John Fogarty: How badly do the GAA want crowds back?
GRIN AND BEAR IT: Offaly fan Ray Larkin celebrates after the Leinster SFC Round 1 win over Louth after extra time in Navan last Sunday. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
From the people who once brought you such marketing slogans as “Nothing Beats Being There”, comes the latest “These Are Our Colours”.
“Maybe your passion is not red but white,” started the GAA’s radio ad we heard coming away from Thurles on Sunday. “Maybe you have green blood or cried gold tears. Maybe your pride is maroon or your belief is blue because the colours you wear are the colours you feel.
“The GAA football All-Ireland championship, sponsored by Eir, AIB and SuperValu. These are our counties, these are our colours. Find out where to watch them on gaa.ie/fixtures and show your colours from home using #bestseatinthehouse. GAA — where we all belong.”
The campaign is the same as the one used last year and to be fair to Croke Park, they must be commended for putting money into such an initiative when considering their financial difficulties they could have easily left it up to the media, the associate sponsors of the competitions, and the media partners to do the plugging for them.
Just like the 2020 winter championship, the GAA aren’t just yet in a position to sell tickets so encouraging supporters to become engaged from the comfort of their homes is understandable. “Best seat in the house” is obviously a play on words, sponsors like Bord Gáis are basing their own campaigns on supporters watching from home, and whatever happens in the coming weeks the majority of fans are unlikely to see their teams in person.
Yet do we detect an element of resignation in the GAA’s ads and billboards about live audiences over the next nine weeks? Or, dare it be said, a reluctance?
Not since then president John Horan called out the National Public Health Emergency Team for the decision to put games behind closed doors last August has the GAA said boo about spectators. While the likes of Leinster Rugby have shown initiative in getting bums on seats, the GAA have been happy to play the long game.
Much like the return of games last summer, they don’t want to be the first but then they don’t want to be last, either. Both from GAA director general Tom Ryan and in off-the-record briefings, Croke Park have said the best they hoped for in terms of an audience at games this summer was family and friends of players. The numbers allowed in the recent finals in GAA HQ and at this Saturday’s Cork-Limerick Munster semi-final were beyond expectations.
But just how warmly have those numbers been greeted in the GAA? Not as much as you might expect. “They didn’t want to go to 30% (capacity) straightaway,” claimed Minister for Sport Jack Chambers earlier his month. “They want to train and educate stewards and the whole staff so that this is done in a very safe way based on international best practice.”
Again, that makes sense but here’s the thing: next Saturday, the Leinster senior hurling semi-finals will be played at MW Hire O’Moore Park, not Croke Park where based on the numbers that attended the league camogie, ladies football and Division 3 finals over 2,000 fans could be accommodated.
The main stand in Portlaoise has a capacity of approximately 6,500. It is expected 200 will be allowed into it for Galway and Dublin at 2pm followed by Kilkenny and Wexford at 4.30pm. But having now had the experience of three games at Croke Park, why has the Leinster Council chosen a smaller venue and ignored the opportunity to give more followers the chance to take in the game and earn considerably more gate receipts than they would in O’Moore Park?
Last week, Minister Chambers said he was not aware of any Covid cases arising from Leinster Rugby’s Rainbow Cup, the concert in Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens, or any of the other pilot events. In the UK, just 28 Covid cases were recorded from the nine mass events attended by over 58,000, which represented 0.04%.
The GAA obviously still have a cap in hand as they wait on a subvention from Government but surely that isn’t stopping them from lobbying for crowds and not smatterings?
“We are going to be in an outdoor setting, we can control it,” said Henry Shefflin on The Sunday Game Live in Thurles. “The numbers are limited to such an effect that I think they’re having an effect on our Championship — it definitely impacted last year.
It was sad driving on the road here today. Not having the spectators here, not having the family and friends of these players is definitely impacting. We could definitely have a lot more people here in a controlled environment.”
He continued: “I definitely think the GAA could be doing more to having more people in the grounds.”
Expect those calls to grow the more the stakes are raised in this Championship and followers are shut out.
Slow play in hurling should be penalised
We know by now that Tony Kelly can control most things and it seems having grown tired of mastering the sliotar he has turned his attention to conquering time.
We jest but the manner in which he slowed down the clock in order to take frees in Sunday’s Munster quarter-final was noticeable. Granted, coming out from full-forward to take frees from inside his own half, it took longer than usual but the gaps between Clare winning frees and Kelly striking them were lengthy.
Example 1: Diarmuid Ryan wins a free from Shane Bennett at two minutes and five seconds.
A minute and one second later, Kelly lifts, hits and points the placed ball.
Example 2: Cathal Malone is fouled at 34 minutes and 55 seconds. Kelly sends over the free 53 seconds later.
On both occasions, it paid for Kelly to trot back to take those strikes - we only recall referee Colm Lyons urging him to get a move on in the first instance - and he is most certainly not the only one doing it. Waterford free-taker Stephen Bennett doesn’t dwell as long over the ball as Kelly but he’s also known to come back beyond his own 45 to hit dead balls.
Slow play is the bane of amateur and professional golf but it is also the anathema of good hurling. Kelly is the personification of great hurling but even the best shouldn’t be afforded such liberties if it interrupts the flow of a game.
When scores are coming far too easy, either a 20 or 30-second shot clock on frees being taken or insisting they be taken by a player in the vicinity of where it was awarded might be a measure worth considering.
Some full-forward questions lie ahead
Sticking with Tony Kelly and the clever decision by Brian Lohan and his management team to move the 2013 hurler of the year to the edge of the square on Sunday highlights the importance of the full-forward position.
Given how Pádraic Maher at full-back struggled with the likes of Aisake Ó hAilpín in the past, do Clare opt to bring Kelly out to a more natural position this Sunday and instead leave target man Aron Shanagher to duel with the Tipperary great?
At the other end, does Liam Sheedy consider how Conor Cleary was whistled regularly for fouling Stephen Bennett and instead of shapeshifting his attack opt to stick with one full-forward for most of the game?
Kieran Kingston also has some decisions to make - first and foremost has Alan Connolly done enough to merit a start for Cork?
We think so and not just for the surprise element of the youngster but his temerity also.
He could ask serious questions of Richie English or Dan Morrissey. Patrick Horgan may actually be too orthodox for the role. Considering Cork haven’t really settled on a full-back, Aaron Gillane or Seamus Flanagan, who seems to enjoy facing the Rebels, could enjoy that uncertainty.
Earlier on Saturday, Wexford are likely to alternate with two of Lee Chin, Conor McDonald and Rory O’Connor inside against Kilkenny but they must get the combination right. And bearing in mind Matthew O’Hanlon has been a rash on TJ Reid in recent years would a switch to full-forward for the Kilkenny star upset Wexford’s plans when Liam Ryan is long established at full-back?
- john.fogarty@examiner.ie
