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Post by kerrygold on May 31, 2017 8:29:05 GMT
And according to some people, on the evidence of a few 10 minute displays in the league, he could have been the difference between Kerry beating the Dubs in the semi final. Seamus, are you essentially using this as an argument to increase the compensation for inter-county players? I am and I was slow to come to the table. It has passed breaking point. The current work load is 3 field sessions, 3 weights session,1-2 flexibility sessions, video work, nutrition, hydration, recovery, media when asked by management etc. The drug testing means all food choices and supplements need to be monitored as well. It only suits a select number of careers and even at that very sympathetic employers who can maybe trade off lost time and productivity for PR benefits of having a player in their ranks. 10 years ago 20-30% were sales reps on the road. Now it is not workable. Players are actively trading down on their careers to play intercounty football. This is also true of Olympic athletes but the best of them receive a grant. I am sure that a tiered system could be developed that rewards the elite players in GAA in a similar way to this. For example Paul Geaney could be a Tier 1 and receive 10-15k and a player at the bottom end of the panel gets 2-3k. Each county get a number of Tier 1,2,3,4 grants. Rugby works this way with Central contracts with the IRFU for the elite and tiered offers for the others based on a number of factors. If we dont do something like this combined with a county board mentoring committee to aid career development then the best players will either call Tadhg or decide to complete the Masters in Software programming in UCD and pick up a number in Dublin for 70-80k/year and play a bit of club football. Spot on. We need to wake up, smell the coffee and step up to the plate sooner rather than later.
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Post by kerrygold on May 31, 2017 8:50:13 GMT
I have met Brendan on a number of occasions and have found him to be a very genuine and sincere guy. He's a hard worker and lives for his football. I think it's plain to see that he did not take anything with the intention to cheat or gain an advantage over anyone. Like every other county player he probably takes food supplements and got caught out by one of these having a banned substance in it. Call it naivety or whatever, this wasn't intentional and I think the guy has suffered enough having his name plastered all over the papers. Players need to be educated more on these matters and I thinking banning a lad for something where it's clear it wasn't done on purpose makes a mockery of the doping system. Agree with most of that but if Brendan had simply gone through the squad nutrition expert and medical team he could have avoided the trouble he found himself in. There is good reason why their diets and fluid intakes are so strictly monitored. I knew someone who played for Kerry back in the 90's and 00's and he would never accept the offer of a drink from an opponents bottle for fear of it containing something. Now whether this was under instruction or his own take on things I don't recall but it demonstrates that even back then players were thinking this way. Is is that clear cut though? We had horse meat in burgers!
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Post by buck02 on May 31, 2017 9:12:53 GMT
And according to some people, on the evidence of a few 10 minute displays in the league, he could have been the difference between Kerry beating the Dubs in the semi final. Seamus, are you essentially using this as an argument to increase the compensation for inter-county players? I am and I was slow to come to the table. It has passed breaking point. The current work load is 3 field sessions, 3 weights session,1-2 flexibility sessions, video work, nutrition, hydration, recovery, media when asked by management etc. The drug testing means all food choices and supplements need to be monitored as well. It only suits a select number of careers and even at that very sympathetic employers who can maybe trade off lost time and productivity for PR benefits of having a player in their ranks. 10 years ago 20-30% were sales reps on the road. Now it is not workable. Players are actively trading down on their careers to play intercounty football. This is also true of Olympic athletes but the best of them receive a grant. I am sure that a tiered system could be developed that rewards the elite players in GAA in a similar way to this. For example Paul Geaney could be a Tier 1 and receive 10-15k and a player at the bottom end of the panel gets 2-3k. Each county get a number of Tier 1,2,3,4 grants. Rugby works this way with Central contracts with the IRFU for the elite and tiered offers for the others based on a number of factors. If we dont do something like this combined with a county board mentoring committee to aid career development then the best players will either call Tadhg or decide to complete the Masters in Software programming in UCD and pick up a number in Dublin for 70-80k/year and play a bit of club football. I'm playing devils advocate a bit here. How much would that system you propose cost? Take a panel of 28 players you divide it up into 4 tiers. 7 getting say €12k, 7 getting €9k, 7 getting €6k, 7 getting €3k. Thats €230k per annum for the top teams. Say 4 top teams in each code. Thats €1.84 million and thats before you get to the other 30 odd inter county teams. Who is going to pay for it? The taxpayer? The GAA? Could either afford it?
