Player Opt outs for 2020 season

[redhandefender]

I see some irony in that last post

Explain?

[J70]

Odhran MacNiallais confirmed as skipping county football again this year.

That's a blow for Bonner.  Good player around the middle third.  Is he travelling or sticking with club only?

Don't know to be honest. This will be the third season in four that he has missed in a relatively short intercounty career, so I'd imagine he just hasn't the time or the appetite for the commitment.

[From the Bunker]

Odhran MacNiallais confirmed as skipping county football again this year.

That's a blow for Bonner.  Good player around the middle third.  Is he travelling or sticking with club only?

Don't know to be honest. This will be the third season in four that he has missed in a relatively short intercounty career, so I'd imagine he just hasn't the time or the appetite for the commitment.

He's a young guy enjoying the freedom that comes with your 20's. The intensity of training and games from March to September is time sapping when you are with one of the top teams. The dominance of Dublin and their advantages is probably not lost to him either.

[GalwayBayBoy]

With the GAA's National Football League set to commence later this month, a number of counties are contending with the reality of losing a selection of their Gaelic footballers for the year ahead.

An All-Star winner in 2019, it was most recently reported that Tyrone's Cathal McShane will depart the inter-county scene to pursue his chances in the Australian Football League with the Brisbane Lions.

The latest in a long line of GAA stars to embrace the opportunity of playing professional sport in Australia, the allure of the AFL cannot be exclusively held responsible for the departure of a large number of players across the winter months of 2019, however.

From The Dundalk Democrat in Louth to The Clare Echo, regional outlets across the country have reported numerous instances of players opting to depart the county's senior panel for the foreseeable future.

The following is a list of those players who have opted, for one reason or another, not to participate at inter-county level for the year ahead.

Ulster:

Of the four provinces in question, the spread of counties hit by the optional departure of players is certainly widest in Ulster.

With McShane seemingly set to follow Connor McAliksey out of Tyrone, Dara McVeety and Conor Moynagh are opting out of the Cavan panel to go travelling; Killian Clarke and Conor Rehill opting out also.

Odhrán McNiallais (Donegal), Ryan Murray (Antrim) and Stephen O'Hanlon (Monaghan) all similarly look set to miss the year ahead.

Antrim - Ryan Murray (Travelling), Matthew Fitzpatrick (Opted out - Irish Premiership)
Armagh - Ben Crealy*
Cavan - Dara McVeety, Conor Moynagh (Travelling) & Killian Clarke, Conor Rehill (Opted out)*
Donegal - Odhrán MacNiallais (Opted out)
Monaghan - Stephen O'Hanlon (Opted out)
Tyrone - Cathal McShane (AFL)*, Connor McAliskey (Opted out)

GAA

Connacht:

The spread so far appears to be a little thinner in Connacht with only last year's two provincial finalists Galway and Roscommon suffering notable losses.

Galway - Peter Cooke, Danny Cummins (Travelling)
Leitrim - Michael McWeeney (Travelling)*, Jack Heslin, Gary Plunkett, Noel Plunkett, Cathal McCrann (Opted out)
Roscommon - Diarmuid Murtagh (Opted out)*

Munster:

Benji Whelan will have to deal with a serious drop-off in numbers as Waterford contend with the loss of a number of players in Munster. However, the entirety of the county's managers will be faring with different degrees of playing personnel dropping out.

Clare - Jamie Malone, Sean O'Donoghue (Travelling), Gary Brennan (Opted out).
Cork - Mark White (Travelling)
Kerry - Mark Griffin (Travelling)
Limerick - Darragh Treacy, Sean McSweeney (Travelling)
Tipperary - Michael Quinlivan (Travelling)
Waterford - Tadhg ó hUllacháin, Shane Aherne, Tommy Prendergast, Shane Ryan, Jack Mullaney & JJ Hutchinson (Opted out)

Michael Quinlivan

Leinster:

While Kildare welcomes Daniel Flynn back into the fold, they will be without Ben McCormack and Mark Dempsey in 2020.

Laois must contend with losing Donie and Paul Kingston who've opted out for personal reasons, while Stephen Attride has decided to spend the year travelling.

Kildare - Ben McCormack, Mark Dempsey (Opted out)
Laois - Donie & Paul Kingston (Opted out), Stephen Attride (Travelling)
Louth - Andy McDonnell, Jim McEneaney, Anthony Williams & Derek Maguire (Opted out)
Offaly - Peter Cunningham (Opted out - an obligatory tour of duty)
Wexford - Kevin O'Grady, Tiernan Rossiter (Opted out)

A list of almost 40 Gaelic footballers, it is likely that an even greater number have stepped away from the inter-county game over the winter months.

