I agree that the decision to "defer" the game as opposed to "postponing" it is wrong. Sadly it's typical of the extraordinary spinning being done on lots of issues by Croke Park these days.
I actually think the rule to penalise a player for not turning out for his county team is wrong and should be got rid of. If the players are amateurs they should be free to walk away at any time if they want, without penalty. Playing Gaelic games is supposed to be about choice.
However, there is one big difference between a player walking away in ordinary circumstances and what is going on in Cork. The Cork players have adopted the disgraceful stance of saying they're not playing but all the time they're actively pulling every trick they can to stop new players coming in and playing in their place. They have said so often that no player would want to play for Cork in those circumstances that it has become a mantra. That is impossible to accept. In any other county new players would come forward, regardless of strike. The Cork players have been lobbying and pressurising those in their clubs to make sure no-one breaks their lines, or if they do they will be vilified like blacklegs, just like Frank Murphy or any of the county board, or in fact anyone who disagrees with the GPA's agenda. Hence the word was put out that the Newtownshandrum team was behind the strike.
Remember how most of the Derry county footballers wouldn't play under Mickey Moran a few years ago? They made their point, but they didn't come out slandering anyone who disagreed with them or played in their place.
But the Cork players/GPA leaders want to have their cake, eat it, get paid an appearance fee for turning up to eat it, charge for endorsing it, claim for infringement of image rights from anyone who happened to picture them eating it, get paid a grant to train to burn off the fat gained by eating it, and fire the chef who made the cake. Washed down by Club Energise (c).
I actually think the rule to penalise a player for not turning out for his county team is wrong and should be got rid of. If the players are amateurs they should be free to walk away at any time if they want, without penalty. Playing Gaelic games is supposed to be about choice.
However, there is one big difference between a player walking away in ordinary circumstances and what is going on in Cork. The Cork players have adopted the disgraceful stance of saying they're not playing but all the time they're actively pulling every trick they can to stop new players coming in and playing in their place. They have said so often that no player would want to play for Cork in those circumstances that it has become a mantra. That is impossible to accept. In any other county new players would come forward, regardless of strike. The Cork players have been lobbying and pressurising those in their clubs to make sure no-one breaks their lines, or if they do they will be vilified like blacklegs, just like Frank Murphy or any of the county board, or in fact anyone who disagrees with the GPA's agenda. Hence the word was put out that the Newtownshandrum team was behind the strike.
Remember how most of the Derry county footballers wouldn't play under Mickey Moran a few years ago? They made their point, but they didn't come out slandering anyone who disagreed with them or played in their place.
But the Cork players/GPA leaders want to have their cake, eat it, get paid an appearance fee for turning up to eat it, charge for endorsing it, claim for infringement of image rights from anyone who happened to picture them eating it, get paid a grant to train to burn off the fat gained by eating it, and fire the chef who made the cake. Washed down by Club Energise (c).