Louth captain feels club action should resume before county

LOUTH captain Bevan Duffy wants club football to be given priority when - and if - the GAA season resumes, but he insists the safety of players and their families has to be the chief concern before a ball is kicked again in anger.

The season was suspended prior to Louth’s trip to Cork for a game that, in all likelihood, would have rubber-stamped their relegation to Division 4, but even back then, when the coronavirus crisis was in its infancy, players were concerned.

‘To be honest football is the last thing on my mind at the moment,’ reveals the St Fechin’s man. ‘We talked about it as a squad before the Cork game [which was subsequently postponed] and a few of the lads had genuine concerns.

‘Obviously a lot of lads live with their parents, which could be a problem in terms of bringing it [coronavirus] back into the home, but you’ll also have guys who have parents, grandparents or even kids with underlying conditions - not just in the Louth squad, but all over the country and in club teams too.

‘So can you ask them to re-join collective training or even to take part in a match where obviously there’s physical contact. There’s a much bigger picture here. Over a thousand people have died, so everything outside of that is secondary stuff. There’s far more to worry about than a few games of football.’

However, Duffy recognises that the show will have to go on at some stage, and when it does he believes clubs should come first.

‘I think the priority has to be club players,’ he says. ‘You can’t have an entire county of club players held back by 30 to 35 lads on a

THERE’S A MUCH BIGGER PICTURE HERE. MORE THAN A THOUSAND PEOPLE HAVE DIED, SO EVERYTHING OUTSIDE OF THAT IS SECONDARY STUFF. THERE’S FAR MORE TO WORRY ABOUT THAN A FEW GAMES OF FOOTBALL.

county panel, so I think clubs have to be the first ones to get back up and running. That might be the way it naturally happens anyway because crowds at club games are smaller.

‘But look, it all depends on when the green light is given and how much time is left. For me they have to prioritise the clubs, so maybe club championships and then an inter-county championship a bit later when the restrictions have been eased a bit more.

‘I think there will be a [All-Ireland] Championship, but when and in what form, I just don’t know. It’ll be all down to time too. No one wants to be playing championship in December and you don’t want one season running into the next. But it’s all guesswork at this stage.’

When football does resume, Duffy feels player welfare has to be paramount, even aside from the threat of COVID-19.

‘We had a GPA call last week and they were gauging the feeling out there about it all. I suppose the main thing is they can’t just go straight back into games. There will have to be a period of at least two weeks because you have to consider player welfare in terms of match fitness. We’re ticking over at the moment, but there’s practically no ball involved in that. You’ll need a run-in or lads will be pulling up injured all over the place.’

As trivial as football and training seem at the moment, Duffy and his Louth teammates have to keep the engine oiled in anticipation of the season resuming - whenever that might be.

But training solo with no real target is pretty much the polar opposite of what GAA players are used to.

‘It’s very strange. You just have to keep on top of things yourself and make sure you’re doing the right kind of training. You get out of the house twice a week to do speed and agility sessions and Ciaran Sloane sends us strength and conditioning programmes. I brought an indoor rower home from work too, so outside of the stuff they’ve set out for us you do what you can.

‘You have to find different ways to motivate yourself, but the GPS helps because the management get a report of that.

‘We usually can see each other’s GPS stats after a game and there’d be a bit of craic and banter, but at the moment you’re on your own and you only see your own reports.

‘So it’s mainly speed and strength. You can get out for the odd run too, but if you start doing