Breaking country up spoils the magic
O’Brien’s tiered All-Ireland fears...
EVEN as RTÉ were readying themselves for the live Football Championship draw on Thursday night, Carlow manager Turlough O’Brien was in an adjoining studio in Montrose talking about how a lesson could be learned from across the water.
Not from the excesses of English soccer but from how the Premier League is the most consistent guide to a team’s standing and how the FA Cup brings the whiff of romance and old-world upset.
With RTÉ compiling clips to explain the brave new world of the GAA, with a Super 8s format to feature in 2018 — a group stage at the All-Ireland football quarter-finals for the top eight teams, split in two groups of four — O’Brien hopes it’s not ultimately a bridge to a two-tier Championship when the threeyear trial elapses.
Yet, that is the idea, hinted at by director general Paraic Duffy recently.
‘I’m not in favour of it at all, I’m absolutely against it to be honest,’ said O’Brien, who, if he had his way, would flip the GAA season as it stands on its head.
‘To me, the National Football League is the most important competition — maybe it should be played in the summer.
‘I think we play teams at our level in the League. Championship football is all about the big day, it’s like the FA Cup or cups in any sport where the minnow plays against the big fish and one day you are going to take one of them out.
‘That’s the magic of Championship football and that’s why big crowds go to these games, even though their county has no chance of winning the All Ireland. It’s very important for these counties that they have that profile.
‘If there was a B Championship, or a four-tier championship like there is in hurling, would you [media] lads be interviewing me now for the Lory Meagher equivalent in football? I don’t think you would be. That’s the difference.
‘The Carlow hurlers operate in the Christy Ring Cup and one of the players tweeted during the summer there, that all of the focus was on the Carlow footballers because we were playing Dublin. And I could see where he is coming from, because those fellas are operating at a high level too, but because it was the Christy Ring Cup, they don’t get the exposure we were actually getting by playing Dublin.
‘If you want to grow the game in all the counties, you must have days like the Championship days and I don’t see how you can do that in a tiered championship.’
That’s irrespective of Dublin embarrassing Longford by 27 points in 2015. O’Brien remains bullish after parking the bus against the All-Ireland champions in Leinster this year and keeping the scoreline to a respectable 0-19 to 0-7.
Carlow’s Shaun Murphy was named Man of the Match in that game against the eventual champions and yet, a Carlow team who also pushed Monaghan to the brink had no representation in the All-Stars. This, O’Brien believes, is enough reason to overhaul the scheme. He wants to broaden the selection process so every county gets at least a single nomination.
‘I think it is a recognition of the best players in the country — but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the team that wins the All-Ireland or contests the All-Ireland have 12 of the best players in the country. Every county has topclass footballers and if you are operating in Division 3 or Division 4, how are you going to get a nomination? ‘You could operate at centre half-back with Carlow for 12 years, at the top of your game. You could be Man of the Match in the National Football League games and never come on the radar of the All-Star selectors and that’s not right.’
His suggestion would mean increasing the number of nominations from 45.
‘The pitch at half-time of the Carlow-Monaghan game was covered in young kids with Carlow jerseys on their back. The terrace was covered in Carlow jerseys. We haven’t seen that in a long time in Carlow.
‘People are talking about wanting to play for Carlow now and the proof of the pudding might be in the attendance at the Cúl Camps, absolutely rocketed during the summer, so it has a huge knock-on effect,’ O’Brien added.
‘I think the GAA need to be cognisant of that, that they don’t chase this extreme elitism of the top four teams of Dublin, Kerry, Tyrone, Mayo and forget about the rest of us.
‘I think it has to be respected that we are entitled to our day in the Championship.’
With a buzz around the replayed county final between Éire Óg and Rathvilly this weekend, he said the rising tide of the summer’s campaign has lifted all boats. ‘There is now nearly a queue of lads wanting to get into the county panel, to try out,’ he admitted.
Not that Carlow will find it easy in their first round Leinster match next summer against Louth, with the winners to play Kildare. Or in terms of gaining promotion from Division 4 next spring.
‘I think a Division 1 team would struggle in Division 4 in February and March — bad pitches and bad weather, it’s a real equaliser. I’m not saying we are any better than the other teams but it’s a dogfight down there and I’m sure the likes of Wicklow — we beat them last year — I’m sure they are waiting to get Carlow.
‘There’s no doubt about that, promotion would be a massive step forward for us.’