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Post by kerryforliam on May 31, 2017 9:37:41 GMT
I am and I was slow to come to the table. It has passed breaking point. The current work load is 3 field sessions, 3 weights session,1-2 flexibility sessions, video work, nutrition, hydration, recovery, media when asked by management etc. The drug testing means all food choices and supplements need to be monitored as well. It only suits a select number of careers and even at that very sympathetic employers who can maybe trade off lost time and productivity for PR benefits of having a player in their ranks. 10 years ago 20-30% were sales reps on the road. Now it is not workable. Players are actively trading down on their careers to play intercounty football. This is also true of Olympic athletes but the best of them receive a grant. I am sure that a tiered system could be developed that rewards the elite players in GAA in a similar way to this. For example Paul Geaney could be a Tier 1 and receive 10-15k and a player at the bottom end of the panel gets 2-3k. Each county get a number of Tier 1,2,3,4 grants. Rugby works this way with Central contracts with the IRFU for the elite and tiered offers for the others based on a number of factors. If we dont do something like this combined with a county board mentoring committee to aid career development then the best players will either call Tadhg or decide to complete the Masters in Software programming in UCD and pick up a number in Dublin for 70-80k/year and play a bit of club football. I'm playing devils advocate a bit here. How much would that system you propose cost? Take a panel of 28 players you divide it up into 4 tiers. 7 getting say €12k, 7 getting €9k, 7 getting €6k, 7 getting €3k. Thats €230k per annum for the top teams. Say 4 top teams in each code. Thats €1.84 million and thats before you get to the other 30 odd inter county teams. Who is going to pay for it? The taxpayer? The GAA? Could either afford it? The GAA pull in about 5 Million every-time Croker sells out during the year. Say that's 4 times a year, add in the money collected from concerts etc. Again, add in all the other games played throughout the year and you begin to wonder where all this money is going?
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Post by Annascaultilidie on May 31, 2017 9:45:21 GMT
I'm playing devils advocate a bit here. How much would that system you propose cost? Take a panel of 28 players you divide it up into 4 tiers. 7 getting say €12k, 7 getting €9k, 7 getting €6k, 7 getting €3k. Thats €230k per annum for the top teams. Say 4 top teams in each code. Thats €1.84 million and thats before you get to the other 30 odd inter county teams. Who is going to pay for it? The taxpayer? The GAA? Could either afford it? The GAA pull in about 5 Million every-time Croker sells out during the year. Say that's 4 times a year, add in the money collected from concerts etc. Again, add in all the other games played throughout the year and you begin to wonder where all this money is going? Presently this money goes into grassroots, no?
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Jo90
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Post by Jo90 on May 31, 2017 9:56:03 GMT
I think Kerry should have their own standards. If a player takes a supplement that hasn't been approved by the Kerry backroom staff or came from an unofficial supplier they're suspended.
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Post by buck02 on May 31, 2017 9:56:04 GMT
I'm playing devils advocate a bit here. How much would that system you propose cost? Take a panel of 28 players you divide it up into 4 tiers. 7 getting say €12k, 7 getting €9k, 7 getting €6k, 7 getting €3k. Thats €230k per annum for the top teams. Say 4 top teams in each code. Thats €1.84 million and thats before you get to the other 30 odd inter county teams. Who is going to pay for it? The taxpayer? The GAA? Could either afford it? The GAA pull in about 5 Million every-time Croker sells out during the year. Say that's 4 times a year, add in the money collected from concerts etc. Again, add in all the other games played throughout the year and you begin to wonder where all this money is going? How much are we getting from the GAA for Currans? Or for the development work in Austin Stack Park. The new Pairc Ui Chaoimh - is it €30m the GAA are pumping into that? Thats before you look at the smaller grants made to clubs for development work.
