O’Grady defends Allstar withdrawal

FORMER Cork hurling manager Donal O’Grady has mounted a stout defence of the Cork hurlers’ withdrawal from this year’s Allstar trip to Singapore.

O’Grady, coach of the 2004 Allstar selection, said: “I don’t think there are many people, in the Cork camp or otherwise, who could afford to take a month off work. But people who pick up the newspaper and read about the Premiership, Heineken Cup and inter-county GAA need to realise there’s a huge difference between them. The first two are professionals and the last are amateurs. People don’t make that distinction.”

In a wide-ranging interview published in the Irish Examiner today, O’Grady says his former charges have “every chance” of winning the three-in-a-row.