Consultation meeting ends up a tame affair

Less than a third of the country's intercounty football and hurling managers showed up at the GAA's consultation meeting in Croke Park on Tuesday night, to the slight bemusement of GAA president Nickey Brennan. Billed as an opportunity for all managers to air any grievances ahead of the championship it instead turned into a rather tame affair, with better consistency among referees the main talking point.

"Maybe managers are quite happy about how things are being run," suggested Brennan. "That's certainly one conclusion. But we had only around 20 present, from a possible 63. We started at 7.0, and finished at 9.15, and then managers were left to chat amongst themselves.

"I felt there was plenty of harmony. I also recognise they're bang in the middle of their training for their championship, and maybe attending this kind of meeting wasn't high on their priority."

Beyond the issue of refereeing it seems managers don't have too many pressing concerns about the way games are orchestrated: "Obviously a few different issues were raised," added Brennan. "Refereeing, and consistency there, is something we can always work on. But I think there is a strong recognition that a lot of work has gone into coaching and training of referees.

"We also went through match regulations, and the few changes coming up at this weekend. On the hurling side there is the need to ensure compliance with the regulation sliotars. We met before the league as well, and we'll do it again. The process will continue, and put all managers on email list, updating them on various things, the same way county officers are.

"I was very was happy with the overall presentation of the league, with the advent of the runner and that. Another of the small changes is that water carriers in hurling will double up as hurley carriers. I also asked managers to assist in making players available to the media, encouraged them to release teams to the media, and the need to be open with the media in promoting football and hurling. But it was not a particularly contentious meeting, to be honest."

Meanwhile, Brennan and other GAA officials last night met with the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) in an effort to agree the next course of action surrounding the ongoing campaign to secure players grants.

Last month Sports Minister John O'Donoghue said that the €5 million, which had been allocated by the Government, can only be dispersed indirectly through the GAA, with the money in reality allocated for infrastructure projects.