Dessie Farrell: GAA's team registration protocol 'is not fit for purpose'

Dublin goalkeeper Hugh O'Sullivan. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Dessie Farrell says the GAA’s team registration protocol "isn’t fit for purpose” after he was forced to name a reduced Dublin squad for their Leinster quarter-final against Wicklow.

After going with a group of 24 players to Aughrim instead of the regular 26, the manager has requested the county board propose a change to the championship code to Croke Park. 

The regulation insists teams must release their match-day panel to the GAA by 9am on the Thursday before the game.

After Armagh made two late changes on Saturday, Dublin made two 11th hour alterations to their squad, Stephen Cluxton and Cian Murphy being replaced by Hugh O’Sullivan and Niall Doran.

However, Farrell admitted they wanted to make more but couldn’t as the number of changes to a registered panel is capped at two. 

“We had a couple of changes to the panel late notice. It’s one of the challenges trying to put an early panel in for registration and two training sessions, and one training session that evening. 

"You have to sort it out that night and get it in for the following morning and then another training session to follow two days later.

“It's inevitable that there's going to be changes. We registered a panel of 24 for today's game instead of 26 because of a situation where you're maximum you're only allowed to replace two players.

“I think that's a legacy issue and probably something that needs to be looked at in terms of where the game has got to now and a lot of these games having to finish on the day and when you factor in extra time in a situation like that, that regulation probably isn't fit for purpose anymore. 

"So, it's something we brought up with the county board and have asked them to bring up with the appropriate authorities as well.”