The Rebel saga continues. Another year but the same old story on Leeside - the 31 hurlers of 2008 training on their own while a new group start off their intercounty careers by playing in the Waterford Crystal Cup. The general public now seem to be completely sick of what's going on and a lot of people feel they will not even bother attending any games this year. Club hurling has been divided by the ongoing saga with players who played in recent games getting undeserved criticism in some quarters not because of their efforts but just for the fact that they played. That is the scenario ahead of us all hurling followers and the picture is becoming clearer and clearer by the day - Gerald McCarthy as manager is not going to be removed and therefore there are going to be casualties and some of the players who graced our fields over the last ten years or so will never be seen in a Cork jersey again unless they bow to playing under the current management as it is set up. The younger generation are more than likely supporting the players and the older brigade would be very much in support of Gerald. Can there be a winner here? That to me is the kernel of trying to resolve the matter - nobody on both sides wants to concede defeat now and take the brunt of the pain with it. On one hand if the '08 players are to go back in block there is no guarantee that Gerald will pick them on the panel and that at least four or five will be put into retirement as they have been around since 1996. On the other hand if it stays as it is now, then it is clearly a rebuilding process for Cork hurling for the next number of years. The current panel are very young and inexperienced and would not be expected to compete at national league stage not to mind championship level without the likes of the seasoned campaigners to support and guide them. That has always been the case with Cork hurling - nobody has a divine right to hold on to the red jersey - you have to earn it first and deserve to keep on to it by performances on the field of play alone. It is only a passing through process and it is passed on to the next best man to wear it in a particular position of the field. There are rights and wrongs of the argument here and I have been a players' man all my life and certainly feel the Cork County Board have handled this very badly again and left it go and go until the chance of saving face was virtually gone. But what annoys me most and I have said this to some of the '08 squad is denying the younger generation the opportunity to play and deny them the honour and prestige that goes with a red jersey at a very early age of ones career. Pride for the individual himself, his family, his club and the friends he grew up with. But even more so than ever now when he can pick up a company car or endorsements and grants that will help him along in difficult times. This is one of the most frustrating times for hurling in Cork and one wonders will we as a county and a team ever recover from it. Only time will tell! New rules As always when new rules are introduced there is usually plenty of debate for a few weeks or so as whether to give them the seal of approval or just object to them completely from the start without giving yourself a chance to understand them. I suppose this is the only time that they can be tested but you have to ask yourself if it is the right time because more often than not playing games at this time of year means cold, wind and rain which makes for a lot of fouls anyway and the ball does not move as fast and players would not be as fit as they would like to be. I am of the opinion though that football is the main culprit for rule changes and hurling is just tagged on at the end - you never see too much pulling and dragging or consistent personal fouling in the small ball as you would in football. Anything to speed up the game with more scores and excitement has to be welcomed and managers and players alike need to understand the reason behind the changes and more importantly accept change for the good of the game. By the time the summer comes around and these changes are adopted, I am certain we will see more open and free flowing games. At least the powers that be who have introduced these rules have put long hours into this and defining a bad tackle and yellow card and red card offences in simpler terms has to be a positive step. There should be no misunderstanding anymore - it is a yellow or red card and you pay the price. Celebrating 125 years of GAA existence 1884 is a very long time ago indeed and over the next few months we are going to read and hear of so many exploits on and off the playing fields of Ireland that will bring back so many memories and even tears to some peoples' eyes. Firework displays are on the cards for the Dublin against Tyrone national league match in Croke Park at a cost of ?500,000. Yes ?500,000 in February, why the big spend? Why the hurry? Would it not have been better to wait until after both All-Ireland finals? Anyway that is out of my control but watching the recent Late Late show on RTE left me very annoyed. It was more like a Dublin/Kerry program and a football program at that. Why was there not a mention of Christy Ring, Jack Lynch, Mick Mackey, The Rackards and many more from the hurling world? What did Brush Shields or Eamonn Dunphy have to do with GAA? Where was the breakthrough from Offaly, Ger Loughnane and his native Clare? Where was the Purple and Gold and dancing at the crossroads? Remember 1980 with Galway, the Cork double in 1990 - where was Teddy McCarthy, the only man to win two senior All-Ireland medals won on the field of play in the one year? It was a shambles and did nothing to profile the last 125 years of our association - I am hoping over the next number of months that the damage done can be rectified. Tweet

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