Earley: Let players play and officials administrate
The two-time All Star described the decision as “ridiculous” and also said the board did not do enough to distance the players from last year’s controversies.
As part of the two-game deal with the Dublin County Board which included their opener against Donegal, Kildare were believed to have received €60,000.
With two €300,000-plus advances having been given to Kildare by Croke Park last year, the county board are continuing in their attempts to remedy their stricken financial situation.
However, Earley insists the incentive wasn’t worth switching the game from St Conleth’s Park to Croke Park.
“I would have liked to have seen the game in Newbridge. It was a home game for Dublin. To me, it was ridiculous. That’s my opinion. We have a perfect ground down there. Does it matter if it’s 7,000 (capacity) or whatever? I suppose financial implications have an effect but I would have loved to have seen the game down in Newbridge. Why not? It’s our home pitch. Croke Park is not our home pitch.
“Trying to separate yourselves from what happens at county board level — county board officials are there to deal with that sort of stuff. Players are there to play football and to train. You have to separate the two, really. It’s not our fault what happens at county board level. It’s not the county board’s (issue) what happens on the field.
“Last year there was too much of Kildare, Kildare, Kildare and I think it fell to the players when it should have been dealt with at county board level. I think they’re going to deal with that this year. Let us play football.”
Earley didn’t mention the Seanie Johnston saga or Kildare’s much-publicised financial difficulties last year but hinted at the team being distracted by off-field events in 2012.
“I’ve started playing back in ’97, the time and commitment has doubled since then. It’s a full-time job for an inter-county footballer and I think they have enough to do to be worrying about other things that are out of their control. They have enough on their plate.
“Our job is to play to the best of our ability and county boards and Leinster Councils and Central Councils, it’s their job to administrate and let them do that and we’ll play the football.
“I think it should be separated when addressing counties throughout the country. The county board and whatever the administrators, and keep the players separate.”
Earley had hoped to feature against Dublin last Saturday but a back spasm put paid to that and he admits it could rule him out of the trip to face Mayo in Castlebar tomorrow evening.
After signalling this season as his last year, the 35-year-old said he wouldn’t be satisfied with an impact substitution role this year.
“No, obviously not. Nobody wants to be that sub. You want to start and you want to play. You have to accept as well sometimes and be happy with it. I’m not going to throw the toys out of the pram or anything like that. But I’d like to think that I could play a full game and I’ll keep working towards that.
“If it doesn’t work out, it might be disappointing but it’s still not going to change my preparation or attitude if I do get a run.
“I definitely would think that I can play 70 minutes. It’s up to me prove that to the manager. You have to be realistic.”
Earley says Kildare didn’t work hard enough for long enough in their 13-point defeat by Dublin on Sunday.
“All the lads are very disappointed, bitterly disappointed but we assessed how we played, where things went wrong to work on this week and there was a huge reaction in training on Tuesday, a very positive reaction.
“Coming out of Croke Park the last few years, we would have to wait six months before we got another chance to play again.”
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