HAS THE GAA’s split season been an unqualified success so far, or has the association harmed the profile of its games by limiting the inter-county window?
The matter was up for debate on the latest episode of GAA Weekly, a podcast available to The42 members.
Host Maurice Brosnan was joined by former Cork goalkeeper and now club player with South Liberties in Limerick, Anthony Nash, as well as Irish Times sports journalist Malachy Clerkin.
Differing views were expressed, but one point of agreement is that those who are either trenchantly in favour or against the new calendar are missing the nuance of the situation, and therefore the opportunity to improve the season over time.
“I see huge positives to it,” Clerkin said of the split season. “This is an enormously complicated thing, and I tend to tune out from anybody that has a really dogmatic view on it.
“If you are somebody on the one side who says, ‘The split season is fantastic, the club player and the club game is the real GAA’, then I start to tune out. If you are somebody on the other side going, ‘They are absolute maniacs to do this to the GAA, they’re insane to switch the All-Ireland away from September and into July and they have absolutely ruined the inter-county game’, well I tend to tune out from that as well, because the truth and the reality is absolutely in the middle, somewhere.
“I don’t believe we have found the sweet spot of it yet, I think there are massive advantages to the way things are at the minute.”
Nash said that players, at county level and club, are now better able to plan their lives. Club players, in particular, suffered under the old calendar, he said.
“We have certainties; certainties of dates and of matches,” he said. “Whether Limerick lost in the All-Ireland final or the first round, this is it. So our lads planned holidays around it. They went away, they enjoyed their summer.
“For me as an inter-county player, when I was playing, I would have preferred this because you have certainties about coming back.
“My own experience would have been the one where I would have come back a week and a half before championship with Kanturk . . . You had club players peaking fitness in April, to be told: ‘Right you don’t know when the next date of the championship is until Cork are knocked out’. So their next round of championship might not be happening until August or September. They weren’t allowed to go on holidays because as soon as we were knocked out with Cork we were given a week or two notice for the club, and that’s utter bullshit.”
Nash said that while the current split season is better than what he had as a player, there is room for improvement in areas such as club semi-finals taking place in January and the toll on players who are successful at both inter-county and club level.
“Having players prepare for an All-Ireland club semi-final in January is unforgivable,” Nash said. “Christmas is a time when you’re together with your family, you’re able to have a few pints, you’re able to chill out. It shouldn’t be minding your calories over Christmas day, sure that’s utter madness.”
Using TJ Reid and Ballyhale Shamrocks as an example, Nash said it’s possible the inter-county contingent there could be playing through until well into next January with the club before facing into a new campaign with Kilkenny. “Where’s the break?” he said.
To listen to the conversation in full, sign up for membership here.
