TYRONE LEGEND PETER Canavan believes the GAA must condense its inter-county fixtures schedule to end the “unfair” treatment of club players.
The two-time All-Ireland winner was also disappointed by the GAA’s dismissal of the Gaelic Players Association’s suggestion to rectify the problem.
The players’ body proposed a Champions League-style schedule following a lengthy consultation period with inter-county squads, with 31 of the 32 counties voting in favour of the plan.
The proposal failed to make it to Congress in Carlow at the end of next month. And it was just the first of a double blow for the GPA as one item that will be on the agenda is the introduction of a B Championship, something many inter-county players have vocally opposed.
Canavan clearly sympathises with the players, at all levels.
“Drastic changes are needed because club football is in disarray as a result of improper fixtures scheduling,” Canavan told The42.
“And that is so unfair to the majority of Gaelic footballers in the country.
So, I was extremely disappointed that the GPA’s proposal was thrown out at what appeared to be the drop of a hat. And that the system that was proposed was something that the players didn’t want, the B Championship.
Canavan believes the inter-county season, and the All-Ireland club series, needs to be more compact to aid the scheduling of the club game.
“The season has to be condensed. The championship needs to be condensed. The club championship needs to be run off in the one calendar year. So much could be done.”
Buzz is back
Canavan was a selector for the Tyrone U21s last year, a side that went on to win the All-Ireland. The last time they won the U21 crown was in 2001, two years before Canavan became the first Tyrone man to raise the Sam Maguire.
Tyrone’s senior championship campaign got off to the worst possible start with an Ulster championship defeat to neighbours Donegal. But qualifier wins against Limerick, Meath, Tipperary, Sligo and Monaghan lifted spirits again before they were knocked out in the quarter-finals at the hands of Kerry.
Spirits were raised once again in Tyrone and a four-point defeat to All-Ireland champions Kerry, who had torn apart Kildare in a 7-16 to 0-10 mauling in the previous round, was no disgrace. Canavan felt that the injection of youth in the senior squad was central to the improved performances.
So, after a fruitless few years, the Ulster title has eluded them since 2010, has the underage success brought a buzz back to football in the county?
“There certainly is a buzz,” Canavan said with a smile.
“The term swings and roundabouts comes to mind. Generally over a set period, there are always going to be highs and lows.
“And Tyrone certainly have experienced a high and that started back in 2003. And the impetus for that was without doubt an influx of very talented underage players who were not only extremely skillful, but they were winners. They were All-Ireland winners and they had a winning mentality.
“That’s the way things are at the minute in Tyrone, the influx of the under-21 players that we had last year breathed new life into the setup and I think that was possibly a turning point in the year.
“Things really kicked on for Tyrone and without doubt those players really re-energised things the same way Stephen O’Neill, Owen Mulligan and Kevin Hughes did in the early 2000s for players like myself who had been on the panel for a long period of time.”
While there is renewed sense of optimism in the county, Canavan admits that Tyrone still have ground to make up on the country’s top teams.
But he expects a number of his All-Ireland-winning side to kick on in 2016, breaking through into the senior team and putting pressure on the more experienced players. And that’s something that is breeding confidence in the setup.
It gives everyone a wee bit of hope that you’ve got good players and that you’re going the right way.
“We’ve still got catching up to do to get up to the level of Dublin and Kerry but they’re heading on the right road and the signs are certainly encouraging.”
Leave the rules alone
While Canavan believes the fixtures schedule needs a radical overhaul he is adamant that the constant tweaking of the rules is damaging the game.
The six-time Allstar winner has publicly opposed rule changes, such as the introduction of the black card, in the past. He feels that Gaelic football is fine as it is and the rule book doesn’t need corrective surgery on the back of a couple of dour league contests.
“I wouldn’t be in favour of making drastic changes to the game.
“With regards to the actual rules themselves there is that much going on in terms of tactical appreciation of the game.
“Why change it? I don’t think we need to go down that road just yet — a couple of poor league games left everybody crying as if our game was in complete disarray. And it’s far from it.”
Busy
Canavan has a big year planned between his punditry work with Sky Sports and plotting a successful defence of Tyrone’s U21 crown.
“I’m still training the Under-21s,” he explains. “I’m still involved with Sky. Hopefully it will be a busy few months. And hopefully it will be a busy few months analysing Tyrone winning another an All-Ireland then,” he quipped.
Canavan got a taste of senior inter-county management with Fermanagh from 2011-2013 but for the time being a return to a similar role is not on his radar.
“It’s a serious time commitment. Even with the under-21s, it’s a short burst. But it’s very much full-on for the time that you’re there.
“The hours that you put into it are unbelievable and that’s why I have so much admiration for managers, especially those who have stuck it out for so long like Mickey Harte.
“From November it’s a nine or 10-month job and it’s really full-on.”