Sean Og wants pay for play

[A Quinn Martin Production]

Abu Dhabi - 29 April 2020

Sponsors Goldman Sachs confirmed today that there will be no relegation from the 4 team GPA Premiership in the coming season, due to start in September to coincide with the Champions League timetable.  This will please the Cork Red Sox who recently announced the signing of Sean Og Cavanagh and Peader Og Canavan from rivals Tryone Red Hands.  Dub Blue Stars and Kerry Kerrygolds the other teams that make up the Premiership are said to be content with the decision.

When asked what this meant for the footballers of Longford the GAA President Sir Fred Goodwin said "f**k them, nobody wants losers about the place but we may consider opening a place for Bahrain St Abdullah's next year."

[INDIANA]

It's hardly surprising that a lot of players would like to be paid. I'd like to be paid for playing tennis as badly as I do. But that doesn't mean it would be the right decision for Tennis Ireland to start paying people like me (even though I entertain countless dozens of people with the way I play).

That would be great fun to watch, you and I must meet in Carrigaline for a game before I go!  But seriously, the difference between your ananlogy and Indiana's is that Tennis Ireland and the Irish Rowing Association will not generate millions per annum on the back of the sports, the GAA will generate that amount of money with inter county squads, as will associated companies like O'Neill's and the various different sponsors.  While it is right to ensure that players are looked after, is that really enough to compensate them for what they do.  Of course it is an honour to play for your county but you have to work hard to get there.  It is an honour for Brian O'Driscoll to captain his country to a Grand Slam but did he do it just for the honour?  Bullshit, he is good at what he does and gets handsomly rewarded.

The commitments of the current inter county player, and for that matter a player on a top club side, have changed dramtically in the least 15 years.  When this question comes up on the board I often wonder how many of the nay sayers have played at a decent level to understand the commitment that is required and the abuse on your body that this involves?  I know AZ has played at a decent level but that was before the way things are done now.  I know 1 or 2 others do so at the minute and they are of the opinion that more money should be fed back to the players.  Full pay for play is unsustainable but a structured payment system backed by the sponsors and a central body should be implemented.  This should incorporate things like a basic wage, fringe benefits to include gym membership, health care cover(to continue after they retire) and other individual bonuses like sponsored cars etc.  So long as it is carefully monitored and a proper structure put in place I think it would work.

I am well aware of the requirements today- I don't think I need to put the teams I was fortunate to play for and coach as a justification for my opinion. And the point you're missing is you can't get a little bit pregnant.
Same way you can't pay players a little bit. You either do it or you don't. And when you start you can't stop. What you're proposing is a non runner in my opinion because players will want all the cake once they get a some form of payment. The younger generations will simply say I'm generating all the cash and I want it all. Then the club scene becomes like the Irish Rugby club scene.

Then its end game. the association we have is gone forever and it ain't ever coming back.
There is too much training at county level anyway for what is a poor standard. In my view. You only have to look at the lack of the basics last weekend to see the low standard of football at present. But the GAA wasn't smart enough to stop the monster when it started.
So its probably inevitable but when it does start thats my involvement finished. I'd prefer to remember being part of something I consider special rather than partake in something I inherently don't believe in.
I'm sick of the high opinions some county players have of their individual talents despite being unable to kick the ball accurately with one foot never mind two. And they want to be paid for that?

How am I missing the point?  I say pay them, but do so in a structured semi professional manner which is controlled.  I know that the arguments will be that there will be player transfer etc etc but that has happened over the years anyway, albeit at a lower level. 

You are right though, the GAA has released the "monster" as you describe it so instead of saying well now what do we do to control this you're happy enough to throw the head up and walk away.  You talk about county players with a high opinion of themselves, to be honest, you seem to have a very high opinion of yourself if you think that that is the way to deal with the issue.  I used to think that it shouldn't happen but the more I see of it the more I realise that if it is not addressed properly and the players engaged fully with then there will be a major fcuk up.  There is far too much backward thinking in the administrators who are more concerned with tinkering with the rules of the game than looking at the overall organisation and structures.  Until this attitude is changed the games will rumble on and on not really evolving. 

