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Given that Frank Murphy himself was involved in drafting these rules, I'd say there is lesser likelihood of loopholes being there to exploit. However I don't really approve of using loopholes to avoid justice.

If there is confusion in the rules over the status of a player appealing a suspension, then maybe there is a case. Or if clarification was sought and given that the player was eligible. Unlikely though.

I can understand why players who are appealing would still be banned in the interim. Every Tom, Dick and Rory O'Connell who got sent off would use the appeal process just to buy them time, so as to delay justice to allow them play the next important fixture.

I suspect Offaly will lose the point here.
Unless they can plead confusion over the new disciplinary procedures.
However I think the tolerance for counties pulling rabbits out of hats has gone within GAA disciplinary circles.
Especially when this has been heralded as a new beginning and they don't want to start off being lenient.

Unfortunately I don't think the excessive payment of managers can be stamped out.
Making a huge effort to stop it will only serve to highlight it and further the reason for grievances amongst players.

How you target it will be difficult. If you target managers, then in theory you'd have to target team doctors and physios who also get paid for every training session they attend. There a lot of dietitians, psychologists and other back room staff being brought in these days. Are they getting "mileage", or are they are getting a straight up fee for their services? The more this occurs, the more dubious the GAA's amateur status becomes btw.

If you try and invent rules specifically to stop team managers receiving revenue, you're on a slippery slope. A whole raft of rules will need to be written to say that bainisteoir can't get paid, but an dochtuir can. Where do you even start laying down the rules? You'd have to come up with a big price list of what a manager can claim.
Maximum mileage, maximum overnight rate, maximum claim for unsocial hours worked etc. Very quickly it becomes unworkable and the scope for dodges will still be huge.

Given that county managers are expected to attend all club games of significance, I wouldn't expect even the most genuine GAA person to do it for free.

A few problems with the anthem.

Firstly it's played to close to the throw in, where the tension is at it's highest.
Also it's often played too slowly and the crowd get impatient.
Especially in Munster, the pipe bands at matches completely murder the anthem with their screeching music. Notice how the crowd always start singing the anthem way off key and then give up about half way out of embarrassment.

Also the lack of amplification is a problem. On terraces like Hill 16, where the PA system is traditionally poor, you have the crowd singing the anthem faster than the band are playing it. Eventually confusion reigns and so the crowd just start the cheering and yelping.

The anthem has been so abused over the years by crap bands, terrible tinny recordings on PA systems and loud mouth supporters, that it would take a long time to reclaim as a moment of reverence.

While Tyrone are probably right to have a go at the GPA, their position is weakened by their treatment of Brian McGuigan when he was injured and out of work. I'm sure the GPA will be quick to draw the parallel and claim Tyrone have an anti-player agenda.

[Walsh points finger at county board]

Walsh points finger at county board
15 February 2007

Carlow and Leinster ace Thomas Walsh has insisted that any muddying of the waters over his transfer to Wicklow is the fault of Carlow County Board.

Walsh is seeking a move from his home club of Fenagh to Bray and his transfer application is currently with the Leinster Council.

It is understood that Walsh has notified his club of his interest in transferring his allegiance to the Garden County outfit even though he appeared to rule out any such move earlier this week.

However any confusion about his declared intentions is down to officialdom in Carlow, he maintains.
"The problem is to do with the Board," Walsh claimed. "The confusion has not been my problem and is totally to do with the County Board."

"I'm not moving to any other club or county," Walsh insisted. It's merely another element of the rumour factory. I'll be back training shortly and playing for Carlow in their next league game.

"I'm a Fenagh man and a Carlow man and that's the way it will always be

So a player who does a complete turnaround, contradicts himself and tries to blame the county board for muddying the waters?

Also remember that in Kildare, Micko and his backers brought in Brian Murphy from Cork and Garvan Ware from Carlow as well as Brian Lacey and Karl O'Dwyer as mentioned.

Again, why would a footballer want to leave Carlow for Wicklow? There would be no hike in standard, Carlow beat Wicklow by 9 points in last year's championship.

