New Year's resolutions and solutions It is now the time of year when those who had success in 2005 are enjoying the fruit of their labours, most likely sunning themselves in some exotic place or chilling out and recharging the batteries for the 2006 onslaught. That is the benefit of winning or getting close to the real thing .Others to benefit, and rightly so, are the females behind the males and speaking from experience, they really do enjoy these trips abroad. The craic is always mighty and it helps to build a better bond between the entire squad and gives them the chance to let the hair down and reflect on the year gone by. Hurling today is high profile and players are now a lot more than ever in the public eye than I or any of my team mates ever were. That brings its own pressures and any step over the line is quickly reported as front or back page news. I am sure managers and coaches have intentions of doing a bit of work while away to keep players in condition but I must say I would prefer to see the players get a complete break. Two to three weeks break out of 52 is not asking for a lot and I feel the players would be the better for it when they return. Unfortunately not all teams get away at this time of year and it is back to the grindstone for these where the long winter nights of training seem as if they will never end. Will these teams see light at the end of the tunnel for all their efforts or it is just another case of competing for the sake of competing with no realistic goals set out to achieve? The top performers raised the bar even further last year and will do so again this year. Any team not likely to prepare properly will not survive. Remember - failing to plan is planning to fail. Money, Money, Money! Amateur v. professional After all the hype surrounding Rule 42 and the opening of Croke Park last year, I believe the most serious issue of all is now about to confront the organisation and that is payment for playing gaelic games. It is not going to go away too easy and let me explain why. The GPA have had this issue on their agenda for a long time now and as all other issues have since been dealt with, my gut feeling is that this is only gathering steam. Why? Professionalism has already taken a tight grip on gaelic games and for the last few years more and more people have become full time employees of the GAA. Let me add that most of these have been necessary appointments and have taken the popularity of our games to a new level, but the running of Croke Park has to be now treated as a business and in that business people are rewarded for their efforts by payment. Take for example a big match day when the stadium is full to the rafters and 80,000 patrons are being fed and watered - who is the winner here? You must also remember that Croke Park would not be full only for the players even though it is now generating a lot of income for everyone bar these same players. So then it is entirely natural that players who face increasing demands on and off the field have began to ask questions as to why they are not getting a share of the pot of gold. One issue that which the GAA seem to turn a blind eye to is the matter of payment to managers. You cannot seriously say that County Board officials are unaware that this is going on - some managers at every level are been paid and those same people who organise these structures are the ones who are against payment for players. It does seem unfair to me that players who train so hard and give so much of their time are not treated the same way as the managers. You cannot have one rule for one and another rule for others. There has to be uniformity in the approach and I am not saying that I agree with payment for players but let's put everyone on the same level first before this issue is addressed. Let's face it, payments to managers are happening all over the country and is common at club level where players have transferred under dubious circumstances. Some club coaches are been paid up to €200 per night for a training session and you can be sure it will be three times in a week with a game at the weekend. There are some guys out there with more clubs than Jack Nicklaus and this has increased the demands of everyone within the club on a playing front and also financially. It is a major worry for me going forward in that how long will clubs be able to sustain this. If you look further down the road when soccer and rugby matches are played at GAA headquarters, it is believed that an income of €1.5million will be generated per match and players will rightly question where is all this money going? My suggestion would be for the GPA to look for a percentage of gate receipts rather than pay for play. The big issue with pay for play is where it stops and how far will it go down the line. Would it reach the club scene and would it open up a transfer scene scenario with the bigger counties getting the cream of the crop. I certainly would not like to be supporting the Rebels with five players from other counties on board, even if the Corkman in me believes it would never need to happen given the talent we have! It is a topic of conversation which will generate a lot of debate over the next few weeks and months. It is not just going to go away and needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. But for now, let's look forward to another year of outstanding hurling, beginning with the National League and then the All-Ireland club semi-finals and final .We move on then to the summer nights, club activity and of course the provincial and All-Ireland series. I am really looking forward to it and I hope you are too! Tweet

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