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keane
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Post by keane on May 31, 2017 10:09:28 GMT
FFS. I'd rather scrap intercounty altogether than pull out a ton of money from the grassroots to pay players.
I often wonder whether some people on this site have any clubs.
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Post by kerrygold on May 31, 2017 10:29:31 GMT
FFS. I'd rather scrap intercounty altogether than pull out a ton of money from the grassroots to pay players. I often wonder whether some people on this site have any clubs. What would then replace the 60 million generated by the intercounty game going back to the grassroots?
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Post by kerrygold on May 31, 2017 10:32:34 GMT
I am and I was slow to come to the table. It has passed breaking point. The current work load is 3 field sessions, 3 weights session,1-2 flexibility sessions, video work, nutrition, hydration, recovery, media when asked by management etc. The drug testing means all food choices and supplements need to be monitored as well. It only suits a select number of careers and even at that very sympathetic employers who can maybe trade off lost time and productivity for PR benefits of having a player in their ranks. 10 years ago 20-30% were sales reps on the road. Now it is not workable. Players are actively trading down on their careers to play intercounty football. This is also true of Olympic athletes but the best of them receive a grant. I am sure that a tiered system could be developed that rewards the elite players in GAA in a similar way to this. For example Paul Geaney could be a Tier 1 and receive 10-15k and a player at the bottom end of the panel gets 2-3k. Each county get a number of Tier 1,2,3,4 grants. Rugby works this way with Central contracts with the IRFU for the elite and tiered offers for the others based on a number of factors. If we dont do something like this combined with a county board mentoring committee to aid career development then the best players will either call Tadhg or decide to complete the Masters in Software programming in UCD and pick up a number in Dublin for 70-80k/year and play a bit of club football. I'm playing devils advocate a bit here. How much would that system you propose cost? Take a panel of 28 players you divide it up into 4 tiers. 7 getting say €12k, 7 getting €9k, 7 getting €6k, 7 getting €3k. Thats €230k per annum for the top teams. Say 4 top teams in each code. Thats €1.84 million and thats before you get to the other 30 odd inter county teams. Who is going to pay for it? The taxpayer? The GAA? Could either afford it? 10s of millions are already squandered due the nature of the intercounty fixture list while maintaining county teams during the long idle windows throughout the year.
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Post by buck02 on May 31, 2017 10:39:20 GMT
Explain please Kerrygold?
Do you think a shortened playing season would mean less training sessions. Would it just not mean a longer pre-season?
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keane
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Post by keane on May 31, 2017 10:42:30 GMT
What would then replace the 60 million generated by the intercounty game going back to the grassroots? It's not going back into the grassroots if it's going to pay elite players is it.
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Post by kerrygold on May 31, 2017 10:58:08 GMT
Explain please Kerrygold? Do you think a shortened playing season would mean less training sessions. Would it just not mean a longer pre-season? Absolutely would save money. The average training session costing 5k approx per night, 10-15k per week over an eight week window is costing county boards 80-120k alone. There are a lot of idle windows throughout the year. I'd like to see windows set aside for club games running along subsequent windows for inter county games. Probably only achievable however with 4 regional clusters consisting of 8 counties. Get the fixture structures right and it curtails preseason at county level. Everyone plays off the same schedule and the games become more sustainable for everyone. This requires a major shift away however from the concept of generating vest sums of money to be squandered on team preparation. Condense, control, spend less and require less revenue.
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Post by kerrygold on May 31, 2017 11:02:46 GMT
What would then replace the 60 million generated by the intercounty game going back to the grassroots? It's not going back into the grassroots if it's going to pay elite players is it. Maybe new ways are required to generate whats required to continue driving the intercounty game so grassroots continue to receive revenue. Grants, tax breaks, endorsements,college bursaries, pay per view from sky, just to mention a few.
