Ray Connellan slams Kerry management's player welfare call

Westmeath star Ray Connellan is angry that Tony Brosnan and Jack Savage featured for their county hours after playing a Sigerson Cup game for MTU Kerry

Ray Connellan of Westmeath. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Westmeath star Ray Connellan claims Kerry manager Jack O’Connor’s decision to bring on Tony Brosnan and Jack Savage against Tipperary on Wednesday night, hours after they’d played in the Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup, was  “stupid”.

Brosnan top-scored with 1-6 for hosts MTU Kerry during Wednesday afternoon’s Sigerson Cup Round 1 win over UCD in Tralee while Savage added 0-6.

Hours later, almost 200kms away in Templetuohy, the duo were introduced in the 58th minute of Kerry’s 1-23 to 0-5 McGrath Cup win over Tipperary.

Former AFL player Connellan, who scored 0-4 for UCD against MTU Kerry in the Sigerson loss, said it was a “stupid” decision by O’Connor to bring the players on and claimed it served no purpose and will only increase their chances of getting injured.

Connellan said O’Connor “obviously doesn’t care” about the Sigerson Cup and he called on the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) to “take a pretty strong stand here now” on the issue of player welfare.

“It’s stupid really, it’s a bit brain dead on the part of management, to be honest,” said Connellan. “I don’t know Jack O’Connor. I don’t know any of them really personally, I’ve met Tony a few times, but Tony should have nothing to prove at this stage of the year really. I know he’s not a nailed on (Kerry) starter but Tony is a quality footballer.

LESS THAN IMPRESSED: Ray Connellan has teamed up with Electric Ireland to preview the Sigerson Cup. The Westmeath star took a dim view of the decision of the Kerry management to bring on Tony Brosnan and Jack Savage to play in Kerry’s McGrath Cup rout of Tipperary just hours after the pair had played a Sigerson Cup match. Picture: Inpho/Morgan Treacy

“All Jack O’Connor would have had to do is send someone down to look at that (Sigerson) game. He stuck out like a sore thumb in terms of how good he was. He’s by far above that level. So you don’t need a lad to come on for 10 minutes in a game that’s already done after playing a game earlier.

“I think Tony came off injured at some point (against UCD) and then he goes and plays for Kerry. It’s January, who is that benefiting? Is that benefiting Tony come June, July, August, leading into the time where Kerry are aiming to be? I don’t think it is. The same with Jack Savage, these are young players that need to be looked after.”

O’Connor, now in his third spell as Kerry manager, said that it was the players themselves that wanted to play in both games. “Tony and Jack were tremendous, I didn’t ask them to come up at all, they wanted to be involved,” said O’Connor immediately after the 21-point demolition of Tipp. “That is great to see, because those lads are mad to get every minute they can in a Kerry jersey, which is great.”

But Connellan said: “Look, they’re going to be eager and keen to play and I don’t think you’re ever going to find a player that will say no, really. So that’s a pure management thing and looking after players and player welfare. Jesus, it’s harped on about enough these days, player welfare. I think the evidence is contrary, certainly in this case. That was stone mad.”

Connellan, who spent three years in the AFL with St Kilda and Essendon between 2016 and 2019, said those involved in professional sport would frown at the situation in Kerry.

“I think it takes away from the GAA massively,” he said. “I’ve got mates playing professional rugby and they would look at that and just be like: ‘Sure look, isn’t that the GAA. That sums it up almost’. It’s a silly thing to put yourself in a position like that.

“It’s January, the pitches are heavy and you have a lad who has played a pretty intense Sigerson Cup game and he goes off and plays another game then after travelling for however many hours in a car, sitting down, getting tight, getting sore — sure how could you not expect a fella to end up pulling up with a hamstring, a quad, and then where is his year going from there? He’s chasing soft tissue injuries from January throughout the year.”

Talented forward Brosnan has featured on Kerry panels for a number of years and performed consistently for his club Dr Crokes throughout that period. Savage, 26, was recalled to the Kerry squad last month after a four-year absence following strong form for Kerins O’Rahillys.

Connellan, who played for Westmeath last weekend himself, claimed the sensible course of action would have been to insist on the Kerry duo not playing for the county on Wednesday evening.