly teams, to name a couple, of the 70's and 80's, would be decimated if today's player guidelines were in force back then.

Gaa Fan (USA) - Posts: 749 - 16/11/2015 19:06:14    1807706

really enjoyed the article even if it did drag out our naked pool incident yet again. Well written and very accurate. We have to pull back from the direction we are headed, otherwise professionalism is the only option and for me the end of GAA ( and civilisation :-) )

facethepuckout (Roscommon) - Posts: 213 - 16/11/2015 19:46:09    1807717

I wouldn't be a big fan of Brolly's but he is spot on here. The last paragraph especially sums up exactly what I think.
If I was young enough (I'm not) or good enough as a player (I never was) to play inter county football, I'm not sure I'd be interested.

So many people I know from various counties loved Fermanagh's run last year & do you know why ? Sean Quigley is the first inter-county player for a while who actually looks to enjoy playing football. Think about that, That's a very scary thought.

KildareKelly (Kildare) - Posts: 593 - 16/11/2015 20:05:00    1807725

Good article. I hope someone at the top takes heed.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 16/11/2015 20:35:58    1807735

But isn't Brolly one of the biggest problems??

You make a mistake, tactical error, etc etc he will launch into you in a tirade simply in order to get press for himself. Others follow. So unless you perform above and beyond the call of duty these so called journalists will rip you a new one.

So you train and train and train and train to avoid all this.

There is a problem and the likes of Brolly are a big part of it. If he wants it simply to be for the joy what right does he have to criticise people who are doing it for fun but not up to his so called standards??

We, the supporters, are just as bad demanding the maximum and beyond and then moaning about the siltation afterwards.

So unless we take it down a notch how do we expect intercounty players to?? If we do not demand success so much that club games have to be cancelled into order to 'prepare and be fresh' we would not be in this situation.

So have little time for the likes of a Brolly because the man has no mirror.

witnof (Dublin) - Posts: 1604 - 17/11/2015 08:11:11    1807748

witnof,valid point.Brolly,as we all know,can cut a man/team in half with his acerbic tongue.A lot of it uncalled for and sensationalised for ego massaging.It would be nice if he could be reminded of this.As much as i enjoy Brollys undoubted wit and wisdom,this glaring character failing is a massive turn-off.

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 17/11/2015 09:10:03    1807774

ALL VERY TRUE BUT COUNTY WANTS SUCCESS & A PRICE MUST BE PAID TO ACHIEVE IT SAME IN EVERY WALK IN LIFE

hurler in the ditch (Louth) - Posts: 439 - 17/11/2015 09:11:40    1807776

In fairness the subject matter is as much about club players as it is about county players , not sure what it says about us supporters as people that we demand from our players these sacrifices , very rich of us , we have a professional I pay in so YOU THE PLAYER OWE ME attitude , top athletes and top coaches will never leave a stone unturned in the quest for glory hence there will allways be a race to the top , the victims are the players and they are victims , truth is unfortunately the ship has sailed and theres no turning back but the lad giving 10-15 years county service may very well be over .

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 17/11/2015 10:03:32    1807810

I believe that the media through its so-called pundits, analysis, sports writers commentates, etc. all of whom are earning good money off the backs of players, are a major part of the problem. They judge the players as if they were professionals and endlessly highlight what they see as weaknesses in a player's skills level, bearing, commitment, attitude etc. The manager and county board also come in for the same high-level critical analysis and criticism. They have decided that they are the experts and they feed us this dose of **** continually. Just remember how they criticised the Fermanagh team and their supporters after the Dublin game (Brolly was to the fore - how dare the team or supporters show happ inessential or enjoyment for what they flet was a good year). They are like leaches living off the GAA. I go to all levels of football games and get great enjoyment from them even though the standard is often not top notch. It's time we started looking at the positives in our games, enjoy them and forget the money-makers.

neverright (Roscommon) - Posts: 1648 - 17/11/2015 11:17:28    1807849

So what is the alterantive beecause based on reading that piece and others Joe has writen its for the players not to try as hard which is antithesis of competitive sport.

The players obviously don't have much of an issue with it as they are happy to go along with it and could easily tell the management to feck off if they wanted.The players are not tied to contracts so everything they do is completely voluntary.the players themselves are the ones to have drove the increase in effort in intercounty GAA.

Maybe the players give dull interviews to the media for the simple reason that they probbaly find dealing with the media a bit of a chore and want to get the interview over with as soon as possible.I;d imagine that by far the worst aspect of being a sportman is having to deal with the media.

