Cork CEO Kevin O’Donovan highlights 'shambolic' withdrawals by divisional teams

The Cork GAA County Board convention takes place at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday and the accompanying convention report has been published, with CEO Kevin O’Donovan making some interesting observations in his introduction to that report.

There was a very obvious slap on the wrists for a few of Cork’s divisions with the statement that “what needs immediate attention is the shambolic, late withdrawals by divisional teams long after draws are made and fixtures are ratified.
“This will receive appropriate attention in the new year, where hopefully a revised format can be agreed by all involved.”

O’Donovan is 100% correct on that score. The divisions are there to ensure that every single footballer and hurler in Cork has the opportunity to tog out in the Premier Senior Championships. 

If they can’t field teams, or worse, pull out after already playing a match or two, then they only serve to undermine the structure of the championships — with these championships being the ones that have recently provided a clean sweep of the provincial club hurling titles, as well as the junior title in the football with Kilmurry.

Another topic to get an interesting reference was that of the split season between inter-county and club commitments across the GAA.
On this, O’Donovan commented: “A recent survey of Cork club players playing at the top five grades in both hurling and football indicated that only a tiny percentage were not generally in favour of the split season. 

Not what one would think if confined to surfing the airwaves or just drawn to the bright lights of TV games."

The split season may not be perfect, but it certainly seems to be the best solution on offer right now.

The huge numbers playing at underage level in Cork and the amount of coaches conducting courses was also highlighted, and should hopefully point to continuing success on the playing fields in the years to come.

LEAP

O’Donovan remarked that the game of Gaelic football has taken a “giant leap forward at the recent Special Congress”, with the introduction of the various new rules that will have us all watching a very different sport from next year onwards.

He did, however, make the observation that “perhaps silently, we continue to mourn the loss of the potential four-point goal that didn’t make it to Congress”.

The fact that this rule got dropped between the successful provincial series at Croke Park and Congress may have gone unnoticed by many, but the rule that essentially made the climax of the game between Ulster and Connacht so exhilarating did not get past the cutting table and therefore was not voted on.

One imagines that coaches around the country would have set their teams up very differently had there been the tantalising prospect of four-pointers up for grabs. Alas, we will now never know.

O’Donovan also threw out the notion of the four-point goal getting considered for hurling, with him asking whether the brilliant solo goals scored by Tony Kelly and Rob Downey in the All-Ireland final should have been worthy of more than just the three points they garnered on the day. 

Especially when you consider how many white flags get raised in every game in the sport these days.

He also proposed that the new rules around dissent and cynical play also get added to the hurling rules, which seems an obvious and agreeable suggestion.

While applauding the willingness to implement these new playing rules for the good of the game of football, O’Donovan also wondered about "the benefits that would accrue if a similar, relentless focus was brought to bear on other issues of similar importance such as intregration, infrastructure, and amateur status. What was learned over the last few months is that a visionary approach combined with a corresponding attention to detail was enough to provoke the masses into engagement. More of the same please."

The GAA has such a reputation for evolving at glacial pace, yet in the past few months the national sports have thrown off the notion of being ultra-conservative by being so open to change. 

If it can keep such an open mind that can only be a positive for all aspects of the organisation going forward.