Even without some of their star names, Dublin blew past Mayo with ease at Croke Park on Saturday night.
Kevin McManamon, Paddy Andrews and Paul Flynn all came off the bench as Conor McHugh starred, scoring 1-3.
Two of the biggest talents in the game, Diarmuid Connolly and Jack McCaffrey did not feature at all for Jim Gavin's side. Connolly is close to a return following his club championship efforts with St. Vincent's.
McCaffrey played against Donegal last weekend but was omitted from the team to play Mayo. After the game, Jim Gavin explained why the 2015 Footballer of the Year had been left out.
Gavin said that McCaffrey was feeling 'tight' following his exploits with UCD in this year's Sigerson Cup. A fortnight ago, McCaffrey played games on consecutive days as UCD beat UL in the semi-final and then lost to St Mary's in the final.
The Dubliner manager said it was the type of treatment which would not be forced upon a greyhound.
There are so many experts in the science field in the universities, but yet we see them putting players out to play back to back games on a Friday and a Saturday. You wouldn’t do it any other sport, you wouldn’t do it to a greyhound. To be asking inter-county footballers to play games like that, it’s not acceptable really.
I hope the third level colleges change it because Paul Mannion suffered from it and Jack nearly did as well. So we just said we’d manage his load and take him off the field. It’s not UCD’s problem, what can they do? They’re fulfilling the fixture.
But it’s not acceptable. I wouldn’t do it with the U9s below at the club, play games back to back. So why would we do it at that level where most of those players are senior club players at home with their clubs or they’re either playing with inter-counties?
It’s just not good enough. And it’s the cumulative effect of the load. It’s not just the next day, it’s that impact that it has over time. I hope somebody looks at it.