I believe that there should be a bit of foresight in how the whole system is to develop over the next 20 years, and the issue of payment will be part of that as will the restructuring of the competitions.

You can't control professional players BC. Just look at every other code in the world. I think people are incredibly naive to think players won't want all the cake. Its basic human nature.

[brokencrossbar1]

You can't control professional players BC. Just look at every other code in the world. I think people are incredibly naive to think players won't want all the cake. Its basic human nature.

I know what you mean, I just don't think tehre will be the money available to the counties to make it a huge issue.  It is a parochial game and you won't have multi nationals pumping money into it.  There will be finite amounts of money available and consequently there won't be the same issuea as have been seen in rugby for instance.

[INDIANA]

You can't control professional players BC. Just look at every other code in the world. I think people are incredibly naive to think players won't want all the cake. Its basic human nature.

I know what you mean, I just don't think tehre will be the money available to the counties to make it a huge issue.  It is a parochial game and you won't have multi nationals pumping money into it.  There will be finite amounts of money available and consequently there won't be the same issuea as have been seen in rugby for instance.

The players out there won't give a shite. They'll feel they should be getting in gate receipts. This is coming sooner rather than later and when it does its the end. Might talke 10 years but its on its way.

[seafoid]

Soon Ireland won't be big enough to run its own banks.  How anyone thinks GAA can go semi pro is beyond me. The League of Ireland would be a fate worse than death for the great sports we have today.

[Zulu]

I think there would be some clear advantages to going professional, especially for the club game but, as most have poited out, we can't afford it and there the story starts and ends. Sean Og is entitled to his opinion and entitled to express it, however, the reality of a professional GAA would falter on the small print. I believe that we must look after our players as best we can and should invest in them in terms of education and career development etc. and I welcome Sean Og's honesty and the opportunity that it affords us all to debate and rationalize the merits or otherwise of various courses of action. It is a good thing to have this out in the open and Sean Og and anyone who supports his view should be challenged to offer detailed plans on how we could afford it. If they can show us that we can afford it and that it would benefit the GAA as a whole then I would have no problem supporting it. I think none of us should be pro- or anti-professionalism and instead, we should evalute this and other issues on what is actually beneficial for the GAA going forward.

[Logan]

Love of the jersey would soon be a thing of the past!
How many more IC transfers would there be?

[Main Street]

Find it highly unlikely that any of these 'quotes' were in the magazine Foinse.

Translated quote is still a quote.

[thewobbler]

How many more IC transfers would there be?

Precisely none.

The GAA could not support semi-professionalism across 32 teams. The money isn't there.

If the game goes semi-pro, it would have to be on an elite team basis to support itself, which would in turn mean freedom of contract to move between teams.

In which case the semi-pro game would be doomed, as it would need its own facilities and stadiums, and its own fanbase. And I couldn't tell the GPA enough times that as each year more people turn up to watch Down's second team playing in the McKenna Cup than watch Kerry play in the 1st round of the Championship, there is more than a strong indicator that GAA people follow their team, not its players.

[Zulu]

Love of the jersey would soon be a thing of the past!
How many more IC transfers would there be?

I think this could be controlled Logan especially if everyone was centrally contracted to the GAA as opposed to being contracted to Armagh or Wexford for example. Wahtever about a professional GAA I do strongly believe that we need to look at the whole structure of our competitive year and the demands (or lack) that are being placed on our players.

Here are just some of teh glaring issues at play with our season:

The joke that is our league, which constitutes over 60% of the competitive games for most counties.

No proper pre-season for IC

No proper off season and the one we do have is enforced a month after all games are finished and two months after all but two counties are finished, and tw0 weeks befor the season starts, I mean what the hell is October if not the off-season?

The timing of the U21 IC championships, the hurling in particular is a disgrace.

The fact that our best players are being asked to play for up to 10 teams simultaneously while our average players are hardly getting games at all. If your 17 and good enough for your senior team then you shouldn't be playing minor or U21, we can't have it every way.

That's just a few glaring issues but there are many more unfortunately.

