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can't remember anyone every addressing themselves as the spokensperson for the GAA so I don't know WTF you are talking about. Once again a "I'll not have a bad word spoke about the players" post.

Nonsense, both this year and last a number of posters claimed to be speaking for the grassroots of the GAA which is rubbish, secondly every poster that has supported the players readily admits there are issues with the players also but IMO the players are simply using the only weapon in their arsenal when backed into a corner. You seem incapable of reading between the lines here, Gerald McCarthy isn't the real problem, though I've no doubt the players aren't impressed with him as a coach, it is the CB. There are obviously serious, unresolvable issues here and the attitude of the players may not be helping the issue but I have nothing but admiration for a group of players who are willing to stand and fight for waht they believe in regardless of how they might be percieved by the public. When this issue arose again the players could easily have said well just get on with it or retire because the public won't support another 'strike' but they didn't. They took the more difficult path and are once again going to bat for Cork hurling, they are fighting for what they believe is right and if that sully's their reputations then so be it. I know only too well what it is like to deal with 'democratically' elected GAA officials who neither want nor know how to achieve success on the field but won't support others who do. Like I've said before I don't know enough about the details of this fight but I'll certainly defend the players against foul mouthed abuse and scurrilous accusations from internet warriors who know little and do less themselves.

Clearly John Allen might naturally favour the players, however I don't think he would publicly come out against the CB unless he truely believed they shared plenty of the blame. So to dismiss his article on the basis that it would be biased is ridiculous, the problem here is the same as it was last year, some lads lose the ability to reasonably debate an issue if 'player power' is involved. I remember having this debate last year and the anti-player brigade styled themselves as representitive of the grassroots GAA man (whoever the f**k he is), they also accussed the players of doing this for money, limelight or power without a shred of evidence. They abused the players on a public forum without one solid fact to support their foul mouthed abuse and anyone who defended the players had to have some kind of agenda. Well lo and behold 12 months on and many of the same lads are spouting the same factless shit in the same arrogant way. Ye accuse the players of being arrogant for presuming to speak for Cork hurling while ye presume to speak for the whole GAA community. There is certainly blame on all sides but a lot of posters around here need to engage their brains before they post on this topic, because quite simply ye clearly don't know what ye are talking about.

An opinion piece by John Allen in today's Irish Times, he is a bit at odds with many of the posters around here in that he supports the players.

Authoritarian board to blame for latest crisis
Tue, Nov 04, 2008

GAELIC GAMES THE CORK HURLING DISPUTE:Former Cork hurling manager , John Allen,argues the Cork players and Gerald McCarthy are not villains of the piece but are the victims of a county board power/revenge agenda

THE GENETIC make-up of Cork people includes a gene that's not willing to conform, apparently. From where did we inherit the title Rebels? We're the most decorated sports county in the country and very proud of this fact, and maybe our rebellious traits have helped to keep us at the forefront in a highly competitive, changing sports world.

Our present senior hurlers, just a short time back, were the market leaders. Generations of other great hurlers were also the market leaders in their time. But times change and we, as a people, either change with them or we get left behind in the maelstrom.

The hurlers of the early 2000s weren't satisfied with the Cork County Board's support in the organisation and preparation of the intercounty teams. A stand-off ensued with the resultant concessions by the board. The next four years saw this team play in four All-Ireland finals. I had seen, at close quarters, the beginning of the development of this team in early summer '99 to a watershed on All-Ireland final day 2006. This was the day when the empire began to strike back.

Thirteen championship game wins on the trot, four Munster finals, winning three, four All-Ireland final appearances and two wins weren't good enough, apparently. No, the word filtering back from on high was that the time for change was nigh. It was time to dismantle this efficient, well-structured, successful management team and bring in a new backroom team who would bring a return to the traditional Cork style and even more success would follow.

The most important cog in the wheel was allowed leave without any acknowledgement of the hugely significant role he played in the success of the previous four years and very little effort was made to keep him involved. The team trainer, Seanie McGrath, played the key role in the preparation of the team in those glory days. He was a fitness expert, dietician, nutritionist, psychologist, funny man, and friend to each and every one of the players. He made the team tick. But he was let go by a board who refused to recognise his importance.

Gerald McCarthy, with a remarkable CV, was the new chosen one. There couldn't be any argument about his hurling and management background. I can't make reasonable comment on his coaching over the past two years because I haven't seen any of the training sessions. But one of the iconic figures in Cork's long hurling history now finds himself in an unenviable position. He is a pawn in a power struggle.

There was a well-documented, avoidable stand-off between the county board and the footballers and hurlers of the county last winter. If the board engaged in a meaningful way with the players that whole sad episode could have been avoided.

Now less than a year later, a similar, totally avoidable, stalemate again exists.

Part of the deal brokered with the board last year included an agreement in which the players would have two members on the seven-man committee to pick the next manager. I personally don't think the players should be involved in the process of picking the manager but such is the lack of transparency in the system in Cork that the players probably felt "a friend in court" would be very important .

But even the friend in court wasn't going to be enough to ensure that this new committee would work in an open and fair way. Why wasn't a list of candidates drawn up, their interest in the position ascertained and a series of interviews held? Even if the board were set on reappointing Gerald McCarthy they could have still gone through this sham process, held a vote of the seven-man committee and won.

The players then couldn't have any complaint with the process, which is at the core of their problem with the board.

Now the players and Gerald McCarthy are being portrayed as the villains of the piece. They're not the villains. They're the victims. The real perpetrators of this latest crisis are the board, which again, is operating from an authoritarian, immature position.

For too long there has been dysfunction at the highest level. Structures and policies need to be in place so that the leaders can't become more important that the organisation itself.

