Cork hurling crisis deepens as Board reject Cusack broadside

CORK GAA chiefs reacted angrily last night to player claims they were being treated shabbily and were discouraged from joining the Gaelic Players' Association.

Amid fears the row could split Cork hurling down the middle, County Board chairman Jim Cronin insisted there was no substance to a number of allegations made by Cork goalkeeper Donal Óg Cusack in a local radio interview.

Cork hurling coach Bertie Óg Murphy also responded to the broadside last night, revealing how ahead of the NHL final Murphy and captain Wayne Sherlock met with the younger players with the intention of getting them focused on the game.

He said: "It was a very good meeting and the players in question were delighted with it. At no time were players told that by joining the GPA they would be jeopardising their chances of playing.

"My sole objective as coach was to win games, nothing else. What players did in their spare time was their own business. I felt that GPA business should be conducted on the players' own time, not mine.

He added: "I know of no instance where pressure was applied to any player not to join the GPA, and I don't believe any other selector pressurised players not to join.

"Ensuring that Cork hurling was kept to the forefront was always our primary objective, and we wanted nothing to interfere with that. Any suggestion of intimidation by me is absolutely ludicrous.

"My sole aim is to help players develop and I certainly would not be a party to any player being denied the opportunity to play with the county. Their ability is what interests me."

In a hard-hitting interview on a local radio station, Cusack, who is regarded as one of the leading campaigners in Cork for the Gaelic Players Association, told of phone calls being made to younger players to discourage them from joining the organisation.

"Young players got calls informing them that by joining the GPA they would jeopardise their chances of playing with the senior team," he said. "Publicly the County Board stated that they had no problem with us joining the GPA but that was not the case and behind the scenes other forces were at work."

Cloyne's Cusack claimed on 96FM that Cork's county board is being run by a group of yes men, and that they are totally ignorant of the needs of players.

He said senior players receive just one pair of boots for the season, and players who wanted to join a gym in order to improve their fitness had to pay for it themselves.

"There is one man running the show in Cork and he was never an inter-county hurler, and if he wanted Croke Park to be opened up to other sports, it would be done," Cusack said.

During the course of the interview, Cusack said the treatment meted out to the county's other teams was miserly, a comment rejected last night by Board vice-chairman Jim Forbes (also a junior football selector), who said anything his selection committee wanted they got from the Board.

Board chairman Jim Cronin said that in terms of sports equipment, the senior players in Cork were well looked after.

He said: "The request for the equipment was made very early in the year and despite the fact that our main sponsors were in the throes of changing their logo, it was available around the middle of April.

He said: "Each hurler on the panel received the following: one pair of runners, a pair of football boots (Puma King), a personal track suit, a large kit bag, two sweat shirts, shell pants, two training shirts, a rain jacket, new county jersey, fleece jacket , two leisure polo shirts and four pairs of socks and shorts. The total value of the package for the team was 36,000.

"I don't know of any other county team who has received as much, and you must remember that Cork went out of the championship early. Had they stayed in, there were have been further equipment made available.

"Apart from the sports equipment, training facilities were provided for at the Na Piarsaigh club where there is a first class gymnasium freely available to the players under the supervision of our trainer Ted Owens, who is a fully qualified PE instructor.

"Meals are provided after every training session. We pay the maximum expenses allowed by Central Council and have been paying them for a number of years."

Referring to Cusack's allegation that players must pay for the use of a gym, Mr Cronin said if players want to join a gym in order to better themselves you can hardly expect the County Board to pick up the tab.

The chairman said that last year the cost to the board in running inter county teams was 300,000, exclusive of items paid for by sponsors Esat Digifone, which was in excess of 60,000.

Senior football selector Mick O'Loughlin said he was surprised at Mr Cusack's outburst: "We have a very happy camp at the moment, and that's due in no small way to the excellent co-operation we've received from the County Board. We want for nothing and are treated extremely well."