Croke Park must heed the words of two top managers
EFFECTIVELY, this last week, Jim Gavin and Eamon Fitzmaurice have accused one another’s teams of ‘cheating.’ Neither used the ‘c’ word, but by calling out illegal tactics in defence, and the strong-arming of one another’s best forwards, they have announced with one voice that Dublin and Kerry have worked their way to the top by breaking the rules of the game.
Their very public spat has been interesting, and historic.
To have two of the most high profile managers in Gaelic football strip bare each other’s teams in the countdown to a national final has been amazing to watch and to hear. And also watching have been the ‘Bosses of Bosses’ in the GAA.
But for how long can Paraic Duffy and his lieutenants listen to this carry-on without stepping in?
We have Gavin and Fitzmaurice making serious allegations about the behaviour of each other’s teams − surely the GAA’s upper ranks might think it appropriate to enquire if there is anything to what has been laid down on both doorsteps?
Of course, the silence from Croke Park’s officialdom is not one bit suprising − and indeed tells its own story.
As an organisation, the GAA is accustomed to a blatant disregard for the rules of its games. Every so often the organisation takes a dramatic stand, and trials sin-bins, and an array of coloured cards (as is the case at this very moment), but in truth a laissez-faire attitude to the complete indiscipline and rule-breaking of our greatest teams does not budge one inch.
It’s three weeks since Dublin and Kerry drew in an ugly and mean-spirited game in Tralee in Round 6 of the Allianz League, and here we are awaiting the arrival of both teams in today’s final, and in between not a word has been issued by anyone entrusted by Croke Park to bring law and order to the game.
We have not even had a clearing of the throat as Gavin and Fitzmaurice took turns aiming their accusations at one another.
Tomorrow’s game is expected to be another tempestuous meeting, and we fully expect both sets of defenders to employ loose and often illegal tactics in limiting forwards from playing to their fullest potential.
We expect to see pulling and dragging.
We fully expect at least one melee in which players will wrestle one another to the ground and will have to be picked apart by colleagues.
We don’t expect any eye-gouging, though that too has been a feature of past meetings between Dublin and Kerry − with the Dublin defenders in past instances denying any malicious or conscious intent.
Neither do we expect Dublin’s backs to take a bite out of one or two Kerry forwards, though the Metropolitans stand accused of such behaviour in recent seasons. Only when our best teams decide to eat one another alive has the GAA really arched its back and attempted to take action for the good (and the future) of Gaelic football.
Unfortunately, our game’s rulers only take action when its too late, and when behaviour has truly reached a barbaric level. They don’t listen to warnings, and this last week they have not paid any heed to the words of two of the most trusted and accomplished managers in the country.