The manner of Eoin Kelly's departure from the Waterford team was an indictment of the modern game
IT’S ONLY January, and already there are some strange moves being made by inter-county managers.
I was willing to leave it for a little while, but something about the way Eoin Kelly was cut from the Waterford hurling panel by new manager Michael Ryan is disturbing.
Here we have an amateur GAA player being thrown off a panel before the season proper begins, because of a dispute over his conditioning.
Now, I am not that blind that I don’t realise that Eoin Kelly is a particularly interesting character. There has been murmurs before about his dedication and commitment.
Obviously, the relationship between him and Waterford hurling is a lot more nuanced and complicated, but the nub of this dispute is that Kelly arrived back for the beginning of the season, and his fitness tests were ‘disappointing’, in Ryan’s words. One thing has led to another, and Ryan claimed Kelly would not meet the team management to discuss the issue.
Whatever way you wish to look at it, a player has lost his place on his county panel because he did not stick to a training programme in a GAA-sanctioned off-season. If it wasn’t true, it would be funny.
The modern player is brought up in an age where they live the clean lifestyle, but I was of a generation that liked to do a bit of break-dancing and what have you. I had a little in-joke to myself every time I drove through the gates of the grounds for the first training session of the year, saying ‘You’re not so funny now, Dev.’
But you could always get through the first day back, and once it was out of your system, the game face was back on. Not many lads would have withstood the relentless testing that seems to go on now. In any case, it smacks a bit of having to attend summer school, with the headmaster constantly peering over your shoulder.
A senior player can be allowed a certain amount of leeway, but should it become a problem, the manager must address it. Otherwise, a player revolt can happen.
In the case of Kelly, if his fitness wasn’t up to it, then a specialised training programme focussing more on cardiovascular work would have whipped him into condition in no time. Axing what potentially could be a key player like Kelly seems totally extreme.
To read the full story, buy the current issue of Gaelic Life - published January 12 - online or in your local newsagent
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