Pádraic Davis: ‘The GAA have spoken out of both sides of their mouth when it comes to Covid’

Longford manager Pádraig Davis, left, and selector Paul Barden. File photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Longford manager Pádraic Davis believes his team have suffered as a result of playing by the rules and not breaching Covid training restrictions.

After two defeats and a draw, Longford face Tipperary in a Division 3 relegation play-off on Sunday week but Davis has no regrets about “not attempting to gain an edge” by commencing collective training before the official start date on April 19.

What’s more, he has condemned the GAA for what he considers their soft handling of those counties were found to have trained contrary to GAA rules.

Asked if he felt Longford have suffered from following regulations, Davis told the Irish Examiner: “I think so. It is what it is. We can only worry about our own set-up. We came back three and a half weeks before the Derry game. We never broke any Covid restrictions. Had I the time all over again, I would still take the same stance on it. It was the right thing to do.

“Could I handle Derry giving us a hammering in Pearse Park? No problem. Could I handle a death being linked to the Longford camp? No, I couldn’t. That’s the way I look at it at all times and I wouldn’t go back on it. I would have found it hard to live with that.

“Overall, the GAA have been very poor on this. It’s extraordinary that the two clubs who accommodated Dublin and Monaghan were not dealt with. I find it absolutely shocking. 

Innisfails is not a place where Dublin went to hide — that’s where they go to train — and I find it shocking on the GAA’s part that they made no effort to deal with that. I think the GAA have spoken out of both sides of their mouth when it comes to Covid.”

Davis concurred with Galway manager Pádraic Joyce’s assessment that Monaghan had been rewarded by the GAA for their training breach in the form of home advantage for the counties’ Division 1 relegation play-off in Clones on Sunday week.

“I think he said it in the heat of the moment but I don’t think he will be going back on it and I do agree with what he said. Monaghan clearly broke the rules and the suggestion to reward them with a home game seems absolutely bizarre. I can totally understand where he is coming from.”

The geographical split of the National League, which landed Longford in a Division 3 North group with three Ulster teams, was not something Davis ever supported. He has an issue with promotion and relegation applying in such circumstances.

“From the outset, I never agreed with the National League being regionalised. It made no sense whatsoever. For the majority of teams, it’s the most important competition and it determines where we play our football next year so to do that over three games based on geography effectively I don’t think it showed respect to the competition that it deserves.

“If they wanted to go with just three games they should have gone with them as just preparation for the Championship and no promotion and no relegation for one year. It was a really poor decision by the GAA no matter if you are promoted or relegated on the back of it.

“Once the National League was split geographically, it was clear a couple of teams in the country were going to have huge tasks ahead and probably no more so than ourselves and Roscommon.

“Looking back to the Derry game, we were very much out of our depth that way. I know we didn’t play well that day but Derry were certainly in another place physically and seemed to have done quite a bit. The Cavan game, we could have closed the gap a bit better but the game against Fermanagh at the weekend no question we were happy with the performance. After two defeats, you question if that performance is in you so it was good to see.”

Davis bemoaned the fact he has been unable to give more panel members the chance to play as a result of the truncated season. 

“For obvious reasons and the lack of challenge games, you’re carrying bigger panels but you’re just not going to get game-time into them. That’s unfortunate because some of them have worked very hard and we’re not going to see that. Experimenting is not an option for us in competitive games and it’s a negative that we can’t give these players more opportunities.”

• Pádraic Davis was promoting a draw aiming to raise €100,000 for Longford GAA via Club Longford. Without the commercial power of bigger counties, funds to assist the preparation of teams have never been needed more. Prizes include a new Hyundai Tucson and a holiday in Center Parcs. Tickets are priced at €50 and three for €125. For more details, visit clublongford.ie