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Post by Mickmack on May 31, 2017 11:29:33 GMT
The GAA pull in about 5 Million every-time Croker sells out during the year. Say that's 4 times a year, add in the money collected from concerts etc. Again, add in all the other games played throughout the year and you begin to wonder where all this money is going? Presently this money goes into grassroots, no?Yes ...but not in a fair basis. that Dublin get €274.70 per registered player compared to €15.90 for Cork, €19.00 for Kerry and €23.30 for Mayo €23.30
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Post by Mickmack on May 31, 2017 11:33:55 GMT
Your resistance to drug testing is making it look like you have something to hide! Seriously though there is a lot to be gained by becoming a top GAA player and even more to be gained by being a top Kerry player, and I would like to think that all of the fellas who have made it to the top have done it in a fair manner and not had something helping their performance! I would like to believe that the are that good. I know these guys are amateurs but it's only right that they are tested, not only for whats to gain from making it to the top of the pile in the GAA but so the game is just simply fair! In my mind there is no argument against testing especially if you really love the sports! Nothing to hide only a serious reservation that a player had to lie to his club mates and county supporters about being injured when in fact he was serving a suspension while he defended his position. The implications are far too great for amateur county players, hobbyists representing their parishes at county level. In essence that is still what a strictly amateur game is all about, representing the parish. As the expectations and demands increase on these players these ideals begin to look more and more like sham-amateurism, which is what in fact they are. Isnt the whole testing thing sham-amateurism too though. What if Kerry had beaten Dublin in the 2016 league final. Should Kerry not forfeit the cup like Usain Bolt had to forfeit the gold medal because a team mate took this thing. Put it another way, imagine if McMenamin failed a drug test after the 2011 final....
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seamus
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Post by seamus on May 31, 2017 11:34:44 GMT
I am and I was slow to come to the table. It has passed breaking point. The current work load is 3 field sessions, 3 weights session,1-2 flexibility sessions, video work, nutrition, hydration, recovery, media when asked by management etc. The drug testing means all food choices and supplements need to be monitored as well. It only suits a select number of careers and even at that very sympathetic employers who can maybe trade off lost time and productivity for PR benefits of having a player in their ranks. 10 years ago 20-30% were sales reps on the road. Now it is not workable. Players are actively trading down on their careers to play intercounty football. This is also true of Olympic athletes but the best of them receive a grant. I am sure that a tiered system could be developed that rewards the elite players in GAA in a similar way to this. For example Paul Geaney could be a Tier 1 and receive 10-15k and a player at the bottom end of the panel gets 2-3k. Each county get a number of Tier 1,2,3,4 grants. Rugby works this way with Central contracts with the IRFU for the elite and tiered offers for the others based on a number of factors. If we dont do something like this combined with a county board mentoring committee to aid career development then the best players will either call Tadhg or decide to complete the Masters in Software programming in UCD and pick up a number in Dublin for 70-80k/year and play a bit of club football. I'm playing devils advocate a bit here. How much would that system you propose cost? Take a panel of 28 players you divide it up into 4 tiers. 7 getting say €12k, 7 getting €9k, 7 getting €6k, 7 getting €3k. Thats €230k per annum for the top teams. Say 4 top teams in each code. Thats €1.84 million and thats before you get to the other 30 odd inter county teams. Who is going to pay for it? The taxpayer? The GAA? Could either afford it? Agree there is a lot of planning to be done but I am sure a solution is possible through grants, tax breaks and hard cash. 200k per annum per county is about 6m for football. I would think this is manageable if the government stumped up with tax breaks and grants through the sports council and the GAA got clever with better fixture management. I was slow to come to the table on this one but the alternative is to leave things as they are. Where is that going? A lot of mid range teams losing their best players who are looking at career first.30-40% of Derry's best players wont tog out for the county Blue chip players being tapped up by other sports Shorter careers due to the work/life balance of an intercounty player being unsustainable. This is getting worse. Increased pressure on players due to media, drug testing, analysis of performance Widening gap between the top and bottom -Dublin players getting Subaru's and meals delivered to their work. Waterford footballers dont have a nutritionist. Everything the GAA is doing is steering it towards a elite vs the rest system. Super 8, drug testing, bonus for winning the league. I think this will end up in a mess.
