Stapleton: Club games schedule not a job for managers

Inter-county managers should not be able to dictate when club games are played, according to former Tipperary defender Paddy Stapleton.

At the behest of Liam Sheedy, just one round of the senior hurling championship took place this month in contrast to three last year.

After this weekend, Sheedy will have exclusive access to his players ahead of their May 12 Munster SHC opener away to Cork.

A two-time All-Ireland SHC winner, the first of those medals claimed under Sheedy, Stapleton is fully aware how important the fortunes of the inter-county team are.

But he also recognises that a healthy club scene is a higher priority.

“I can understand that as a manager you are going to be judged on what you do at the end of the year but fixtures shouldn’t be in any manager’s hand.

"I’m not knocking Liam Sheedy but it should be in the GAA’s hands.

“That should be a policy. If the whole country has to abide by it then nobody is getting an advantage.

"If players are with the club then they’re with the club and the only access the county has to them is for gym work.”

Sheedy made the point Tipperary paid the price for abiding by the regulations and using April as a club month in 2018.

Clare, for example, didn’t commence their championships until August and reached a Munster final and All-Ireland semi-final.

But Borrisoleigh man Stapleton believes there were other reasons for Tipperary’s demise.

“Maybe it was a hindrance to Tipperary but I played championship matches for my club between Tipperary games and I think Tipperary should look at the way they were training because I knew there were full-blooded sessions on the weeks of club matches last year.

“There may have been burnout but the management might have to take responsibility for that as well.

Limerick won the All-Ireland and played club games in April so I’m not so sure Tipperary lost out because they were playing club games (in April).

Stapleton was particularly exercised by the unsuccessful championship structure proposal in Cork, which called for one or two matches to take place without senior panel players.

Such a move would have been a recipe for disaster, he believes.

“If you think about it, it’s why we’re unique,” he says of the club-county dynamic. “One week, you could play a match for Tipperary and the next you could be marking your cousin in a club game up the road.

"Some people have been saying the Cork option (C) was a small thing but I would disagree.

“Clubs are now asking themselves why are we providing these hurlers (for the county) when we get absolutely nothing back.

"I went to four club matches last weekend and they were full-blooded because everyone was involved.

"They were extremely exciting and if you take away from the cut and thrust of championship hurling people will stop going.

"A professional or semi-professional sport is not the GAA I wanted to be involved in.”