GAA at the highest level — ever and always games for young men

One of the most interesting things about sport is how notions get stuck inside people’s heads and refuse to shift, regardless of the evidence available. A great example of this is the notion that the GAA is now ‘No Country For Old Men’.

By this analysis, the average age of players who play Gaelic games at inter-county level seems to continue to fall and fall. Usually, the analysis is underpinned with reference to the extraordinary sacrifices now being made by inter-county players, and usually surfaces around the retirement of celebrated players.

This is particularly the case when a player is a stellar talent who slips into retirement when there would appear to have been much more in the tank. Sometimes the retirements are drawn by injury (Richie Power being a case in point), or by a decision to do other things (another brilliant Kilkenny hurler, Cha Fitzpatrick, springs to mind.)