Messages

Chairmen and committees need their heads looked at. They sanction the bullshit.
If clubs would spend the money developing their own people as coaches and investing in youth it would be more their line.
Educate the coaches/mentors, provide higher standard of coaching and development, produce better players and teams.

The thing is that when you hear about clubs paying lads hundreds of Euro to manage/coach/train teams, lads doing it for free feel foolish.

You see countless lads who put in countless hours in clubs and never getting a penny and then you see parasites getting paid ridiculous amounts because they have a a reputation or have some certificate in coaching to their name.

I'd be very interested to know have the revenue ever compiled a list of club and county managers and had a bit of a look at how tax compliant they all were. The reason I ask is that I always remember Mick O'Dwyer's defence when anyone mentioned payments to managers was that he had been audited by the Revenue a number of times and they had no problem with him. Of course this was a very slick defence because when people heard him say he was in good standing with the Revenue they assumed all was kosher even though being square with the Revenue  would only mean he had paid taxes on his earnings, not that he hadn't received any earnings or was complying with the GAA's rules on payments. Any reasonable accountant would have no problem making sure that any extra payments on top of mileage allowance were fully tax compliant no matter how large they were.

I'd love to see a rule that said the same rules apply to managers and coaches as apply to players - you have to be a member of a club and if you want to transfer between clubs the same rules as for players apply. Rather than lining these expensive managers/coaches, think about how much more money clubs would have on spending on improving facilities/providing gear for underage teams.

I wonder how far the GAA are from the idea of their own TV channel.

When you see something like IrishTV and consider the number of hours of content the GAA would have on a weekly basis, it seems a no-brainer to me.

From what I've seen of the plans and the proposed cost, it really looks like someone will be making a pretty penny for this.

I know stadiums are expensive yokes but this just seems mad stuff altogether.

There appears to be qute a lot of people on here talking a seriuous load of horse. On every [of the numerous] threads there has been on here about burnout I have asked for any evidence to show that players are leaving rthe game earlier than they did in the past. No one has as yet been ebale to furnish me with this evidence. I suspect that this is because it doesn't exist. Benny Coulter retiring at age 34??? after a 16 or 17 year career at senior county level is not evidence of 'burnout', I would argue that its quite the reverse.

Looking at the teams in this years AI SFC final as an example it doesnt strike me they were composed of a much younger age group than any previous group of players, and some of teir better performers have huge numbers in terms of championship appearences.

The only one talking out of their arse thus far is you.

This professional training is only in vogue a few years. The likes of Benny would only have seen maybe 5-6 years of it and he's in a better position then any of us to gauge what constitutes too much. As he played at this level.

Inter county commitments has been a 6 day a week event since the late 90s however the key factor is the load factor which is the volume and intensity of training you are doing.

That now is at breaking point. Because it is several higher in terms of intensity these days. You will see more inter county retirements in the next ten years of lads ranging from 25-28 then ever before. The evidence isn't there because the current group are the Test subjects.

Well there's no point in arguing with you then, as not only are you a S&C guru, but you can also tell the future!

Would the fact that so many Down lads have opted not to join the panel this year not be a case of burnout?? Marty Clarke has been working & living as a professional athlete for the last 5 odd years and even he won't commit to it. . . it's gone too far!!

On Marty Clarke - I did hear he has some sort of health condition (can't remember what it was - but it's something that would require managing)

However I agree with the overall point that things have gone too far and SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE !!!!!

I do agree that the ones pushing this are the professional getting paid on a per session basis. I know it would have close to zero chance of getting through Congress, but I'd love to see a rule that all county boards had to provide a detailed list of all payments to any individuals involved in the coaching/management of county teams.

Ref in the Omagh Slaughneil seems to be reffing the tackle on an "international rules" basis.

Any amount of dragging the player in possession seems to be allowed.

[Rugby concussion is going to be a far bigger issue IMO.]

Rugby concussion is going to be a far bigger issue IMO.

Not just concussion in rugby - was talking to one of the medical staff for one of the Irish provinces and he was saying that the first generation of professional rugby players are going to have an absolute raft of medical issues as they age, given the increased size and strength.  He was saying that the difference in terms of strength and the punishment the professional players take compared to the amateur rugby era is years apart and that it's likely to end up being responsible for a litany of medical problems down the line.

He was saying that if they follow the path of NFL players you are looking at seriously shortened lifespans - he had a stat that the current life expectancy for NFL players is almost 20 years less than for the average American male, which when you think about it is just mental.

