DAVY PLAYS THE WAITING GAME
Davy adhering to training guidelines
WEXFORD SENIOR hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald is hopeful there will be a light after all this darkness.
The pandemic may have stripped most of life’s simple pleasures from us during the past ten miserable months, but Fitzgerald says he is a firm believer in the word ‘hope’ as it’s one he always carries with him.
This is what the communities in each and every county have been sustained by, ever since the shortened club and inter-county championships were eventually completed last year.
But already this year ‘doubt’ is replacing the word ‘hope’ as the country still struggles with a now-rampant Covid-19.
One had hoped once the new year emerged there would be light, but already the GAA inter-county scene has been altered.
Squads were due to commence training on January 16/17, but that start-up date is already deferred to the end of the month at least, which suggests a delayed start to the Allianz National League campaigns which are due to commence on the last weekend of February.
Now Fitzgerald says he will sit at home and await a call from Croke Park with regards to what the future holds.
‘We are in the middle of a pandemic, so it’s a case of wait and see. We will just plough on with individual training, the boys will train individually. I have not met them as a group since the Clare game.’
With the fate of the Walsh Cup and O’Byrne Cup competitions already decided, and the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cups hanging in the balance, Fitzgerald believes an early call on the National Leagues in both hurling and football would be of huge benefit to the counties.
Nothing has been ruled in or out yet, but with squad training deferred by two weeks at least, looking at the situation from a practical point of view, it’s now believed the league start-up will be pushed back.
That in turn will leave question marks over future start-up dates, not just for the inter-county championship, but also the club championships afterwards.
‘Whatever happens regards squad training, it will be the same for everyone. It’s impossible to say in this moment and time what will happen,’ Fitzgerald added.
The Sixmilebridge man said they would adhere to the training guidelines as laid down by Croke Park and will await further developments over the coming weeks.
GAA chiefs have warned of stiff penalties for inter-county teams who break the extended collective training ban. The GAA will review the situation on January 31 when current Level 5 restrictions run out in the Republic.
In a letter to County Boards, GAA Director General Tom Ryan said that any breaches of the collective training ban would be treated as ‘misconduct considered to have discredited the Association’.
This could see individual or team bans of at least eight weeks, with debarment and expulsion also possible, along with fines or the deduction of league points. Already four counties are under investigation for alleged breaches of the ban.
Last year the GAA initially fudged the question of punishments for counties who breach the collective training ban. They later came out and said that counties who breached the rules would be kicked out of the championship.
In his latest email to counties, Ryan said: ‘I fully appreciate the frustrations these additional restrictions may place on our inter-county players and management teams. However, the safety of everyone in the game and indeed the broader community has to be our primary focus.
‘It has never been more important for our players, coaches and officials to follow both the Government guidelines and our own provisions around training.’
Collective inter-county training is not now permitted until February at the earliest, and Fitzgerald will be adhering rigidly to the guidelines.