CONDENSED SCHEDULE IS HURTING US
Kearns: programme is flawed
TIPPERARY football manager Liam Kearns has called for an ‘immediate review’ of the GAA’s condensed intercounty season, claiming it is not a ‘fair playing field’.
As Croke Park sought to get the Allianz Leagues back on track, after last weekend’s freeze-out, by publishing a tweaked schedule with hurling and football League finals played on the weekend of March 31/April 1, Kearns warned bigger trouble lay ahead, insisting the inter-county season has become too tight for its own good.
‘I think we are trying to get too many games played in too short a period of time and that has been shown now that you are going to end up with the two National League finals being played on the same weekend,’ he said.
‘And if there is one more disruption it will go into April.’
The problems, though, extend beyond a condensed inter-county season with Kearns claiming that the load placed on inter-county players coming off a frantic League programme and going straight into club Championship action in April is too much.
And he also believes that the lack of ‘uniformity’ which will see some counties, like his own, play club championship in both codes during April — designated as a ‘club only’ month — while others play League games has created a lop-sided playing field in terms of preparing teams for the Championship.
Under GAA rule, clubs are entitled to exclusive access to players for championship games, but managers from counties with no club Championship assignments will have access to their players during the month of April.
‘Who knows what is going to come out of that with the way that fixtures have been condensed, players are going to be under massive pressure and we don’t know how we are going to be fixed until April is over.
‘Croke Park has basically decided to let every county do their own thing and what that means is that before a ball is even kicked in the Championship there are certain counties who are going to have advantage over others.
Meanwhile, Carlow could be the big losers after the GAA revealed yesterday that the Division 4 football final will be moved back a week.
The decision to play the decider on the weekend of April 7/8 is to allow for the bottom tier to catch up on outstanding fixtures with the London/ Leitrim and Laois/Antrim games slated for March 31, which was the initial date for the final. The crunch Laois/Antrim promotion clash, which fell victim to last weekend’s bad weather, could not be re-secheduled for this weekend as Laois had already booked their trip to London for Sunday’s clash with the Exiles. But Carlow, who along with Laois have a 100 per cent record after four rounds, could be at a huge disadvantage and could see their promotion bid decided by the outcome of the Laois/ Antrim fixture, having completed their League programme a week earlier.