Dónal Óg Cusack calls on Club Players Association to prioritise hurling
Former GPA chairman Dónal Óg Cusack has said he hopes the new Club Players Association puts the promotion of hurling at the top of their agenda.
The Clare coach believes proposals for a compacted GAA season outlined by GAA Director General Páraic Duffy could impact on the profile of hurling.
In Saturday’s Examiner Sport, due out in print tomorrow, Cusack writes: “There is a flag in there for hurling people. The proposal bloats the football championship with eight more competitive matches while leaving an emaciated and lopsided hurling championship to be run off quickly.
“According to the proposal document, there would have been just two games of inter-county hurling played after July 17 in 2016.”
When finding ways to address the fixture logjam and improve the calendar for the club player, Cusack hopes the CPA take note of hurling’s needs first.
“The hurling voice needs to be heard on this. I hope that the CPA’s counter-proposal on the scheduling and competition issues will place the development and promotion of hurling at the top of the list of priorities.
“There is no reason why, on alternate years, the All-Ireland hurling final shouldn’t be played as the last major event of the inter-county calendar. Or why the hurling structure shouldn’t be re-examined too.”
In tomorrow's column in the Irish Examiner, Cusack also explains why the GPA and inter-county players should not be seen as enemies of the club player.
