Bubbles O'Dwyer never had to sign a player charter like the Clarinbridge hurling team's one which leaked late last month.
"We didn't have one at inter-county level either," the Killenaule man, a two-time All-Ireland winner with Tipperary, said at the launch of GAAGO's 2024 championship schedule.
"We were told whether you could do X, Y or Z but it was never to that extreme, not even at inter-county level."
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It emerged at the weekend, through an anonymous Clarinbridge source who spoke to the Sunday Independent's Dermot Crowe, that the charter was player driven. A stipulation of the charter was that players could not have "other sporting commitments past June", including golf. Though, according to the source, this was not completely inflexible.
4 December 2023; Hurling analyst John 'Bubbles' O'Dwyer in attendance at the 2024 GAAGO match schedule launch at Croke Park in Dublin. Fans can avail of 38 exclusive matches in Ireland for €69 up until December 31st. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
"If all players are in agreement with it, then that's their choice," said O'Dwyer.
"Myself, I wouldn't agree to it if I was told I wasn't allowed play golf in the middle of summer because of a club campaign. I don't think I'd be playing too much hurling anymore.
"That's the way it's gone. Inter-county went like that 15 years ago. The club has been catching up to inter-county year-on-year. You can see, even last year with the club, we were in the gym three days a week, on the pitch two days a week.
"It's becoming nearly a full-time job at club level as well. I wouldn't agree with a lot of the stuff on the charter. A lot of it comes from the management team having trust in the players.
"If your management team doesn't trust players that they are going to do the right thing, that they won't go for a few drinks after a match, well then you're losing a battle straight away. If you have the trust of your players, that's where it all starts from.
"Most rules around GAA, and everyone knows it, is around drinking culture that goes with it. It's not a written rule that we have in our group with the club but it's just a rule that players came up with. We're a dual club of senior hurling and senior football... Well, premier intermediate hurling.
19 August 2019; John O'Dwyer of Tipperary with the Liam MacCarthy cup at the Tipperary All-Ireland hurling champions homecoming event at Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
"After a hurling game, we can go for a few pints because we're playing football the week after. After the football, you don't go for a few drinks because you're playing hurling the week after.
"Because we're playing hurling, football, hurling, football for eight weeks consecutively, that's the rule we put in place for ourselves as players. You go out, have five or six pints, and you go home.
"As long as you're not out at 3am or 4am, I don't think it's an issue; as long as you are able to get onto the pitch on the Tuesday night for training, I think it's fine.
"This charter, if it's coming from the players, and if the players feel that's what they need from the Galway county championship, then fair play to them.
"It wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. If they all agree to it, that's all well and good now in December but I don't think they'll be agreeing on it come May if a few of them are involved with Galway and they're knocked out of the championship and want to go travelling to America."
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