Overworked and over injured: How GAA players and squads are handling increased demand in spring

Monaghan's Ryan McAnespie goes down injured. Pic: Nick Elliott/Inpho

When Ryan McAnespie left the Croke Park pitch with a hamstring injury last Saturday evening, Gabriel Bannigan looked to the heavens.

The big man upstairs hasn't been doing the Monaghan manager any favours lately.

"He's not listening to me, he's not listening to me at all, no. It's very frustrating," sighed Bannigan, who outlined an extensive and concerning injury list for the Division 1 side.

Monaghan are due to host Mayo in Clones this Sunday and with zero points from a possible six so far, the latest defeat coming against Dublin last weekend, they simply have to win.

But aside from McAnespie, they'll probably be without Killian Lavelle, Dylan Byrne, David Garland, Michael Hamill and Bobby McCaul again, none of whom have featured in Division 1 so far due to injuries. Jack McCarron hasn't played either and his Scotstown colleague Conor McCarthy is reportedly injured. Others are just back from injuries.

Monaghan have still fielded 28 different players in just three games, doling out debuts to beat the band - 'we have handed out seven League debuts and another four lads that have come off the bench', according to Bannigan - but that's more by accident than design.

"You all know that's through necessity because we're just ravaged with injuries," explained Bannigan.

Meanwhile, Padraic Joyce is in the same boat in Galway; 27 players used in three games and nine of those debutants. For the record, the newcomers are Fionn McDonagh, Oisín MacDonnacha, Ciarán Mulhern, Shane McGrath, Shay McGlinchey, Brian Cogger, Eamon McGrath, Ryan Roche and Charlie Power. 

The wonder is that Galway could still end up in the top two this weekend if they beat Roscommon on Saturday and if results elsewhere are kind.

"We're down so many players again, I don't know what's going on," said an exasperated Joyce after last weekend's draw with Kerry.

Over in Kildare, before Round 1 of the League, a headline popped up in one of the local papers; 'Brian Flanagan issues update on Kildare's early season injury crisis'.

Padraic Joyce Galway are also decimated with injuries. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Injuries are part and parcel of inter-county activity, particularly at this time of the year, but what's happening at the moment seems exceptional. Speaking on the Irish Examiner's Gaelic football podcast, Kerry great Paul Galvin described it as an 'injury epidemic'.

The former Wexford manager, who was in charge of Meath SFC finalists Ratoath in 2025, noted that 'there seems to be a lot of injuries in the game' currently and suggested that this is part of the reason why teams are being 'so experimental' in this year's football league.

The average number of players used so far by the eight teams in Division 1, after only three games, is 26.8. Dublin top the league of experimentation so far with 32 different players, though that is more down to new manager Ger Brennan looking to find new talent.

Still, the Galvin point holds that an alarming number of inter-county players are spending more time foam-rolling, visiting physios and rehabbing from soft tissue injuries, muscle tears and bone breaks than tackling, transitioning, shadowing and scoring.

"I found the League so far to be so experimental, it's unbelievable," said Galvin. "I cannot believe how experimental selections have been. I don't know is it partly to do with the rules, I think the Sigerson is definitely part of it as well, and managers hands are forced. And there seems to be a real injury epidemic as well. There seems to be a lot of injuries in the game."

Inevitably, some will draw a straight line between the new rules and the apparent spike in injuries.

One point made at a Football Review Committee media briefing in late 2024, is worth revisiting.

FRC chief Jim Gavin was asked about the potential for increased fatigue and, ultimately injuries, in a game that is faster, as a result of innovations like the solo-and-go for restarts, and contains less down time, particularly for those in the attritional middle-eight zone.

Gavin noted that 'roll-on/roll-off substitutions' could be a possibility. GAA President Jarlath Burns said he agreed, referencing how an interchange system for substitutions had been in operation for the interprovincial trial games that had just taken place.

"I don't know how feasible it is to do that level of running with five substitutions," said Burns. "I think it's going to be difficult."

Donegal's Jim McGuinness was among the first inter-county managers to call for an increase in the number of subs, to reflect the increased demands. After Donegal's opening game in last year's League, when he claimed that opponents Dublin lost three players to hamstring injuries, he said that allowing six subs, instead of five, was now required.

"I think that's definitely something that has to be looked at," said McGuinness. "Peadar Mogan would be one of our fitter lads and he was really struggling at the end and we had the five subs on and we couldn't get him off."

A year on, and with the new rules now locked in for the foreseeable, there may be less opportunity to change but, as Galvin pointed out, something has to be done to arrest the 'injury epidemic'.