[seafoid]

How many more IC transfers would there be?

Precisely none.

The GAA could not support semi-professionalism across 32 teams. The money isn't there.

If the game goes semi-pro, it would have to be on an elite team basis to support itself, which would in turn mean freedom of contract to move between teams.

In which case the semi-pro game would be doomed, as it would need its own facilities and stadiums, and its own fanbase. And I couldn't tell the GPA enough times that as each year more people turn up to watch Down's second team playing in the McKenna Cup than watch Kerry play in the 1st round of the Championship, there is more than a strong indicator that GAA people follow their team, not its players.

You couldn't replicate the mental anguish of County Mayo in a professional context. Even in the darkest days in division 3 Man. city never got near it.   

[Logan]

How many more IC transfers would there be?

Precisely none.

The GAA could not support semi-professionalism across 32 teams. The money isn't there.

If the game goes semi-pro, it would have to be on an elite team basis to support itself, which would in turn mean freedom of contract to move between teams.

In which case the semi-pro game would be doomed, as it would need its own facilities and stadiums, and its own fanbase. And I couldn't tell the GPA enough times that as each year more people turn up to watch Down's second team playing in the McKenna Cup than watch Kerry play in the 1st round of the Championship, there is more than a strong indicator that GAA people follow their team, not its players.

There would if it went professional.
Players would want to move to the best club to get paid more for more appearances.

[Logan]

Love of the jersey would soon be a thing of the past!
How many more IC transfers would there be?

I think this could be controlled Logan especially if everyone was centrally contracted to the GAA as opposed to being contracted to Armagh or Wexford for example. Wahtever about a professional GAA I do strongly believe that we need to look at the whole structure of our competitive year and the demands (or lack) that are being placed on our players.

Here are just some of teh glaring issues at play with our season:

The joke that is our league, which constitutes over 60% of the competitive games for most counties.

No proper pre-season for IC

No proper off season and the one we do have is enforced a month after all games are finished and two months after all but two counties are finished, and tw0 weeks befor the season starts, I mean what the hell is October if not the off-season?

The timing of the U21 IC championships, the hurling in particular is a disgrace.

The fact that our best players are being asked to play for up to 10 teams simultaneously while our average players are hardly getting games at all. If your 17 and good enough for your senior team then you shouldn't be playing minor or U21, we can't have it every way.

That's just a few glaring issues but there are many more unfortunately.

Agree with some of that.
But central contracts won't work, they are only in rugby to manage the players for the international basis.
Professionalism will mean counties will be able to pay money - there is no way a 'wealthier' county won't pay more (above or below the table) to get the best players.

But as was pointed out before ... it's like arguing about the length of a unicorns horn.
It's never going to happen.
We can't support it.

[theskull1]

I think there would be some clear advantages to going professional, especially for the club game but, as most have poited out, we can't afford it and there the story starts and ends. Sean Og is entitled to his opinion and entitled to express it, however, the reality of a professional GAA would falter on the small print. I believe that we must look after our players as best we can and should invest in them in terms of education and career development etc. and I welcome Sean Og's honesty and the opportunity that it affords us all to debate and rationalize the merits or otherwise of various courses of action. It is a good thing to have this out in the open and Sean Og and anyone who supports his view should be challenged to offer detailed plans on how we could afford it. If they can show us that we can afford it and that it would benefit the GAA as a whole then I would have no problem supporting it. I think none of us should be pro- or anti-professionalism and instead, we should evalute this and other issues on what is actually beneficial for the GAA going forward.

Could I challenge you to outline what these clear advantages are Zulu when balanced against the negative outcomes? This notion that clubs up and down the land will be happy developing talented players and then kissing them goodbye before enjoying the game being played by those not quite good enough to get paid is cloud cuckoo stuff from my perspective. It's pride in the parish or nothing as far as I'm concerned. Personally I'm not involved in the GAA to get players to the point where they can get paid.

[Celt_Man]

No surprise this one. At least he is honest about his agenda

Honest if not realistic...

it would never work - one question if the GAA ever went pay for play, how the grass roots volunteers, which run the GAA from the bottom up, continue?