National Football League Discussion

We will look at it another way. These payments are coming from central funds. Most counties at this stage will have four team, adult hurling and football, ladies football and hurling.

What will unlimited session cost. The milage rate is 65c/ km. At 50 km average travel to training both the ways for three session for 30 weeks of the year it's 5.8/ year. 30 players per panel( some are hitting nearly 40) for 4 adult teams is for every county. It's nearly 22.5 million. That fir three sessions a week. For 5 sessions it's 35 million. The 18 million surplus that the GAA made last year that was distributed to counties and clubs is gone.

The GAA found it nearly impossible to enforce collective training band last year during COVID hie the hell can it monitor and manage the number of training sessions.

I agree the situation regarding coaches, managers and health and nutrition supports are gone crazy at county level and even club level.

If players feel they are out of pocket then the GPA should bring in a ban on unpaid sessions. But as I said Evey player and team is looking for an edge to win a Celtic cross.

What Hampsey did was crazy, he could have avoided Costello. If the boot was on the other four and Tyrone was 5-6 points up he do exactly what Costello did. Every players makes a meal of these incidents these days whether to stop the clock if it suits or to get an opposition player booked. What he did was dangerous play the yellow was the minimum.

It was on concrete Costello landed on his backside. If he slipped and wen down the wrong way and hit his head on a hoarding/barrier or on the concrete it could have been much more serious. Stupid of Hampsey he was on a card already. A straight red would not have been incorrect either.

Hampsey followed Costello off the field and hit him while both were well off the field.

It's not as if his momentum of following Costello made him make contact with Costello, he jogged up to Costello and made sure he hit him.

A stupid move for a player already on a yellow.

He was shouldered into the chest with force while just standing on a concrete surface with studs…

why did Hampsey go near Costello ? 5 meters off the pitch, on concrete, he runs over to him, smack…he wasn’t trying to retrieve the ball, just attacking the player while the ball wasn’t in play and he was on a concrete surface… Costello never motioned to get near him, he was motionless.. one hand on the gate for his balance…studs on concrete..

if I’m a teammate of Hampsey or I’m Logan I’d be giving him a severe bollôcking for that, if it cost Tyrone the match we’ll never know but it certainly made life 1000 times more difficult for his teammates, gigantic idiocy.

Yeah it seems it is only a vocal minority of Tyrone fans defending this. Those of a certain ‘mindset’.

All right thinking football fans, would be raging if a fella from their own team did that. Letting down a team through pointless stupidity.

Hampsey was not on the field of play. There was no sense to what he did. Just frustration and misplaced machismo. Not to mention the danger on hard concrete.

If Hampsey did not get sent off I would say Tyrone would have caught Dublin and got the two points. He let his teammates down and management team - simple as that.

I don't really agree that he wasted his potential or that he lacks in effort. He just about fulfilled his realistic potential imo - which is that he's a good player but not a great one and that the type of player he is had a shelf life and is sort of gone out of fashion now. I think a lot of expectations where heaped on him due to his minor years, but there are more players who don't kick on from their younger years than do and Aidan did better than most who have promising underage form.

Aidan's problem imo is that the game moved on from the type of player he is from about 2015. His natural position, where he is most comfortable, is midfield and he had his best years for Mayo in that position. I believe when the game started to steadily move towards more athletic pacey types in that position, he had difficulty adapting. I don't think that's for lack of trying btw. I do believe he tries hard, but he doesn't have natural pace and his natural body type wouldn't be particularly athletic (the body type is something I know for a fact he has worked very hard on but it's one of those things that can only be changed so much). He was never going to have a Brian Fenton-like physique or movement but that's the sort of midfielder people want now and that tends to flourish in the game. Aidan just isn't that type. They tried to mold him into a full forward but he isn't comfortable there clearly and doesn't have the pace for it anyway.

I think he's one of those players who sort of got lost in the evolution of the game a bit. I still think he has plenty to offer though off the bench though. As I said, the sheer physical presence of the man is great to bring on later in a game, and he's a great tackler and ball winner.

It is hard to say if that is backing up my point or going against it. As it is a ‘what is rare is wonderful type of argument.’ Almost surprise from Moyles.

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At the very least I do think sub is AO’S best role. Because I have seen him go completely absent in a lot of games I have seen him in the past. In particular live no movement looking ‘lost’ not involved. I can’t have been imagining all those occasions surely? There seems to be attempt to talk up a ‘new look’ AO’S. Finally trying?

Jury is still out for me I will be watching him in crunch games closely to see if he finally really can be a game changer.

In general I think the GAA is one of best run sports organisations in the world. The fact still running so well while others in Ireland FAI, and worldwide Barcelona FC flounder. It stands up great and is unique.

OK some of the rule changes are daft, and they are slow to revamp some competitions past their purpose. But the fact that Gaelic Games are still flying and integral in many a community speaks volumes.

All this in the face of professional sports and against a well run IRFU. The GAA seems to be taken for granted by many. But in my view it has been the biggest constant sporting achievement in the history of anywhere on the island of Ireland or further afield.

If professionalism ever came into the GAA ‘officially’ it would kill the games. Like the way it has slowly killed Irish soccer.

The main reason the IRFU survived so well is because they were well heeled to start with and had business backing - and acumen. Developed their own systems for success.

The GAA has found it’s own way - in general lead by very capable people at the right times. In my view because of this they will never go that Irish soccer has.

The GAA is in many ways a phenomenon. And the envy of other sporting organisations in Ireland.

A push for professionalism in Gaelic football as some seem to be nudging towards, will kill the game fairly sharpish.

I notice the GPA are slow to mention the benefits being a high profile football / hurling player gives them. A ‘name’ so given a job because of that profile etc. Handy sales jobs or a high profile of their own business because of GAA.

Bernard Brogan, Paidi O’Se, Andy Moran. To name but three all did well because of their GAA profile in their livelihoods off the pitch.

I'd imagine most rank and file GPA members would be either ambivalent or against the GAA turning professional. While obviously the big names get attention, the bulk of GPA members are from middling to weak counties. With professionalism would come a freedom to work/transfer system, and these players would be dropped in favour of the surplus from stronger counties. A solid club hurler in Galway might be nowhere near the Galway team but would be the best player on the Leitrim team for example.

Now you could say that if professionalism does come in they'll keep an amateur competition too for weak counties, but that'll just be an even less prestigious competition than what they currently play in. There's nothing in it for them if the GAA goes professional so I can see them either not caring or being against it.

This is before we even get to the huge obstacles regarding funding, what teams would play, whether fans would support it, player access etc.

Good win for Tyrone and an important 2 points.

Mayo down 5 at ht and playing with the wind in second half. Closed the deficit pretty quickly but Tyrone went into defensive mode for the last quarter of an hour and Mayos attack in that last 20 minutes was woefully inept.

In fairness they've 2 of the best forwards in the country out injured.

Tommy Conroy may be one of Mayos best forwards but let's be honest hes not one of the best forwards in country.

Yep, I'd agree with those too. Fine players