Rewards for good behaviour

GAA president-elect Liam O’Neill has claimed the quality of Allianz League games has improved because players are behaving better.

All but two of the 16 final round games in the football competition tomorrow have promotion, relegation or both riding on the outcome, which is sure to increase crowd numbers.

O’Neill believes a heightened level of sportsmanship among players and the banning of two forms of tackles has contributed to the attractiveness of the league in 2011.

“I have noticed that the hand-around-the-neck tackle is gone, the frontal charge is virtually gone out of gaelic football and the games are a lot cleaner,” said O’Neill.

“The campaign we ran a couple of years ago highlighting those offences has contributed to the outlawing of them by general disapproval nearly. Sometimes a change of attitude is all it takes in discipline. The sportsmanship displays in the league this year has been higher than for awhile. Maybe that’s because the cards are being issued more freely, I’m not quite sure, but I do know that people have enjoyed the leagues this year and we’ve had some great results.”

O’Neill recognises the GAA have been lucky that a number of results have gone their way to ensure tomorrow is an exciting finale. The Laois man is supportive of the head-to-head rule which is likely to come into play tomorrow in separating two teams who finish on the same amount of points.

“It’s good it’s working out, and it’s having a positive effect but we have to admit we’ve been fortunate. It could have worked out a lot differently. The idea of the head-to-head shows the importance of playing well throughout the league because you don’t know what result could come back to bite you. My own county is in that situation. They could end up beating Donegal but if Tyrone also win it will Tyrone that could go through because they beat us. It would make that loss all the more painful.”

Like a lot of other GAA officials, O’Neill has been encouraged by the ingenuity shown by Dublin in establishing the Spring Series. He thinks it should be replicated as long as dates and throw-in times take fans into consideration.

“The Dublin experiment has been fantastic. It was an innovation in that it was novel, it was attractive, it was exciting that people were going to get out, get into Croke Park on a Saturday evening. There’s a magic about going out in the dark to watch a game under bright lights.

“We need to be careful that we market the games well and schedule them at times which are suitable to people.”

With this year’s Congress in Mullingar just six days away, O’Neill has also said the GAA will have to consider prioritising motions for Congress and referring a number of them to Central Council (Ard Chomairle).

There are 49 motions on this year’s Clár compared to the excessive 123 in 2010 and O’Neill is still of the mind that some of the proposals should be dealt with somewhere other than Congress to ensure the essential motions are given enough debate time.

“We could benefit from a situation where we would have an earlier deadline for motions, that we would discuss motions in advance of Congress maybe at Ard Chomairle level and prioritise them,” stated O’Neill.

“We could then have motions referred to Central Council for decision rather than Congress but we can’t allow every single motion that comes in and be debated and then complain we have no time for them.

“We either go with that model or else we accept there has to be some sort of a process where some motions are dealt with in advance or maybe prioritised. That’s a policy decision we have to make.”

O’Neill is also aware of the onus on the GAA to support Irish businesses in the current economic climate. However, he argues the organisation has to be realistic. “The GAA has always been about community, unity and supporting our own. It’s our greatest strength. We need to look after each other and we need to look after our own. However, it would be foolish for any organisation to source an inferior product just because it is Irish. We have a duty to our members and supporters to buy wisely. But as Irish businesses sharpen up I think they will be able to compete with foreign businesses in a lot of causes.”

Meanwhile, Eoin Brosnan is named at midfield for Kerry’s Allianz Football League clash with Down in Fitzgerald Stadium tomorrow. The Dr Crokes man, who has been utilised as a defender since his return to intercounty football this spring, replaces David Moran who sustained a season ending cruciate knee injury in last Sunday’s win over Monaghan. In attack Colm Cooper and Declan O’Sullivan are the corner forwards on either side of Kieran Donaghy.

KERRY (SF v Down): B Kealy; S Enright, M Ó Sé, T O’Sullivan; T Ó Sé, K Young, A O’Mahony; E Brosnan, A Maher; D Walsh, Darran O’Sullivan, P Galvin; C Cooper, K Donaghy, Declan O’Sullivan.

CORK (SF v Armagh): K O’Halloran; R Carey, M Shields, E Cadogan; N O’Leary, J Miskella, P Kissane; A O’Connor, N Murphy; F Goold, P O’Neill, C Sheehan; D Goulding, F Lynch, P Kerrigan.

DUBLIN (SF v Galway): M Savage; P McMahon, P Brogan, N Devereux; P Casey, G Brennan, K Nolan; D Bastick, S Murray; P Flynn, P Burke, B Cullen; B Brogan, D Connolly, A Brogan. 7

GALWAY (SF v Dublin): A Faherty; A Burke, C Forde, J Duane; G O’Donnell, G Higgins, G Sice; J Bergin, F Hanley; P Joyce, O Concannon, C Kenny; F Breathnach, P Conroy, C Bane.

Picture: Waterford hurler John Mullane and his wife Stephanie Power who were married yesterday in Butlerstown church, Waterford. Picture: Mary Browne