Breheny: Managers didn’t need training lecture from GPA
Bans have been ignored in past but surely no one was going to gamble now
SOME moments are just too good to miss, yet we have to miss them. One such priceless example emerged late last week as a direct consequence of the plague that has swept across the world.
Wouldn’t you have loved to be in the vicinity of Brian Cody and Mickey Harte when they opened up their emails to find the inbox contained a lecture from the GPA on the importance of adhering to the training ban imposed following the GAA’s games closedown.
They weren’t the only recipients of course – the GPA’s missive was delivered to all inter-county managers – but one suspects that Cody and Harte, who between them have been in charge of Kilkenny hurlers and Tyrone footballers respectively for a total of 40 seasons, would be less than impressed by diktats from any source on how to treat their players in this new and bewildering situation. The same applies to other managers, irrespective of their experience.
Despite that, the GPA deemed it necessary to issue a statement, urging everyone to “show leadership and play our role and hold ourselves accountable for our actions for the betterment of our communities.”
Prohibited
It emphasised that “all collective training, collective gym session and collective team meetings are strictly prohibited throughout this period” and pointed out that players would have no insurance cover if there were breaches.
They also warned of other possible consequences, including the impact on an entire squad if one player became infected with coronavirus.
It was all quite sensible and responsible, but it also raises some questions. This was before the announcement of a near-blanket ban on social interaction, so did the GPA fear that in the less stringent circumstances, some managers would attempt to ignore the instruction to cease squad training?
Did they suspect that players would ignore the risks and train away in the hope that their fitness levels would be more advanced than others whenever the action resumes?
Obviously, it has gone well past that serious point now to a stage where no one would contemplate collective training. Hopefully, this is a one-off to be consigned to history when the current crisis passes, but there are lessons to be learned too in terms of how rules on training are observed.
If the GPA felt it necessary to contact managers in order to reinforce the importance of adhering to a complete closedown, they obviously suspected there would be breaches.
It’s a pity they haven’t been as proactive over the years in responding to numerous cases of counties breaking the regulations on return-to-training dates and pre-championship camps overseas and at home.
There are strict guidelines on when squads are permitted to return after the championship (November 15 and December 1 last year, depending on when a county exited the All-Ireland race), but everyone knows they are being broken.
In fairness to Croke Park, there is little they can do as transgressions are very difficult to prove.
In effect, it’s a rule that the counties sign up to, only to happily ignore it on the basis that their neighbours are training and they don’t want to allow them a headstart for the new season.
Pre-championship training camps – either at home or overseas – are not permitted except for 10 days prior to a game, but that too has been flouted on a regular basis. So too with the rule on challenge games, which are only permitted on Monday/Tuesday/ Wednesday in April/May.
No fewer than 17 counties were investigated for various breaches in 2018, when some of the explanations were farcical. Despite that, Wexford
Wouldn’t you have loved to be near Brian Cody or Mickey Harte when they opened up their emails to find a lecture?
escaped censure after successfully arguing that a pre-championship trip to Portugal was organised by the players and had nothing to do with the county board.
Dublin’s even more fanciful reasoning (they were visiting war memorials apparently) for the footballers’ trip to France/Belgium was also accepted.
As for ‘illegal’ challenge matches, two counties insisted (separately of course and without consultation!) that their coming together wasn’t actually for a game but rather a joint training session. In another instance, two counties wore club jerseys in an attempt to avoid detection.
All of this required collusion between squads, managers and county boards, who were obviously happy to maintain the charade despite the rules being introduced to shorten the season for inter-county players, make more room for club activity and cut down on costs.
The GPA must have known what was going on, yet remained silent. Breaking the training ban now in what is such a fraught time for everybody would, of course, be incalculably more serious and obviously the GPA leadership felt they needed to make that point.
It suggests that they don’t trust management very much. Really though, do they believe that managers are so irresponsible as to attempt to continue training during one of the biggest challenges the country has ever seen? That’s taking it a stretch too far.