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Post by buck02 on May 31, 2017 11:42:04 GMT
It's not going back into the grassroots if it's going to pay elite players is it. Maybe new ways are required to generate whats required to continue driving the intercounty game so grassroots continue to receive revenue. Grants, tax breaks, endorsements, college bursaries, pay per view from sky, just to mention a few. The revenue streams in bold would be taxpayer funded. I'm paying for enough thank you. Endorsements are already going on. Players from the big counties primarily benefiting. Sky money currently being re-invested in the GAA.
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Post by Mickmack on May 31, 2017 11:42:12 GMT
Even the Dublin hurlers have Subarus FFS
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Post by onlykerry on May 31, 2017 12:23:02 GMT
The match to training imbalance is very important and it ultimately drives the overtraininig and overspending - the basic cause of both is the fixture calendar. The first championship game of 2017 was played 7th, May and the final is scheduled for 20 weekends later. The most a team can play is eight games (theoretically and excluding draws, i.e. lose prelim round and go on to win the AI) - most play less. Naturally a team with aspirations of doing well will train as hard as possible before and during this period. Squeeze the fixture list from 20 weeks to 12 or 14 and you eliminate much of the opportunity for training and improve the match to training ratio - and you free up considerable time for club fixtures. Follow the league pattern - all prelim games on same weekend in every province, all QF ditto and so on.
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Post by kerrygold on May 31, 2017 12:51:14 GMT
Maybe new ways are required to generate whats required to continue driving the intercounty game so grassroots continue to receive revenue. Grants, tax breaks, endorsements, college bursaries, pay per view from sky, just to mention a few. The revenue streams in bold would be taxpayer funded. I'm paying for enough thank you. Endorsements are already going on. Players from the big counties primarily benefiting. Sky money currently being re-invested in the GAA. No point in arguing with that.
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Post by yellowbelly on May 31, 2017 13:58:26 GMT
www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/darragh-%C3%B3-s%C3%A9-i-stopped-getting-flu-jabs-because-of-drug-tests-1.3101956Darragh Ó Sé: GAA needs more than fear and paranoia to stave off the very real threat of doping
If there is one thing that is very obvious from the Brendan O’Sullivan case, it’s that within the GAA, we don’t take this side of things seriously enough. I think it’s clear that there is an attitude across the GAA that doping doesn’t happen – and in fairness, I would imagine it probably doesn’t. But that’s not the same as thinking it can’t. You’d be mad to think that. I don’t buy into this argument that because GAA players are amateur, they shouldn’t be drug-tested. All you want in sport is to know that you’re competing on a level playing pitch with everybody else. As long as there is drug-testing, there is a deterrent. Don’t tell me that just because people aren’t getting paid, there’s no incentive to cheat. Sure that’s nonsense. Have GAA players taken stuff over the years? It wouldn’t surprise me. In fact, it would be a fair shock to find out that nobody ever has. I never saw it and never heard anything beyond idle gossip. It was never concrete enough to be something I worried about. I remember a trainer telling us one time about the world of high-level sprinting. When you made it to world championships and Olympic level, the medals basically went to whoever could pay the most money for the best doctors. It wasn’t just a case to stick a needle in your backside and away you go. To win at that level, you needed long-term planning, proper mapped-out cycles of taking stuff, precise amounts at specific times of the day for certain periods. Random topic This wasn’t like an organised talk or anything – it was just a random topic that came up in conversation one night. We could have fallen into a chat about a Champions League game or a good restaurant that had just opened or anything. But I remember the main thing I took away from it was, “Well now, I’m glad we don’t have to worry about any of that. Christ, I have enough on my plate!” Over the years, that has stuck with me as one of the reasons I would think it’s fairly safe to assume that the GAA doesn’t have a major problem with this. As I’ve said, I don’t doubt that the incentive is there – I’m just not sure where a GAA player would find the time, money and expertise to do it. Think about how organised you’d need to be, how much cash you’d need to have behind you, how careful you’d have to be, how secretive you’d need to be around your family and friends and teammates. Think even of how well educated you’d need to be on it. It occurred to me one time that if anyone was doing something, maybe it would be college lads doing seriously high-level degrees who would know the science of it and be comfortable navigating that world. I’m not saying most GAA players are thick – but let’s face