Donal Óg Cusack is refusing to assume that Anthony Cunningham was referring to the GPA when he alluded to those 'outside Galway' who aided the players in their efforts to dislodge him as manager.
In his explosive letter, Cunningham disputed that there was unanimous support among the players for the heave that resulted in his removal.
Rather, he said that the heave was pushed by a 'core group of players orchestrated with the help of others outside Galway, motivated by a desire to unjustly extend their lifespan as inter-county players, placing personal agendas above the greater good of Galway hurling.'
Most observers had taken the reference to the forces 'outside Galway' to mean the GPA.
Cusack, the outgoing chairman of the GPA, spoke to Oisin Langan for the Monday Rewind podcast on Newstalk. In light of Cunningham's statement, Langan asked him to clarify the GPA's role in the heave against Cunningham.
Cusack: But Anthony, didn't mention the GPA, did he?
Langan: He didn't...
Cusack: So, are you putting words into Anthony's mouth?
Langan: I'm making an assumption to be fair, you're right. But 'outside influences', outside of Galway. I think people are curious to know what kind of role the GPA has in this.
Cusack: Let's go back now, do you want me to assume that Anthony meant the GPA, I think that would be pretty unfair...
Langan: Well, do you think he did mean the GPA?
Cusack: Assumption is a dangerous thing. You were saying he did mention the GPA or he didn't mention the GPA. I don't think he did, now...
After this slightly testy exchange, Cusack talked about the issue of player power (though he didn't use the phrase) in a more general sense and did ultimately say that 'it was only logical' the Galway players would 'ask their association for advice' on such matters.
Elsewhere, he talked about leaving the Sunday Game and joining the Clare management team.
I had a great time on the Sunday Game but I liked the idea of getting back to the frontline and getting back out on the grass... I learned a lot from the Sunday Game and one of the main things I learned was that all the people in there from the hurling point of view are fans of the game. I was very appreciative towards the whole Sunday Game crew because they gave me liberty to bring what I wanted to bring to it. I had my own strong views about how analysis should be performed and I was very appreciative of them.
He said when he saw he had missed a call from Davy Fitzgerald, he immediately sensed that Davy was looking for him to get involved with Clare.
You might have said it was out of the blue but definitely when I saw his number coming up on the phone - and we missed each other on a couple of occasions - and I actually said it to my Dad, I said 'I've a missed call from Davy, I think he's going to ask me to get involved in Clare'. I'd a strong sense of that.
People have made a lot about us being different types of characters or whatever but there's one definite common thing that we've got in place is that we both have real love for the game. And I'm on record as saying I'm a fan of that group, I'm a fan of how they play hurling, I'm a fan of their approach to hurling and it's one I'm looking forward to really.
Listen to the interview below (commences about one quarter of the way through).
