The Gaelic Player's Association were successful in their mission to remove pre-season competitions at inter-county level this year in order to prevent players from being flogged.
They also stated that November should be a month of "no contact" and that collective team training should only begin from December 7th.
The idea is that players will get a sufficient break, and it will help prevent injuries, as well as mental burnout, but the decision to remove pre-season cups has met some resistance.
With the new rules in place, there are very few opportunities for teams to trial the enchainments in a competitive setting, meaning that the National League will be the first time that we see them in action.
Ulster GAA's chief executive Brian McAvoy, in his report to be delivered to Annual Convention next week, alleges that the December 7 date for a return to inter-county collective training “was flouted high and wide across the country.”
McAvoy made the point that there were lots of counties who ignored the no training rule, and therefore undermined the whole concept of protecting the players.
The Ulster chief also claimed that the GPA should have done more to ensure that teams followed these rules.
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“As the body responsible for championing the welfare of their members, there is an onus on the GPA to ensure that their members adhere to the ‘return to train’ date.
"The date agreed by Central Council for the return to ‘collective training’ was 7th December for senior inter-county teams. Did this happen?
“The GPA issued a strong statement highlighting that November should be ‘a zero contact’ month. If even a fraction of the reports of inter-county collective training sessions taking place in November are true, then the December 7th date was flouted high and wide across the country.
“Did the GPA say or do anything during this time to call this out? I’m not sure if they did or said anything. It seems as if they were true to their word and had ‘zero contact’ with their members on the issue during this time.
“It seems as if the argument of abandoning the pre-season competitions in order to save inter-county footballers from collective training in November was a fallacy.
“The Gaelic Players Association argued that player welfare was paramount and if there were no pre-season competitions, inter-county players would not have to return to train collectively in November.
“Others argued that the pre-season competitions were not the problem as counties were back in collective training even prior to the return-to-train protocols and that without pre-season competitions counties would organise challenge games, which would be equally competitive.”
The loss of pre-season competitions, so in Ulster's case, The McKenna Cup, was something that McAvoy really had an issue with.
The Ulster chief believes that there was nowhere near enough consultation or debate when it came to making the decision.
“This was a disappointing decision and one which was taken without any prior consultation with the Provincial Councils.
“A motion to reverse this decision at the October Central Council meeting fell just two votes short of securing the required 60% of voting members.
“A questionnaire issued by the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) to all counties on the future structure and format of the Football Championships, included a question on the pre-season competitions.
"The results showed that 61% of counties opted for pre-season competitions to be retained, 10% wished them to be abolished and 29% indicated that they would prefer a suspension of these competitions for a trial period.
“Based on this feedback which indicated that a clear majority of counties favoured the status quo, the CCCC recommended to Ard Comhairle that the pre-season competitions be retained.”
As it stands, Inter-county teams are now relying on playing friendlies in order to get the bodies right for the National League, and get their heads around the new rules.
