John Martin: Don’t blame the county game

BOGEYMAN…The county game gets the blame, but it isn’t always at fault

GAELIC Life hurling columnist John Martin believes that the accusation that the county game is ruining the club scene is wide of the mark.

Writing in today’s edition after another week of heavy debate on the subject, Martin said that maybe the blame should lie elsewhere.

“This is where I seem to be entirely out of kilter with everyone else – is the chief cause of club players ills really the county game?

“Yes, what happens at county is often aped at club level, such as the drink bans, nutrition regimes, 6am training sessions etc, but barely any of the horror stories on the CPA website mention this type of issue. The vast majority of angst is aimed at the CCC of individual county boards, and posters typically cite ridiculous fixture schedules crammed into the space of a few days, last minute fixture changes, poor communication, little or no cognisance of dual players, or just pure and simple arrogance of some county boards.”

The full column is in today’s Gaelic Life, in shops now or available here.