When Rachael Blackmore crossed the line claiming Gold Cup glory aboard A Plus Tard, within seconds, some of the ITV Racing crew had sidled up alongside the terrific Tipperary lady to get immediate reaction to the win.
Brilliant journalism from their point of view and wonderful insight for viewers tuned in. However, the couple of minutes of television recalled something Noel Meade once said when he had a weekly column in the Meath Chronicle. The gist of which was that surely jockeys should get to debrief owners and trainers before doing the press briefings.
But then, sport would be a damp squib and most likely cease to exist without media coverage. So essentially it comes down to a matter of balance. And the same paradigm can be applied to any sport.
Mind you, somebody obviously left Tom Parsons off the mailing list for that memo. Upon its inception, this corner would’ve been very much in favour of the Gaelic Players Association. And in principal still would be. The GPA, as the name suggests, was designed to improve the plight of players where they saw it was needed.
That the GAA initially greeted the new group with typically ignorant hostility was hardly a shock. As they do with any proposed change that will upset the status quo and the cushy numbers of the Brains Trust.
That was reason enough to row in behind them at the beginning. Dessie Farrell seemed to be a fairly acceptable figurehead to all sides. Yet the decision of the Cork teams to go on strike around a quarter century ago gave off such a militant whiff it turned a lot of people off the Association.
Since then, the Association seems to have lost focus, becoming more of a commercial representation group for inter county players rather than encompassing all players. Now, it must be acknowledged that they done a lot of good by way of college bursary schemes, grants etc and have been proactive in the area of players mental health. But ask yourself, why was the now unfortunately defunct Club Players Association formed? Those whom they took on to represent felt their voice wasn’t being heard either by the GAA’s hierarchy or the ‘original’ players body.
Once they achieved the instigation of the split season – something yours truly has serious reservations about – they must have considered their remit fulfilled and decided to pull the pin. What a pity. If they had stayed intact, they would undoubtedly have had plenty to keep themselves occupied given the manner in which those who are supposed to be the flagship representation group have committed a dereliction their duty to the many by – intentionally or otherwise – focusing on the few.
By few, reference is of course being made to the top level inter county elite players. Yes, the penultimate word was purposely employed at this point because, as laudible a concept as increased mileage expenses sounds, it would most likely be another big fish in small pond scenario.
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By far the worst impact of the media blackout which has sullied the closing stages of the league is that it is the fans, who give of their time and hard earned to support their county teams. Supporters love nothing more than to feel a connection to their teams. Hearing the thoughts of players and mentors before and after matches is the fulcrum of that. Strip it away and the disconnect which – though some will vehemently deny this – is already there, will become a chasm.
Without media coverage, GAA may as well be dorment. I write that as a fan. Putting on my writer’s hat, it simply means media outlets won’t be able to give the same amount of coverage. Which means that in this case there are no winners.
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Whilst on the subject of media coverage, mind you, there is a window of opportunity for some of the television outlets to up their game and bring the GAA viewing experience to a whole new level. Then again, that is if you don’t consider that TG4 have again got the jump on the so-called ‘big boys’ in the broadcast world.
Former Galway full back Finian Hanley recently lamented the quality of coverage on a busy National League Sunday. He went further, however, suggesting there was an opening for a Soccer Saturday-style show. Unbelievable Jeff!
Except it isn’t. It sounds like something which could be very easlly done. Indeed, it could be said TG4 have already broken through the tape before the field were under starter’s orders.
In recent weeks, the face of TG4’s most excellent GAA coverage, Micheal O’Domhnaill, has operated from what was basically a hub at one of their venues for the day from where he delivered – in a newsflash-type update – bring viewers significant developments from around the grounds. Though it amounted to what I think were three different grounds per day, it certainly sowed a seed for what could be done. If the others in the arena don’t at least explore doing likewise they will have missed a trick.
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So will the GPA if they don’t change tack regarding how they go about achieving their aims. Alienating the press and/or the big noises within the GAA only equates to giving their feet a dose of cordite.
Do players deserve to be looked after properly? Absolutely. But for one thing, there are better ways for their representatives to put their cases forward. And for another, players themselves can play their own part in improving their lot.
Some took umbridge at it being described as a privilege to play inter-county GAA. It is. Always has been, always will be. If players walk away from that, it says more about them that than what they are leaving behind. The career of an inter-county player is an increasingly fleeting one, more so if players have a single on each shoulder. By leaving, they are only fooling themselves. The show will go on. There will be decades to explore other things in life when the boots are long hung up.
Granted, players deserve to be looked after properly – and the GAA at the highest level need to accept that – but it has to be a two way street. If it takes professionalism, it should at least be explored. The immediate answer will of course be “It would be impossible” or” It would destroy the GAA” and my personal favourite “Look at what professionalism did to rugby”.
As far as I can see, it made Ireland and the provinces the most successful they have ever been. Success breeds success. Participation rates have soared. There are rugby clubs now in places where previously the only recognisable oval thing was an egg.
Yes, at the top level it is elite sport. So too is GAA however. That is what people need to realise. Playing inter-county is indeed a privilege but it’s one which the players deserve to be looked after for. Proportionate to the commitment delivered.
Competition structure can only do so much. It’s about incentive. If there’s not that, you are left with a situation such as has happened in Meath in the last few years – two of the best prospects the county produced in a long time – Conor Nash and Cian McBride – were lured overseas by the carrot of professional sport.
By no means is it solely an issue for Meath. Look at Cork, in the not distant past, their hurlers have lost Darren Sweetnam to rugby, the footballers Pat Campbell. The latter coming only very shortly after Campbell had been the talisman on a very promising Rebel County amalgam which had won the All Ireland MFC.
It’s surely telling that, in order pursue their professional career, both have, in their own way, taken steps backwards, or at least sideways, in order to pursue their professional sporting careers. Rather than return to GAA, as others have.
Sweetnam was never able to nail down a starting berth on the wing with Munster where he faced competition from Keith Earls and Andrew Conway. From his point of view, the return of Simon Zebo probably couldn’t have come at a worse time for Campbell.
He had just broken into the first team and indeed enjoyed a superb European debut when a combination of circumstances saw him drop out of the first team for an extended period.
Yet as much the Cork footballers – especially in their current bedraggled state – might wish differently, they can only ponder what could have been had he remained on the edge of the square for them.
The lot of GAA players can certainly be improved, but the GPA’s current methodology isn’t the way to go about it.
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