Joe Brolly's magnificent tangents. Colm O'Rourke sitting back in his chair, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Tomas O'Sé's horrendous fantastic style. But if Diarmuid Connolly had his way, we might see the end of the Sunday Game.
The Dublin star was key to his St Vincent's Leinster club title at the weekend, and they've now got the task of stopping the Slaughtneil juggernaut.
But it's not the club championship that Connolly is a bit miffed at, speaking to 98fm:
A big thing for me would be having most games played on a Saturday and not a Sunday because guys have to go to work on Monday morning.
It would be a big statement from the GAA if they came out and said right we’re going to play games on a Saturday rather than a Sunday, I know it’s tradition to play on a Sunday but it’s not fair on guys who have to go to work on Monday morning
It's something that fans don't really think about when they're watching. The players are in work the day after. When we see Connolly and Lee Keegan taking lumps out of each other, it raises the noise level. But Connolly knows the after-effects
You’re waiting all weekend for a game on a Sunday and then you’re waking up sore Monday morning and not physically able to go into work Monday morning if you get a bang or a bruise
Vincent's started the Dublin championship in May. If they beat Slaughtneil, they'll reach an All-Ireland final on St.Patrick's Day.
From there, it's straight into the Allianz League for their county stars, including Connolly. And the four-time All Ireland winner is also concerned about burnout:
There really needs to be a downtime or an off season for players to switch off mentally to go on a holiday and enjoy themselves, you’ll get less injuries, you’ll get less guys falling out of love with the game. It absolutely consumes your life, I don’t want to be negative about it either because I love doing it, but it’s nice to be able to switch off every now and again.
The argument about the structure of the Championship is sure to dominate the internet when the league season rolls around again. But this is the first we've seen a major player call for something like this.
Of course, the Sunday Game would just become the Saturday Game. Don't worry Joe, you can still rant about Tyrone all you want!
