THE MAN BEHIND THE WIRE: A remarkable fixtures job but club dual senior players now an endangered species

THE success story of Loughmore-Castleiney in Tipperary suggests that it can still be done but the evidence on the ground in Offaly backs up the belief that dual club senior players may now be an endangered species.

The dual player was once one of the most cherished and heroic of all GAA figureheads and those that have won All-Ireland senior medals in both codes have achieved legendary status. Offaly has one in Liam Currums with the Kilcormac man winning All-Ireland senior hurling and football medals in 1981 and 1982 – Currums is particularly unique as he is one of only four players to have won All-Stars in both football and hurling.

He was a brilliant performer on the Offaly hurling and football teams during that golden era in the 1980s, though it exacted a heavy toll on him as his career was effectively over by the middle of the decade thanks to a cruciate injury – operations back then were not as successful as now.

As one of the great dual counties - only a handful of counties have won All-Ireland senior football and hurling titles and only Offaly, Galway and Cork have done so in the last fifty years, players who excel in both codes have been absolutely revered in Offaly.

Several players have played senior football and hurling for Offaly, many more have played senior/underage or underage in both codes. Offaly may have distinct footballing and hurling areas but there is a great dual tradition in many parts of the county.

At inter-county level, however, the dual senior player has become effectively extinct. It simply can't be done and the GAA themselves have sounded its deathknell by fixing senior inter-county football and hurling games on the same weekend – and sometimes on the same day.

Very few managers will make allowances for dual players at the highest level and it is becoming increasinly difficult at underage county level. It can be done but again, the fixtures schedule does not make it simple and again, managers are becoming less tolerant of it.

Offaly U-20 football manager Declan Kelly decided early in the play this year that he would not facilitate players to play both county football and hurling. Kilcormac-Killoughey's Cathal Donoghue and Ferbane's Cathal Flynn opted for football, Tullamore's Luke Egan went with hurling. Another Tullamore man Cormac Egan played in the 2020 Leinster minor football and hurling finals in 2021, joining the U-20 football panel after the two minor defeats. Again, he did not have the option of playing both codes.

We are in the area of speculation here but would Offaly have won the All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship without such a hard-line attitude and full access to his players? Probably not.

Now it is seeping down to club level. Much has been made this year about the fixtures schedule imposed on some clubs. Tullamore and Ferbane-Belmont had particularly gruelling weeks in the middle of the season, playing two senior and U-20 football and two senior and U-20 hurling (senior “B” in Tullamore's case) games each week.

It was a very hard schedule on any player who was involved in all four grades. Tullamore had a handful and Ferbane-Belmont's county U-20 star, Cathal Flynn was also put through the wringer. Cathal Donoghue was another with a heavy load as he played U-20 football and hurling, senior hurling and intermediate football for Kilcormac-Killoughey – sadly, football with his club did not over extend him as hurling is very much the focus there and the games did not have the same impact on him as Cathal Flynn and Tullamore's Cormac Egan, though he too ended up injured.

The schedule was especially hard on some of the players who starred on Offaly's sensational run to All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship success. The performances of this team was the best thing to happen Offaly GAA in a couple of decades and some of the players barely had time to catch their breath. They played each week during the U-20 championship and the only break was a two week one between the All-Ireland semi-final and final. After the All-Ireland final win over Roscommon, some were immediately back into action.

Tullamore players John Furlong and Cormac Egan were immediately out in the 2020 Minor Football Championship final and then the 2020 U-20 Football Championship final was played days later. It was an incredible time for these young players and we shouldn't feel too sorry for them really! In the space of a couple of months, they played in Leinster minor and U-20 football finals, winning Leinster and All-Ireland U-20 medals and then had a sensational year for their club.

In the days after the U-20 decider, they collected club minor and U-20 football medals and added 2021 U-20 and senior football awards before the season was over. Many players go through their entire career without getting one medal, some of them extremely talented. These players collected six of the most valued of all medals in the space of a few months from July to November. They would have enjoyed every moment of it and at that age, young players are not only well able for games but they want them.

The fixtures schedule, however, was too much and it exacted a heavy price in the case of Cormac Egan who suffered a bad hamstring tear. He missed out on the end of the 2021 U-20 Football Championship and most of Tullamore's successful senior campaign. It was devastating for the player to miss all those games and it was also a big loss to the Offaly footballing public who missed out on seeing one of the county's most exciting talents on some of its marquee days.

Injuries, however, are part and parcel of sport and they happen. Thankfully Egan's hamstring injury is not as bad as first feared, he will be back in full training soon and hopefully ready for full action early in the new year. Two games a week was too much for Cormac Egan, Cathal Flynn, Cathal Donoghue and any other player who was on four of their club teams.

The Competitions Control Committee found themselves in extraordinary territory this year. Last year's premature Covid-19 shutdown by the GAA denied them the opportunity of finishing their 2020 competitions within the calendar year and left them with a large number of outstanding fixtures to be played before they could commence their 2021 championships.

Offaly's run in the All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship also created extraordinary circumstances as it delayed the start of the club 2021 season and it was no co-incidence that some of that team did not go particularly well in club championships. The fixtures schedule and freshness may have been a factor but it was not the big one in many of these cases – it would have been very difficult for young players to come down from the high of what they experienced during the summer and return to the more mundane routine of club fixtures. And there is a physical step up from U-20 into club senior football/hurling – they may have been playing a higher standard of football for Offaly U-20s but the physicality would have been different, much tougher at club senior level.

