'We'll lose half our team next year'
Offaly boss fears players will walk over relegation, writes Martin Breheny
Offaly hurling boss Joe Dooley watches his team lose to Cork in the qualifiers earlier this month
Thursday July 23 2009
AS many as half of the Offaly hurling team would be unavailable next summer if they were relegated from the Leinster and All-Ireland championships.
That's the grim prediction from manager Joe Dooley, who has made a late appeal to the GAA to find a way out of the relegation controversy which will see Offaly, Antrim, Clare or Wexford drop out of Liam McCarthy Cup and provincial contention.
Meanwhile, the counties involved are considering their position after meeting GAA President Christy Cooney and Director-General Paraic Duffy on Tuesday night. It's still possible that the case may be taken to the DRA either collectively by the four counties or individually by whichever is relegated after the play-offs.
While Croke Park are approaching it from a technical position as set out in rule, Dooley's appeal is based on the practical impact of losing one of this year's Liam McCarthy Cup teams.
"Whatever was decided at Congress, Special Congress or anywhere else, the key question is this: would hurling benefit from dropping one of those four counties down to Christy Ring Cup level next year?" said Dooley.
"I doubt if there's a single person in the GAA who would think that's the case. None of the four counties involved are trying to stop Carlow from being promoted. We just want to remain in the top flight and do our best to move up as high as we can."
He also warned that if Offaly were relegated, he would find it very difficult to motivate players at the start of 2010.
"It might be okay for the National League because we are in Division 1 but what then?" Dooley continues. "We could have an outstanding league against the country's top teams right up to April and then have to head for the Christy Ring Cup in May. I doubt very much if the players would buy into that.
"I suspect that as many as half of them would head off to the States or somewhere else for the summer if they couldn't compete in the Leinster and All-Ireland championships."
Dooley's call for a re-think comes days after Colm Bonnar predicted that relegation would have a disastrous impact on hurling in Wexford, leading to many players concentrating on football. Clare are also worried by the prospect of exclusion while Antrim are claiming that they were given a guarantee that they would be allowed to compete in Leinster for three years.
Cooney and Duffy met representatives from the four counties on Tuesday night where they outlined the GAA's position in detail. They contend that their hands are tied by motions passed at Special Congress last October and Annual Congress in April.
However, Dooley argues that when rules are seen to present problems, a mechanism should exist to sort out the problem.
"What about the rule of common sense? Take Offaly. We're third behind Kilkenny and Cork on the All-Ireland senior table over the past 30 years. We won two All-Irelands in the last 15 years, yet if the relegation scene goes against us we're out of Leinster and the All-Ireland. How can that be right?" he said.
"Clare won two All-Irelands and Wexford one over the last 14 years but one of them could be in trouble too. And how would it benefit Antrim hurling to drop back down to Christy Ring again? We should be trying to move as many counties as possible up to the top level."
Dooley also pointed out that the relegation games were seriously impinging on club activity. The situation was exacerbated by the GAA decision to defer the first two games by a week in order to consider their position, arising from complaints from the four counties involved.
"We lost in the qualifiers July 4 but we still haven't played a relegation game. The clubs are losing out in a big way," he said.
In normal circumstances, there would be a call for a Special Congress to consider the situation in October. However, that's not feasible due to the passing of a motion last April which decrees that a Special Congress (made up of restricted numbers) cannot change a decision reached by annual Congress.
"We keep hearing about rules and regulations," Dooley continues, "but how can anybody explain to hurlers who put their hearts and souls into what they're doing that it's in their best interests not to play in the provincial or All-Ireland championship?"
- Martin Breheny