It is nothing short of a disgrace that this present conflict is allowed to happen. Some of our greatest sporting heroes are at each other's throats because the organisation once again refused to engage reasonably and maturely with all the interested parties.

I can vouch for the integrity of this present group of Cork hurlers. Three of the player leaders, Seán Óg (Ó hAilpín), Dónal Óg (Cusack) and John Gardiner, are people of the highest calibre. They are honourable, decent reasonable people. They are willing to put their careers on the line again for the betterment of the future generations of Cork hurlers. They don't want to pick the manager but they do want to have all the available, interested, best-qualified candidates allowed to pitch for the position before a committee which has the betterment of Cork hurling at heart and not some power or revenge agenda. That is the core of this issue.

There is now a complete lack of trust on both sides. This has been steadily gathering momentum since the first strike but is far worse now.

I think any future committees to pick managers should perhaps consist of a former player, captain, manager, board chairman, present board representative and be chaired by somebody with no ties to the GAA.

Gerald McCarthy has nothing to prove to the Cork sporting public yet he is being publicly humiliated in a battle that never needed to be fought.

It very much looks like a point of no return has been reached. The solution isn't anywhere on the horizon yet. There will be a resolution but I hope it's before too much more blood is let.

Maybe a proper revolution is needed this time.

© 2008 The Irish Times

Look, we all know it's a makey uppy game and has no chance of expanding beyond its current position but so what? I can't understand why anyone with an interest in the GAA would be against playing this game, I can understand that some lads don't think it is much of a spectacle but why anyone would wish it to end is beyond my comprehension. As far as I can see the series is full of positives with no real negatives.

Lyng goin back to play for his club was his own persoanl choice and for that i won't criticise the lad. But in all seriousness he shouldn't have had to make this choice. No club player in Ireland should be ask to choose between their club and country. There are not many other sports in the world that would ak their players to do this. Especially an organistion founded on nationalistic and cultural principles.  The choice is a direct contradiction of the founding principles.These principles in essence come from the clubs, neglect the clubs and you will see serious problems for the future.

Just seeing your post now, I agree with this part of it. But nobody is grasping the nettle that is grossly inefficient county boards parking their club programmes for weeks at a time every summer while their county team is involved in championship. Even in Cavan where we were out in round one of the qualifiers, our county SFC final was played in mid-October! I ask you, with scheduling like that is it any wonder there's a clash between club/International Rules/Interpros every year?

And then everyone cries for competitions to be abolished when a bit of tighter scheduling and strict policing by Croke Park would solve all the problems at a stroke.

Correct, I meant to post that myself earlier but didn't get the chance. Again this GAA trait of blaming someone else for our own mistakes and never taking responsibility for our own failings raises its head. Today is the 31st of October and most clubs have been training since Jan/Feb so who's fault is this clash of competitions the IR or the CB's? Today was a great sporting occasion and something that meant a great deal to all involved I'm sure. It's not perfect and has no future other than these annual..ish meetings, but so what? It is the best we have at the moment and allows our best players to compete for Ireland. It also gives our players and administrators a free trip to Australia every second year or so and they all deserve that, yes even the administrators. I give out about CB's more than most but every administrator out in Australia is fully deserving of this 'bonus', it is too easy for critics of this game to suggest it is only a free junket for the 'suits' but what have these same keyboard warriors ever done? At least all those suits have stood up and actually tried to develop the GAA, not simply spew all the answers from the comfort of their armchairs. This series is, by and large, a good thing for the GAA and is the least of our problems as an organisation.

I don't know what the protocol for this type of thing is but she is entitled to clarification on her position and the attitude of her fellow CB members was disgraceful IMO. Accrding to the chairman they had more pressing matters to deal with and maybe they do but how difficult is it to clarify who is entitled to the dressing room and why? If I was her I'd be well pissed off that an issue that was important to me was swatted away in such a disrespectful manner, she is the county PRO afterall and that should entitle her to at least an reasonable answer to her query.

Second test starts @8.45am.

No Zap, I don't think someone who likes the game can't see poor passages of play for what they are, I like the game but I didn't think yesterday's game was great.

Jinxy, like I said above I didn't think yesterday's game was particularly good either but there was passages of very good football, not unlike many of this year's championship games.

They did that for generations down here too.

Jinxy you don't like IR so you don't see much merit in the game, if you didn't like American football you could ask an NFL fan to point out some good passages of play and still not be impressed if you just don't like the game. But any fair minded fan of football would have to admit the build up to Cavanagh's goal was brilliant and the Aussie's created and scored some amazing 'overs'. Much of what Glynn did was very impressive also but if you don't like the game you don't like the game.

No, why would you? Both teams are playing football are they not and there were some great passages of play though over all it was a fairly average sporting occasion.

On that Aussie website they are calling our lads pussy's which is a bit harsh IMO but there can be no doubt we have veered towards the soccer 'simulation' malarky and staying down when we should really be getting up and on with it.

I'd be inclined to give McDonnell a rest, I thought he was poor.

It wasn't a brilliant spectacle by any means but as the game went on it became better and was fairly entertaining, the second test should be much more exciting. I would however disagree with your assumption that the poor Irish technique was down to being 'tense' there were plenty of examples of Irish players messing up basics from frees or mark situations. The lack of movement when on the ball of our players was also particularly striking and that had nothing to do with the rules but the IR punished our lads staticness more than football does.

It's always the same after an Ulster teams wins the All Ireland, people bemoan the general standards of Gaelic football

And it's always the same with some Ulster posters around here who think the world revolves around them. Take your head out of your ass for feck sake, those of us bemoaning the standard of football skills aren't referring to any particular county or any particular year.