it, there’s not a lot of biochemists around the place either. All players want to win, they want an edge. Some are more committed than others, some will go further than the rest. But, in all honesty, my feeling would be that the vast, vast majority of players would take one look at how complicated and costly a serious doping regime would be and just decide it wasn’t worth the hassle. That’s how players approach anything. Getting paid or not getting paid has nothing to do with it. You sit down and you size up what’s in front of you. What’s worth the hassle and what isn’t. Would a player like to be stronger? Of course. Would it be worth the rigmarole of the process? Would it be worth the risk of someone finding out? Would it be worth the damage to your credibility as an ordinary person who has to live his life if you were caught? Add it all up and I just can’t see it being a widespread thing. Now obviously, there’s a danger in thinking like that. That’s how people get complacent. And you’d have to say, the GAA approach to this has always been fairly shambolic. The starting point has always been, ‘Sure there’s none of that in our game.’ Every couple of years, there’d be a big burst of enthusiasm and you’d be made sit down and listen to a big talk about the dangers of taking the wrong thing. We’d get the shock and awe treatment. Doctors, nutritionists, experts. Be careful out there, lads. There’s a big push now to be seen to get the testing right and there’s no leeway. It’s being policed and it’s a no-go area. It was always scare-story stuff. Think of the fallout, lads. Imagine your name in the papers for taking the wrong cough medicine. Ye’ll bring shame on your family, shame on the green and gold. Don’t risk it. Read the label on everything and if you have any doubts, make sure and ask before you take anything. If you’re asthmatic and you’re taking anything, we have to fill in the form and flag it up. No mistakes, lads. And we’d all listen along and then head away off, the life frightened out of us for another year. Or it might be another two or three years in some cases, until someone decided it was time for another talk. I would bet my life that intercounty panels all around the country will be getting the talk at some stage this week after what has happened. Nettles The thing was, it worked. I used to be a nervous wreck after those meetings. There was a couple of years when I didn’t get the flu jab during the winter because I was half-afraid I’d do a drug test somewhere along the way and something would show up. It was the height of ignorance on my part. But this is what I mean in terms of not needing the hassle. I knew I could probably get a flu jab and it wouldn’t be a problem. Or if it was a problem, all I’d need to do would be fill out a form saying that I got the flu jab ahead of time. But in my head, I was going, “Do I really need this, now? Am I only complicating life for myself by having to fill out forms and provide dates and times and explanations and all the rest of it?” So I simplified everything and didn’t get the jab. Looking back now, it’s probably the wrong way to go about things. But when the whole GAA approach to doping is all about fear and paranoia, how else are you going to think about it? You can have fun with it too. There was one time in the mid- to late-2000s when I was trying out a new energy drink. It was rotten stuff altogether but I found it was giving me a bit of a leg-up at training and in games. It was legal, no hassle. I checked all the ingredients and it was fine and I passed a drug test after a game in Fraher Field. It was nearly all natural anyway – there was nettles and salts and all manner of *e in it. That’s why it tasted so rank. I was supping out of it one night in training and Tomás came over looking for a slug. He took a drink of it and nearly spat it out. “Jesus, that’s desperate stuff,” he said. And sure that only made me talk it up to the hilt. “Oh, it’s mighty,” I said. “It’s getting me through these sessions, especially in this heat.” So Tomás held his nose and got on board and started drinking it as well. Straight face A few nights later, we were back in Fitzgerald Stadium and the lads from the Sports Council arrived. We were well used to them and everyone knew the procedure – three names were drawn out of a hat and if your number came up, you had to go and do the business. But as soon as I saw them, I sidled over to Tomás. “We’re in trouble here,” I said to him, under my breath. “For what?” he said. “That energy drink. Sure it’s totally illegal. We won’t pass a drugs test.” “What? You said it was okay!” “Never mind that. I’m telling you, we’re f**ked here. I’m getting out of here.” “But... but.. where will we go?” “We can either run for the hills or take our chances that we won’t be picked out. What do you think?” By then I couldn’t keep a straight face any longer. When he realised I was messing with him, he nearly planted me. The point to remember is that there’s still a high level of ignorance about all this in the GAA. Fear and paranoia will do a lot of the work to keep the sport clean and the fact that there’s no culture of drug-taking plays a part as well. But without constant updates and education for players, the danger of something going wrong will always be there.
