Have mercy on the programme sellers

Fake news was rife in the GAA again this past weekend. As the stakes rose in the league, what several managers were prepared to release for information purposes was a weak variation of the truth.

Some of it was simply unfortunate. Injuries, especially in a denser schedule than usual, often crop up between the time managers submit the teams for the match programme midweek and throw-in.

There’s also the well-established fact that managers aren’t in a position to provide their team at that stage when they haven’t even chosen it or informed their players, so what is transmitted to the printers might be guesswork.