The right coaching can really benefit the future of our games

Steven Poacher says that Gaels should stop blaming systems and start encouraging coaches to improve.

He says that it is the way that the game is coached, and the lack of skills of those coaches that decreases the quality of games and players.

“Pundits and the likes complain about the standards of the game, and point the finger of blame at the systems of play or defensive football. But that’s all rubbish in my eyes.

“The bottom line is if you want to improve standards in any sport you must have a situation where the people who are  coaching the sport are willing to learn a lot more, particularly at underage level, just like the Germans did in soccer, and the New Zealanders did in rugby a few years ago.

“They raised the standards of the coaches coaching the games, and encouraged the coaches to engage in some more learning.”

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