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Post by Mickmack on May 31, 2017 15:13:40 GMT
Does those of you who favour drug testing in the GAA feel that the winning team should NOT forfeit a match if one of the players who played in the game fails a drug test?
If yes, I think tis a strange position to take...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2017 15:29:08 GMT
Does those of you who favour drug testing in the GAA feel that the winning team should NOT forfeit a match if one of the players who played in the game fails a drug test? If yes, I think tis a strange position to take... Consistent with soccer and rugby though. Cheating happens all the time.
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Post by kerrygold on May 31, 2017 15:36:08 GMT
Darragh highlighting why this level of drug testing is over kill for the GAA.
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Post by ballhopper34 on May 31, 2017 18:05:05 GMT
The reason this MHA is banned is because it is linked to deaths.
Let's think about that for a second.
Heart attacks.
Maybe a life was saved here, and several in the future?
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Post by thirdson on May 31, 2017 21:10:38 GMT
Agree with most of that but if Brendan had simply gone through the squad nutrition expert and medical team he could have avoided the trouble he found himself in. There is good reason why their diets and fluid intakes are so strictly monitored. I knew someone who played for Kerry back in the 90's and 00's and he would never accept the offer of a drink from an opponents bottle for fear of it containing something. Now whether this was under instruction or his own take on things I don't recall but it demonstrates that even back then players were thinking this way. Is is that clear cut though? We had horse meat in burgers!
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Post by thirdson on May 31, 2017 21:11:11 GMT
Was the horse meat not in lasagne ?
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 1, 2017 10:12:05 GMT
And according to some people, on the evidence of a few 10 minute displays in the league, he could have been the difference between Kerry beating the Dubs in the semi final. Seamus, are you essentially using this as an argument to increase the compensation for inter-county players? I am and I was slow to come to the table. It has passed breaking point. The current work load is 3 field sessions, 3 weights session,1-2 flexibility sessions, video work, nutrition, hydration, recovery, media when asked by management etc. The drug testing means all food choices and supplements need to be monitored as well. It only suits a select number of careers and even at that very sympathetic employers who can maybe trade off lost time and productivity for PR benefits of having a player in their ranks. 10 years ago 20-30% were sales reps on the road. Now it is not workable. Players are actively trading down on their careers to play intercounty football. This is also true of Olympic athletes but the best of them receive a grant. I am sure that a tiered system could be developed that rewards the elite players in GAA in a similar way to this. For example Paul Geaney could be a Tier 1 and receive 10-15k and a player at the bottom end of the panel gets 2-3k. Each county get a number of Tier 1,2,3,4 grants. Rugby works this way with Central contracts with the IRFU for the elite and tiered offers for the others based on a number of factors. If we dont do something like this combined with a county board mentoring committee to aid career development then the best players will either call Tadhg or decide to complete the Masters in Software programming in UCD and pick up a number in Dublin for 70-80k/year and play a bit of club football. This topic was discussed here in detail in 2009 when tommy walsh went to oz. A lot has changed since then. Tadhg is selling a dream to young players. Dublin have gone from startled earwigs to ultra professional. The traditional gaa jobs of teaching, guards and sales refs are not as well paying for a main earner in a family. The model is broken now. You need to be working near home to play inter county. 10K to 15k a year to a player aint going to fix it. The solution is not apparent.
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Post by Mickmack on Jun 1, 2017 10:38:41 GMT
I looked up how the tax break works for sports that charlie mccreevy introduced.
It applies only to earnings from sport and you could reclaim tax back on 40% of those earnings for the ten years prior to your retirement.
So if ronan o gara earned 100k a year for ten years, he got a refund after he retired worked out on the basis that he had only received 60k a year. Thats my understanding anyway.
The key point is that it applied only to income from the sport....not from an ordinary job.
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