GAA need benevolent dictator to bring meaningful change

“Whatever happened to him? He was a great minor.”

That age-old question gets another airing in Carlow this weekend as the annual Congress delves once more into the issues of player burnout, overuse injuries and possible solutions to these perennially thorny challenges.

Of the 65 or so motions on the agenda this weekend, the reaction to motions 4 and 5 dealing specifically with the minor and U21 grades at inter-county level only, will get the most attention. But the not unrelated motion number 7 is just as significant. That motion proposes that All-Ireland football finals be played on the first Sunday in September, with the hurling final to be played two weeks prior to that.