IT’S TIME TO MOVE AWAY FROM OUTDATED FORMAT
Collins says crisis can force much-needed change on GAA
IN THE midst of an unprecedented crisis, Clare football manager Colm Collins believes an opportunity for change has presented itself to the GAA.
The Clare boss insists his team’s battle to avoid relegation from Division 2, currently suspended but with the expectation that it will not be completed, and a delayed Championship have been put in perspective by unfolding events off the field that have left a nation on a state of alert.
But he argues that when some form of normality resumes, the GAA should show some imagination by abandoning the provincial championships for one season and holding an open draw 32county competition.
‘This would be an ideal time to put the 32 counties into a hat,’ Collins told Sportsmail.
‘It would be the perfect way to go and I think that people would find it so appealing that it would be a fantastic move for the GAA financially.’
In his seventh season as Banner boss — he is the longest serving manager behind Tyrone’s Mickey Harte — Collins has been an outspoken critic of a provincial system that has hindered his county’s progress.
Despite taking Clare from Division 4 to 2 — they have been in the second tier for the last four seasons — the Munster Championship has remained barren ground.
In five out of six years, Clare have lost to Kerry in Munster, while in 2016 — after battling through the qualifiers to reach their first quarter-final — a cruel fate befell them when they drew the Kingdom for a second time that summer.
He believes a format that would free teams from the shackles of a provincial system — similar to the 1984 Centenary Cup when Meath and Monaghan contested the final — would capture the public imagination.
‘I would imagine a Championship with novel pairings would draw huge crowds and everybody would start out from the same place in terms of training.
‘Imagine Dublin having to train in the knowledge that they might draw Kerry in the first round of the Championship.
‘I think it would be fantastic. As it is, our Championship is loaded in favour of certain teams and in any other sport I don’t think this would continue but we seem to be happy with it.
‘This is a tremendous opportunity for this to happen,’ he insisted.
However, any such move would be vehemently opposed by provincial councils, where their championships serve as a primary source of revenue, but Collins, argues that Croke Park could fund the councils and allow the GAA to move on from a tired format.
‘It seems to me that provincial councils are stopping any sort of progression in this area and our games are suffering over this.
‘I don’t think it is good enough. The provincial councils are a good way of distributing money but they are stopping progress to a point and I don’t think they should be allowed to because it is detrimental to our games,’ argued Collins.
Apart from presenting a window to try out a new and exciting format, Collins also believes that the current crisis may offer an opportunity for the GAA to draw up with a fixtures blueprint for the future.
‘That has to happen this year. You are going to have knockout competitions. It is going to be tough in places especially where club players are used to having games every week, it is going to be tough on them.
‘When I played you had three or four League games and then you had one game in the Championship and if you got knocked out that was it, good luck and goodbye.
‘Look, we don’t want to return to that but we have to make the best out of a bad situation,’ added Collins.
Meanwhile, the Clare manager insisted his players were taking every precaution in terms of public health by operating to strict guidelines.
‘From the very start, we have had nothing but a max of two training together and we have adhered to that from the very start and that would appear to be the case in other counties, where people appear to be doing the same thing.
‘It is a max of two and as much as you can do on your own.
‘Everyone is on their GPS and a lot of these fellows would be very self-motivated anyway. They do a lot of work themselves. It is a tough time.
‘We will get over it and one they train in maximum groups of two and they keep social distancing they can get a lot done.
‘I suppose it is hard for them because they don’t know when there will be a return to action, but a lot of these fellows are selfmotivated so it is not a big problem.
‘It is important that we show great leadership and I think we are seeing that happening with players pleading with the public to stay apart.
‘The health of the nation is far more important,’ said Collins.
‘Imagine Dublin preparing for a first-round clash with Kerry’