Hegarty hits out at rule that 'punishes' U20 stars playing senior

Bord Gáis Energy ambassador Gearóid Hegarty pictured at the launch of Bord Gáis Energy's The Gift of the GAAB at Croke Park, where he is interviewed on the pitch by a fan Sharon Mannion  Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Gearoid Hegarty reckons 'it's a disgrace' that three Limerick players will be ineligible for U-20 duty if they play for the senior team this weekend.

Cathal O'Neill started all five of Limerick's National League games, contributing 1-8, and along with Colin Coughlan and Adam English, both starters at stages in the league too, are part of the county's U-20 panel.

The trio all started Limerick's opening Munster U-20 championship game against Clare last Wednesday with matchwinner O'Neill registering 2-3 in the narrow win.

Their next game is against Cork on April 20 though if they feature for the seniors this weekend against the same county in the Munster championship then they will be immediately ineligible for underage duty.

The rule is designed to tackle burnout though Hegarty's interpretation is that players who are good enough to make both U-20 and senior squads are being punished.

"That is the worst rule I have ever heard in my life, in the GAA," said Hegarty. "How a rule was brought in to stop anyone that's good enough to play their age group, U20, and be able to be on a senior county panel...and they get punished, that they're good enough to be on a senior county panel and get some game time, so they can't play their own age group. Honestly, I think it's a disgrace.

"In 2015, we won the U21 championship. Cian (Lynch), I think, was the only one on the senior panel at the time, maybe Tom Morrissey. And they were knocked out early in the (senior) championship that year. The U21s didn't start then until after they were knocked out of the senior. If Cian wasn't able to play U-21 with us that year, we probably wouldn't have won the U-21 championship. Three quarters of the squad from that 2015 U-21 team were brought into the senior panel the next year because we won the All-Ireland.

"We beat Tipp in the first round, I think by a point or two. If Cian doesn't play that game, we probably don't progress.

"I don't think I'd be on a senior county now, I definitely wouldn't be on a senior panel now only for the success we had in 2015 with that U-21 team. And if the two lads that were on the senior panel that year couldn't play with us, there's a good chance we wouldn't have won that year. I just think it's extremely unfair that they're put in that situation, that if they're good enough to be on a senior county panel at a young age, that they get punished, that they can't play at their own age."

Meanwhile, Hegarty laughed off rumours that a number of Limerick players were considering jetting out of Ireland and skipping this year's Championship. "I'd love to know what it's like in other counties but the rumours that do be circulating inside in Limerick with who's training and who's not training, like, I heard a good one yesterday that there's a few lads going to Australia, they're not bothering playing the Championship at all - and I was sitting beside one of the lads that was supposedly going."

ENDS