Excluding those young footballers who are pursuing the professional dream in the AFL, such a number comes as perhaps less of a surprise on the back of the recently published second half of an ESRI report sanctioned by the GAA and GPA.

A demonstration of the challenges facing inter-county players, the report highlighted that the primary concern of those performing at the elite level of the GAA fell between the season's excessive length and the time commitments demanded of them.

To what degree this draining of talent will continue as the demands of the inter-county game intensify remains unclear. For the time being, the allure of a life lived on more normal terms has proved to be of greater appeal for some.

Although the very best has been done to accurately determine that the players noted above have departed the inter-county GAA scene for the reasons stated, in certain instances, the presence of an asterisk indicates that it was not possible to entirely establish why they opted out.

[tonto1888]

What is the asterisk for

[dublin7]

The amount of training relative to games is another factor. Whu should players kill themselves training for at least 7 months, especially in the wind,mud and rain in the winter only to have theor season possibly end in june or early july?

[Dinny Breen]

If there are any journalists out there I would love to see an analysis on an IC AI winning player from the
50s
60s
70s
80s
90s
00s
10s

Number of sessions, matches and innovations. Basically the evolution of how we have got to where we are

I raised this before but what we ask of inter-county players is madness. It's eating itself up.

[Eire90]

did anyone see the luke keany story what a disgrace that this is going all so bunch of managers can feel good about themselves and give it the big look at me in the community. Some gaa clubs have turned into a cult.

[marty34]

Totally agree re: training to games ratio. Mad stuff altogether.

The question is: How fit can lads get??  Surely if they are doing all this/too much training then they are overfit?

Junior soccer and rugby etc. has it right I think: training 2 nights a week with a game at week-end.  All these nights in the gym and S&C, even at underage and club level.  What's it all for?

[rodney trotter]

The AFL season runs from March to September. 23 games, teams playing home and away.

Though I think they have a long pre season. 

[Eire90]

Whats the obsession with travelling

[larryin89]

Totally agree re: training to games ratio. Mad stuff altogether.

The question is: How fit can lads get??  Surely if they are doing all this/too much training then they are overfit?

Junior soccer and rugby etc. has it right I think: training 2 nights a week with a game at week-end.  All these nights in the gym and S&C, even at underage and club level.  What's it all for?

The uncomfortable truth is Gaelic football is not all that silky meaning fitness, s&c is where you gain the advantage . Some top rated footballers haven't even the skill set to solo properly nowadays , I cringe when I see the big solo goin up in the air , it's embarrassing.

[Captain Obvious]

Whats the obsession with travelling

Big world lots of places to see and explore. Travelling has become easier and cheaper to do. Also helps that lads get well looked after when overseas and their mates already there encourage them over.

[marty34]

Totally agree re: training to games ratio. Mad stuff altogether.

The question is: How fit can lads get??  Surely if they are doing all this/too much training then they are overfit?

Junior soccer and rugby etc. has it right I think: training 2 nights a week with a game at week-end.  All these nights in the gym and S&C, even at underage and club level.  What's it all for?

The uncomfortable truth is Gaelic football is not all that silky meaning fitness, s&c is where you gain the advantage . Some top rated footballers haven't even the skill set to solo properly nowadays , I cringe when I see the big solo goin up in the air , it's embarrassing.

I agree - too much work on fitness and very little on the basic skills nowadays unfortunately.

If a lad points from 30yards nowadays...it's counted as a long range score!!!  Madness. 

[square_ball]

Totally agree re: training to games ratio. Mad stuff altogether.

The question is: How fit can lads get??  Surely if they are doing all this/too much training then they are overfit?

Junior soccer and rugby etc. has it right I think: training 2 nights a week with a game at week-end.  All these nights in the gym and S&C, even at underage and club level.  What's it all for?

The uncomfortable truth is Gaelic football is not all that silky meaning fitness, s&c is where you gain the advantage . Some top rated footballers haven't even the skill set to solo properly nowadays , I cringe when I see the big solo goin up in the air , it's embarrassing.

Genuine question who can't solo? I know MDMA is probably the obvious one in terms of the finesse of his skills but anyone else I see playing at county level is highly skilled.