Micko and all he represents pose a bigger danger to the game than any (alleged) drive for professionalism by the GPA. His cute hoorism in cultivating the media and the way people fawn over him is sickening. He's a total chancer in my book. The whiff of dishonesty in how his teams play the game and the way he pulls strokes off it annoy me.

Seamus was a native of Moneygall in Co Tipperary.

Moneygall is actually in Co. Offaly, as is Busherstown where Seamus was from. So technically he wasn't a Tipperary native.
Anyway that's hardly relevant. His tenure as GAA president brought a lot of positive change and he will be a great loss to the association as well as his family.

Yet again Offaly travel up to Leitrim.
I can't remember when Offaly last got home advantage against them, but the last 4 or 5 meetings between the sides have been up there. I'm not sure about the venue. Apparently Mohill is a less dreary venue than Carrick On Shannon on a Winter's day. Either way this is an important fixture for Offaly. The three trickiest ties are away from home i.e vs Leitrim, Monaghan and Longford. Leitrim are usually too inconsistent in the league to challenge for promotion, but are very capable of beating any Div 2 team.

Hard to guess what line up Pat Roe will select. He has experimented a fair bit in his first three games. Scott Brady on the half forward line or midfield looks to best find so far. Joe Quinn has done well at full back, but will get bigger tests from now on. Eoghan Byrne deserves a run at wing back. The half forward line and a midfield high fielder look like the main areas that need addressing.

Yeah, perhaps there is a touch of pretentiousness about them. Speak that hints at "high flying achievers", "highly motivated" and all the kind of morkeshing and management w*nkology generally does my nut in.
But then again they are trying to attract workers in the City who are neck deep in it. And the Indo will always look for that kind of angle. The high flying middle class white collar worker (professional) vs. the humble brickie (not professional apparently). Another victory for 'New Ireland' as created for you by the Indo themselves. Instead of it just being a case of few lads who have set up a club that better suits their working hours.

However new ideas should be welcomed in the GAA, new ways to recruit and develop the games, especially in a landscape that has changed very quickly. If the GAA can appeal to all classes, or personal pretensions, then all the better.

http://u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=35507&pt=s
"Touchline reporters, half-time interviewing and pitch incursions have all been banned in a series of regulations announced by GAA President Nickey Brennan."

Yep. It looks like the ungraceful spectacle of players doing pitchside post match interviews while being mauled by a heaving mob of fans are a thing of the past!
No more we will watch fans peering into our living rooms, waving to us and roaring things like "up de bennar!", or "up de rebels" at us, while some poor unfortunate player is trying to conduct an interview.

We've seen some farcical pitch side interviews in our time. Players being kissed, getting hats put on them, getting hats swiped from them, getting kisses planted on them, air horns blasted into their ears and having a human mountain collapse on them.

Pity it took official regulations to stamp it out. RTE should have abandoned this ridiculous freak show years ago.

According to British government papers released recently from 1956, the then French PM had recommended France merge with Britain, with Lily Von Windsor as Head of State.

Whether we like it or not, we could now have been now part of a Royaume-Uni!

Or even more telling are the 30 year old British government paper that have released in recent years. The have been itching to dump Northern Ireland off their hands for years.

Discipline usually takes a back seat when officials want to see a team do well in a competition.
"Sure ye can't go suspending lads that are playing in the club championships knockouts!" looks like the attitude here.
The same happened in Galway with Michael Donnellan walloping the ref. There are numerous examples in other counties too.

I dont think there are too many among the GAA Hierarchy who will care much about the ramblings of Cathal Dervan.

I'm sure you'll all be interested to know that the GAA have refused Mr Dervan a press pass for Croker to cover the soccer internationals so they must be more sensitive than you think Biff.

Ha ha.
At least the martyr angle will appeal to Dervan's target audience when he starts complaining of his treatment!

Fairly drastic cull.
Though something serious had to be done.
The lack of enthusiasm and the lame insipid manner Offaly lost to Limerick and Clare this year was sickening and in many respects as bad as 2005 vs Kilkenny.
The panel badly needs an injection of vigour. Hopefully it will lead to young hungry players fighting for places.
There are a few players that I'm disappointed to see gone, but I'll give the management the benefit of the doubt.
It's really the last fling for McIntyre next year.