There were plenty of exceptions and players who did excel for their clubs. Keith O'Neill was brilliant for Clonbullogue as they won the Intermediate Football Championship, John Furlong had a magnificent end to the year for Tullamore, Oisin Keenan-Martin was rock steady in their defence and Lee Pearson had a couple of great games at the back for Edenderry. It is significant that these players are mainly footballers – Furlong does play hurling but football is very much his game of choice – and they had chances to recuperate.

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It is a delicate balancing act for Offaly GAA. Young players need to be protected and not overloaded. It would be an absolute tragedy if a player such as Cormac Egan suffered a career ending injury because of this game load and the 2021 U-20 championships could and perhaps should have been put on the back burner until the end of the season. There was also a case to be made for abandoning the outstanding 2020 underage championships but this was never a real option for authorities or clubs, who wanted them played.

The Offaly Competitions Control Committee stated very clearly that they were going to cater for the greater good rather than protect a couple of clubs and a handful of elite players. They are entitled to make that decision – the U-20 hurler from Shinrone, the U-20 footballer from Tullamore, who is not making his club senior team is as important as any county player and Offaly's duty is to provide games for all.

I believe the CCC were wrong with the volume of games they imposed, they they should have budged but it is easy to see their viewpoint. The argument has been put forward that the fixtures schedule was approved by clubs before the start of the season but this is really a red herring. Yes clubs did approve it but they don't have the power to change fixtures – there was a day when fixtures were routinely changed at County Board meetings and it was a very good thing when that power was removed from them. And when clubs did seek changes to the schedule as the toll became apparent, particularly Tullamore, their pleas were not granted.

The CCC's clear priority this year was to get all competitions completed and cater for every single player who wanted to play football and hurling. And can anyone really argue with that?

They have done a quite remarkable job on fixtures this year. Only the Junior Hurling Championship final replay between Ballinamere and Brosna Gaels remains to be completed and to get all games including several 2020 ones played is a quite brilliant achievement. They have ran the schedule with great efficiency and fixtures went like clockwork – clubs and players knew exactly where they stood and when games were on. There were almost no postponements – they were fortunate that the weather didn't kick up while there was only one postponement in unsatisfactory circumstances when a referee couldn't be obtained for a junior hurling fixture.

Much has been made of Loughmore-Castleiney's achievement in winning the Tipperary senior football and hurling championship double this year – they also did the double in 2013 and it is a tremendous feat. It is also being held up by some as proof that dual players can thrive and doubles can be won. Loughmore-Castleiney may have done it but it certainly does not mean it is going to be replicated all over the country, and it is very unlikely to happen in Offaly.

The dynamic of the Offaly dual clubs is different. There are only players from two parishes playing senior football and senior hurling but they come from four clubs. Ferbane and Belmont are two separate clubs with Ferbane football, Belmont hurling. It is the same in Ballinamere (hurling) and Durrow (football). This year, Durrow football went very well but Ballinamere performed below expectations in hurling – it has often been the reverse. Belmont never ignited in hurling while injuries and suspensions undermined Ferbane's Dowling Cup aspirations. People from these four clubs will tell you of the many challenges they face, the constant balancing act and compromise that is required.

Clara and Tullamore will have senior football and senior “B” hurling teams in 2022 but football is the definite priority in these two clubs. There are other dual clubs but one code is in the ascendancy – hurling is the big one in Kilcormac-Killoughey and, to a lesser extent, in Clodiagh Gaels. The reality is that the higher the level, the less chance there is of dual players prospering in both games.

Clodiagh Gaels senior “B” hurling manager Paul Murphy spoke about the challenges of being a dual club before their final win over Tullamore and revealed that he had spoken to someone in Loughmore-Castleiney about their set-up.

“The commitment from these guys (Clodiagh Gaels) is great. They play in both codes. They have been used to playing underage with Na Fianna. Theses guys are winners and they want to continue on. They can hurl but the one thing is that you'd wish you had them a bit longer. People ask me how do Loughmore-Castleiney do it in two codes and be in two county finals and I actually rang them one day, Frankie McGrath and asked how do they do it. Frankie said it's very simple, you train for the hurling team and then kick a football around for half an hour. Everybody plays football, it's not as if there's only ten lads. There is no such thing as training separately and it is the same management team.”

The Birr man knew better than to try and dictate things in Clodiagh Gaels, to try and replicate that environment there. ““I've never said anything. If a man wants to kick football that is his privilege. People like me cannot come in and say something. We are only small clubs, small picks and you can't dictate anything. I don't think it would be fair on the players.”

There are plenty of players in Offaly who have a deep love of both codes. There are players whose priority is football but love hurling and vice versa. They want to play both and it is great that they can but it will become increasingly difficult – the split season between county and club is a great thing but it means the club season is much more condensed than in the past, the margin for error much less.

Dual players will be facilitated in so far as there will be alternative football and hurling weeks but that is as far as it will go if the stance of the CCC this year continues – which is likely to happen. Clubs and players won't be given breaks during the year, special circumstances won't be considered.

And in a way, that is okay. It is only replicating what has already taken place at national level on the county scene and it places the responsibility for load back in the hands of their clubs and players. It may cause problems for clubs with managers demanding players, and young people wanting to play everything but ultimately, it boils down to choice. If you play everything, you run the risk of injury and your club faces big games without you. It may force clubs and players to make hard choices but the responsibility will be theirs, not the County Board.

Football and hurling may be equally cherished parts of the GAA but they are different games, separate sports. No more than the player attempting to play rugby and soccer, football and soccer, hurling and golf each weekend, the day is coming when it will be very very hard to combine the two. It already happens in camogie and ladies football where they have different governing bodies, and they are not always noted for their co-operation.

In football and hurling, it is all a symptom of the new level of training over the past decade plus and there is a price to pay for this. In GAA, the biggest casualty of all could be the dual player, certainly at county level and possibly at club senior level, if not other grades.