The problem Joe seems to have is that the game is not for people with a half ***** approach anymore.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 17/11/2015 11:36:20    1807859

As usual Brolly has a few points. The bigger question is who gave him the idea for this new crusade.
After Mayo whalloped Galway in Salthill back in 2013 Brolly lambasted Galway for not taking intercounty football seriously. Now he is ranting about it being too serious.

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1103 - 17/11/2015 12:18:15    1807883

Question out there to lads who play are his observations true of club players , some ? Senior ? Intermediate ? or does it depend on a county to county basis ?

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 17/11/2015 13:44:23    1807932

Uibhfhaili1986,

"The players obviously don't have much of an issue with it as they are happy to go along with it and could easily tell the management to feck off if they wanted.The players are not tied to contracts so everything they do is completely voluntary.the players themselves are the ones to have drove the increase in effort in intercounty GAA."

I dunno if it's true to say the players are happy to go along with it. Maybe they are for 3 or 4 years when they first come onto the scene but we're after seeing 3 great Tipp players retire not long after the 30 age mark but the fact is that a culture of elitism has developed because of or in spite of all this.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 17/11/2015 14:05:24    1807939

Maybe the reason for a lot of the drop off is when players look in the mirror and ask "what is the point?" and the answers back do not justify the crazy demands on their time and bodies. And I don't mean Inter-county players, Senior club players and juveniles are all feeling the pressure and demands.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4894 - 17/11/2015 14:25:14    1807948

It has got worse in the last 10 years. Tyrone in 2005 trained twice a week and each player had a gym program that they had to follow. They won the all-Ireland but were bloody good footballers. Think of the characters and character their team had back then - it is not the same in 2015 and that is because they had to move with the times.

I enjoy the games still, but there's probably more enjoyment in watching a club side in action than county teams.

Good point by witnof too - Analysis is part of this problem. It's like nobody wants to make a mistake so they become robotic.

slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6480 - 17/11/2015 14:39:24    1807954

tirawleybaron
County: Mayo
Posts: 561

1807883
As usual Brolly has a few points. The bigger question is who gave him the idea for this new crusade.
After Mayo whalloped Galway in Salthill back in 2013 Brolly lambasted Galway for not taking intercounty football seriously. Now he is ranting about it being too serious

This is true. This guy is the most elitist of the lot. It is he and other people in the media that lambast the weakness of teams that are not in the elite group.

He talks about Derry players having fry ups and going on the ****. First of all that was in the 1990s. There is no harm in eating healthy and not going on the ****. Plenty of people chose to do that and are not even involved in intercounty football or hurling. Not drinking from one end of the year to the next is not a bad thing. Never having an Ulster fry is not a bad thing either.

Do GAA players give boring interviews - Jonathan Glynn this year? Anthony Cunningham's prediction after losing Leinster final? Some do certainly but that is the same as any sport and sure when was it any different?

The issue in Clare was a bit ridiculous but it is an old story and there are about 60+ intercounty teams and there are not many stories like that. A sample of one doesn't make a story - except in this case he tries to make a story.

David Pocock is another sample of one. Not all rugby players are like him.

The only decent point in this article was quoting Mike McGurn. He is an expert in his field and he and others (like Dr. Niall Moyna) have stated that GAA payers are way over trained for the amount of games they play. We cannot repeat this often enough.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 17/11/2015 14:40:50    1807956

Haha benny,i like the way you turned Brolllysp promotion of **** ups and Ulster fry ups on its head.Nearly everything he said seems to have contradicted something he said in the past.Can Brolly,the loveable rogue(sometimes),be taken seriously?

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 17/11/2015 14:49:35    1807962

I thought it was a lazy article full of unsubstantiated generalisations. There was the little bit of covert subterfuge concerning an inter county training and "living" schedule that was smuggled out to him. Allied to that you had the reference to rugby clapping itself on the back for allowing players to live a "balanced lifestyle". Rugby is a sport that practices Omertà when it comes to the taking of performance enhancing substances . Rugby also had to be forced to take the issue of concussion seriously. It is only three years ago that an obviously heavily concussed Australian player was put back out on to the field in the last test against The Lions. Balanced lifestyle my ****.I have the height of respect for Joe Brolly but I still remember his "indentured slave " comments. This most recent article is of that ilk.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6030 - 17/11/2015 15:01:59    1807966