Last days of the precious duals

WITH the National Leagues firmly established in their new slot early in the same calendar year, every League game has become crucial.

In the days when the League was split into pre-Christmas and post-New Year, players who felt overworked could take a break early on, return refreshed in the New Year. That's gone, fewer players willing to risk losing their place to a hungry newcomer.

Additionally, the new qualifier system means even if your team is beaten in the provincial championship, they are not out of the championship, offered a back-door route to All-Ireland glory.

All of this means more games, more training sessions, more time in harness with the hurling and football panels at inter-county level. How long more can this be sustained?

There are major problems involved, the first being time. Along with Damien Fitzhenry of Wexford, Tipperary's Brendan Cummins is one of two top-class hurling goalkeepers almost equally-talented at gaelic football.

A couple of years ago however, he decided enough was enough: "I played the two for four or five years but it's not easy, especially as you get older.

"You have a lot more commitments, mortgage, the job becomes more important, and it gets harder to keep it all going. I did play a couple of football games with Tipperary again before Christmas, but I'm not sure I can keep it up, I'll be meeting the football manager on Wednesday night to sort it out."

Now perhaps the biggest problem: how to serve two masters?

In Dublin, around the same time that Brendan was opting out of inter-county football, another talented dual player, Shane Ryan, was being forced out of hurling. Two managers, each demanding full commitment, the pressure became too great and his hand was forced.

Sunday last, Ryan was back with the Dublin hurlers, scored four points in the annual Blue Stars challenge, then went on to play 'til half-time for the footballers immediately afterwards.

Promising signs but, according to Shane, it doesn't mean that he will see out the season in both codes: "Two years ago the managers couldn't reach a compromise so all the pressure, the decisions, came back on me, and I don't think that's fair.

"The player should never have to make all the decisions, get all the hassle. I'm only interested in continuing with this if the managers can reach an agreement that will allow me to do it."

Yet another modern dual player, Neville Coughlan of Offaly, was also in the news on Sunday, three goals from full-forward in his county's O'Byrne Cup win over Wexford.

Even young Neville however, not 22 'til June this year, is not getting carried away with thoughts of emulating the great Liam Currams, who won All-Ireland glory with Offaly in both codes.

"Last year was my first year as a dual player for the county, but it's getting harder. I'd say it will become impossible over the next few years. It's a huge commitment to play even one game at inter-county level, so to play both is getting tougher and tougher every year.

"Even though there's great co-operation between Mike Mac in the hurling and Gerry Fahey in the football and it's working out well, the manager would still like to see you at every training session, every game, and that's understandable.

"With the way the games have progressed you have to be training and playing for both games at a very high level all the time, you can't just fall in with one or the other anymore. Between the two, you're out the whole time, kicking the ball, hurling, training, it's becoming very difficult to keep both of them going."

Eventually then, a choice will be made, either voluntarily as in the Cummins' case, or forced on you.

Unless you're exceptionally gifted at the weaker code in your own county, as was the case with Declan Browne of Tipperary, winner of two Allstar awards since his decision to stick with football, you go for the glory.

"I don't want to be condescending to other counties," says Cummins, "and if you're with a county that's competitive in both codes, like Cork for example, it's a lot more difficult to make the choice.

"But if you're from the likes of Meath or one of the Ulster counties, you'll probably choose football: if you're from a county like Kilkenny, you'll go for the hurling, because that's where you're more likely to have success.

"I went for the hurling, but you do have regrets. I love playing football, always have. In Ardfinnan, where I grew up, football was the number one game but Babs Keating raised the profile of hurling and now Ballybacon-Grange are doing well, won a few divisional titles.

"You have to wonder though, when you go back playing football you're taking the place of a fella who's done a lot more training than you have, and that's not right either. Nobody ever said anything to me but you feel it yourself.

"If you're going to be in a team it's important that you're there 90% of the time at least. As a dual inter-county player, that doesn't happen, can't happen, for obvious reasons. Sooner or later, it will come down to making that decision."

Later, hopes Coughlan. "Over time, in the next few years, that will probably happen but in the meantime I'm going to do it for as long as I can. Physically it does drain you and I'd say I will have to choose eventually. But it won't be this year and I'll keep at it for the minute anyway."

Later also, hopes Ryan. "I haven't thought about it and I don't want to think about it, not 'til after the managers have talked about it. Hopefully it will happen, it would be difficult, but it can be done, it's not impossible. An unfortunate product of being a dual player at inter-county level is that I won't get to play for the club.

"I don't really want that, I don't like to miss club matches, letting down the club, so that's going to make it a lot harder. There's also the danger of falling between the two stools. I don't want to be on the bench for both, I'd much prefer to be playing in one, so there's a lot to think about."

EITHER way, it looks like the end of the road for the GAA inter-county dual player.

In the US, the most usual duality is with baseball and American Football and 'Neon' Deion Sanders was able to indulge his talent and his passion for both because the seasons overlapped by only a few weeks, so that he missed just a few early-season baseball games, some pre-season football training.

In Britain, it's rugby and cricket, again just a little overlapping, one a winter game, the other primarily played in the summer, certainly at club level. In Ireland, it would make more sense for a player to get himself involved in gaelic football and rugby, hurling and rugby, to play year round, and that does happen.

But hurling and gaelic football? Not alone do they just overlap, their seasons coincide, almost exactly. Unless GAA players manage to crack bilocation, the inter-county dual star is on the wane. Catch them while you can.