JEROME Quinn managed to convince 11 hurling men to put a brave face on and accept a Zoom call this week so he could ask them their thoughts about a potential Team Ulster project. One could conclude that there was a lot of support for the idea. Unfortunately, I think they are all supporting different ideas of what Team Ulster will be. The project has a whiff of a GAA version of Brexit. Were they to push forward, we could end up facing a number of years arguing what sort of Team Ulster we want. It could be a Team Ulster with Antrim or without Antrim? If it is with Antrim, where will they play their matches? Who’s going to tell the Cushendall lads that training is in Garvaghey? And I’ve not even got on to the jerseys. And then what happens when Derry’s best hurlers, Chrissy McKaigue, Brendan Rogers, Shane McGuigan, have to tell Rory Gallagher they aren’t turning up for football training? Bottom line, Team Ulster, I love it as a concept. But only as a debating point for these long hot days with no GAA action.

RONAN SCOTT

A change is as good as a rest

I recently spoke to two coaches who were involved in provincial competition last season and their reaction to lockdown, in sporting terms anyway, is ‘thank God.’ After very long winters, they have been able to give their players a well-earned, and unexpected, break. It may be the time of their lives, but the provincial club competitions demand a phenomenal effort from teams and that fatigue carries over. We’ve seen it especially when teams reach the All-Ireland stages, they are playing two seasons at the one time. How can those sides honestly be expected to roll straight into a new season and be at their best? Nobody likes the current situation, but for clubs like Kilcoo, Slaughtneil and Magheracloone etc, there are positives to take in terms of their commitment.

NIALL MCCOY

Will Lockdown encourage players to quit?

THE received wisdom of lockdown is that all players are desperate to get back to football, hurling or camogie. They go out every day, and train, in order to make sure that they are sharp for when the whistle blows on the new season. But is that really the case. Will everyone want to come back? If we consider all the folks who are working from home right now, some are perhaps finding it a struggle, juggling kids and their employment responsibilities. But there are also others who are finding that they don’t miss the commute, or that they can enjoy more personal time if their work is at home. We might find that some players decide that they prefer the enforced break to returning to the long season of training and playing. That might not be a bad thing though. Like the wolf and the bison, they attack the weakest members of the group, and that keeps the herd strong.

RONAN SCOTT

Clerkin calls it pretty well

“IN many ways, the size and the membership of the GAA is its greatest strength. When it comes to this public health issue, it’s arguably its greatest challenge.” Dick Clerkin, a member of the GAA’s Covid-19 advisory group, spoke well on The Sunday Game about the current situation. He preached conservatism, and that’s something the GAA have done well throughout this. It is massively frustrating, and with Ireland’s cases falling the shouts to return will only grow louder, but an extra wait may prove sensible in the long run. Clerkin said that the GAA will be monitoring professional sports to see how they get on in their returns, and that seems like a sensible option. Let’s wait for now.

NIALL MCCOY