Player burnout: Stars have their say on GAA's hottest topic
By Peter McNamara and Grainne McGuinness
With the Allianz National Football League starting this weekend the consequences of committing to inter-county GAA and the impact such involvement has on players' lives outside of the game has come into sharper focus than ever before.
Joe Brolly's description of inter-county players as
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Darran O’Sullivan's comments this week about quitting his job in banking brought it back into the spotlight.
“I left Ulster Bank in November to concentrate on keeping the body right,” he said. “I had a great time there and learned a lot but I just couldn’t see my future there. And it just wasn’t ideal for getting my body right.”
O’Sullivan later
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Everyone knows that the days of arriving late to training only to laugh it off or enjoying a hectic social life on the status of regularly wearing a county jersey are the most distant of memories.
But, does this lessen the experience of wearing your county jersey? And what exactly are the key differences between being an inter-county performer even a few short years ago to the present-day?
Cork's John O'Rourke, in his third season as a senior player, and Kildare veteran Alan Smith gave their thoughts to Breakingnews.ie.
“It does take up a lot of time but I think, overall, what the likes of Joe Brolly was saying exaggerated the situation,” O’Rourke said. “Most fellas do get a lot of enjoyment out of it and you do still have a life.”
The Corkman didn’t deny he and his teammates committed a lot of their lives to the game.
“As a player nowadays, you would probably be out five days a week and the other days you would be recovering as best you can,” he explained, and added that there was a lot more to preparation than just training.
“You have your weight sessions as well - but I suppose the biggest element of it now is your diet and the preparation of meals that give you the fuel you need. You are constantly thinking of preparing a day ahead food-wise.”
Brolly had painted inter-county training as joyless and negative, saying: “Players are drifting into these sedentary jobs. They’re not able to work full-time, they’re not able to develop careers. Incessant testing and training camps.
Managers are coming in and wringing every last drop they can out of them. County football is becoming a very negative experience”.
This doesn’t tally with O’Rourke’s description however.
“All of the variation to it now makes it even more interesting every time you go out, in my opinion,” O’Rourke said. “A lot of guys like the challenge of trying to better yourself the whole time and others are actually interested in the science behind the training.
"A lot of lads like the weights sessions and, as you can see, there are some that branch off into strength and conditioning themselves.”
Despite the intense nature of what being an inter-county player entails, O’Rourke strongly rejects the idea football has a negative effect on his life away from the game.
The Cork forward eloquently summed up his feelings on the issue: “Most fellas do get a lot of enjoyment out of it and you do still have a life. Most guys thrive on the levels of professionalism involved.”
Kildare’s Alan Smith’s senior inter-county career kicked into gear in 2008 and even in that timeframe he has seen many changes to the lifestyles players lead as well as the training methods implemented in Gaelic football at the highest level.
“When I made my debut in 2008, which, in relative terms isn’t really that long ago, the training at that time was different to how it is now,” Smith, 28, explained. “I remember arriving at training not more than 15 minutes before the session began then to kick a few balls.
“Nowadays, you might find yourself at the venue for a session an hour before it begins.
“There is a lot of emphasis placed on the likes of foam-rolling, training bands, flexibility work and what not now, things that were not as prevalent previously, or not used at all.
“In the last few years you even have to prepare for training sessions which is incredible when you think about it. Even my own club team, Sarsfields, are adopting that mantra now with Anthony Rainbow taking sessions with us.
“Recovery post-sessions is another huge element of the whole process of being an inter-county player presently. That is a big deal.”
Smith feels it doesn't impact on his own life enough for it not to be worth being involved, at club or inter-county level.
“I was in college when I started out in 2008 so I had loads of time to recover. Now, though, I am working with Ulster Bank so being able to recover isn’t too bad,” he explained.
“Then, however, you have the likes of the lads that work in construction who would find it harder. I certainly would find it difficult to get up the next morning after a tough session to do physical work.”
Interestingly, the Kildare forward emphasised that, as a single man with no family ties currently, life operating in the inter-county sphere is a whole world away from how it is for those with wives and children.
“For me, personally, I’m not married or have kids but those that do have to go straight to training from work and get home late at night which must be very hard for them,” he said.
Is the level at which Smith operates essentially a single man’s game presently?
“Well, there are countless examples of lads, the likes of Johnny Doyle and Aindriú Mac Lochlainn included recently, that have had to pull away from the game as there are more important things to life such as their family life, especially if they have newborn or young kids. If you are single it probably is much easier to be honest.
“It is worth it all though,” he added.
