Donegal GAA star Karl Lacey has proposed a radical change in order to alleviate the on-going divide between clubs and county teams all over Ireland.
Lacey feels the demand on players to play for both club and county is now unsustainable – and that the GAA should follow the Rugby model and divide the two.
Lacey feels that if you’re good enough to play for your county, then you step away from the club, and if you’re not good enough for inter-county football then you return to your clubs.
Lacey told The Irish Independent, “It nearly has to go down the route of rugby where, if you are good enough to go into a county squad you step away from your club – and if you’re not good enough for your county team any more you step back down again.
“There is far too much and not enough structure for club and county managers talking to each other.
“It’s all about load management and how often players are on their feet. How often they training? What intensity do they train at?
“It’s crazy stuff what’s going on and what’s being asked of lads.”
Lacey believes some managers don’t care about the long-term welfare of the player.
According to Lacey, some coaches try to get the most out of players for the period of time they’re assigned to work with them, without properly considering the long-term impacts – or how they’ll be in 3-4 years time.
“They might be manager for a team for two years and all he wants is to get the most out of that team for those two years.
“Where that player is in four years’ time is irrelevant to him. That’s the eye of the coach.
“You need somebody that’s looking at the actual players themselves, making sure that player when he is 21 years of age, that when he is 27 or 28, that he is peaking.
“If county teams had a structure in place where the strength and conditioning managers oversaw everything and tells a player where to go, it might solve it.”
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