That half goal chance sums up Ireland's problem.
Their instinct is not to expect a rugby tackle. As soon as they get close they bring you down. We still think jockey the man and don't dive in or give away a free. Our kicking is a bloody disgrace. Aidan O'Shea's close in free was a prime example.
Can you imagine travelling all the way from the East coast to Perth to watch that performance.
It's like watching the Dubs play Carlow in Leinster. Half the crowd will stay in the bar for the second half.
BTW normally I like watching this sport but thankfully I don't know any Aussies in Dublin any more.
Hopefully we hammer them in the rugby.

As far as I can see this is basically Aussie Rules with a round ball in terms of tactics and approach.

For the Irish players it's an entirely different game especially in terms of tactics; but for the Aussies the only difference is the round ball replaces the oval.

I don't agree with that at all. Its still far more difficult to execute AFL with a round ball.

The tactics are very poor - we didn't flood midfield early on. We missed some easy frees - Colm O Neill had two woeful efforts. Aidan O Se the same. He butchered a five man overlap- that is nothing to to do with the rules. Ciaram Mc Donald the same.

I wouldn't give the Irish any leeway for an excuse when the execution of basic skills is so so poor.

Oh yeah - I'd agree about some awful performances out there (a real lack of game intelligence being displayed by a fair few big names) in terms of the basic skills.

You'd have to wonder if Paul Earley will ever be given a role with a football team ever again after this

Stat from Twitter

Australia have kicked the ball 84 times. We've kicked it 58.

Have to think that this will completely kill the series dead - really can't see many lads wanting to face the Aussies in the future, especially if there is no trip to Oz on offer.

That half goal chance sums up Ireland's problem.
Their instinct is not to expect a rugby tackle. As soon as they get close they bring you down. We still think jockey the man and don't dive in or give away a free. Our kicking is a bloody disgrace. Aidan O'Shea's close in free was a prime example.
Can you imagine travelling all the way from the East coast to Perth to watch that performance.
It's like watching the Dubs play Carlow in Leinster. Half the crowd will stay in the bar for the second half.
BTW normally I like watching this sport but thankfully I don't know any Aussies in Dublin any more.
Hopefully we hammer them in the rugby.

As far as I can see this is basically Aussie Rules with a round ball in terms of tactics and approach.

For the Irish players it's an entirely different game especially in terms of tactics; but for the Aussies the only difference is the round ball replaces the oval.

"His towering rages, the way be behaves, the constant craving for publicity. The guy would walk over crushed glass to get to a mic."

No he's not talking about himself - pot kettle and black etc!!

Joe has very accurately described himself there.

I am Joe's complete lack of awareness.

It's not just a case of the pot calling the kettle black - I'd say it's almost a case of the kettle calling another kettle a kettle.

Anyone know if Joe's been back on RTE Radio since he had the row with Des Cahill during the summer?

[Connaught]

GAA Beo
Sunday, November 09 @ 13:30

Live coverage of Kilmallock (Limerick) v Sarsfields (Cork) in the Munster Hurling Club Championships Semi-Final from Fitzgerald Park and deferred coverage of Ballintober (Mayo) v St. Brigids (Roscommon) in the Connaught Club Football Championships from McHale Park. Presented by Micheál Ó Domhnaill with commentary by Brian Tyers.

Black card offence 

Hoping Naomh Bríd do the business.

I agree but this was cut straight from the TG4 site...should even be a red!

Looks like the TG4 folk are having language difficulties........

I'll see myself out

So do you really think 2 referees will make it better?

That would be a big yes - have you read my posts???

Why should we take it for what it is?, why not make it better.  He who fails to innovate gets left behind

My big problem with 2 refs is what happens when they disagree over something - who gets final say then?

Do you end up with 2 refs battering each over "it was a penalty; it wasn't a penalty"

I'd like to see umpires and linesmen being given more responsibility and more blame when mistakes are made. Compared to referees they seem to get off scott free pretty much all the time especially at intercounty level.

Ooohhh. Where's that michael Jackson popcorn gif?

The Conor Motrimer  one ? 

Agree Eamonn. This is not about brolly.

This is about the
-lack of transparency on GPA finance and operations,
-lack of info on GPA projects and results,
-lack of transparency on the GPA awards - and scholarships plus the recipients and award criteria/reasons ( although for players it seems ex players are scholarship recipients also - leading to suggestions of 'jobs for the boys/clique')

The GPA stands for intercounty players, those that are members.

As we have learned from successive governments in this country and the jobs for the boys methods they employ- we need to have transparency to ensure there is no corrupt practices and in doing so eradicate most begrudgery!

Exactly - I don't have any real issue with the GPA looking after intercounty players (I'd prefer if they were doing something about all players) but the fact that there is such a complete lack of transparency about their operations when there is stories about annual junkets to New York is a massive worry.

We've seen in the Irish charity sector folk who have no problem paying themselves ridiculous salaries - it would be a shame if the GAA became infected with the same sort of mindset

There's no mention of any financial records anywhere on the GPA site.