Club players ignored again as Sky’s deal with GAA gets continued green light at Congress

It’s all over bar the shouting.

And there is going to be plenty of that after the GAA wrapped up the key part of its annual Congress in Carlow on Saturday evening. The weekend will not have done anything to reassure GAA players, both at club and county level, that the men in power in the association are serious in tackling the issue of burnout, or fixture congestion. Instead of adjusting the playing calendar, the biggest issue emerging from Barrowside is how club players appear to have been forgotten once again. https://twitter.com/JoeBrolly1993/status/703538669458735104 Brolly’s frustration was in response to motions earlier that were rejected which would have seen an end to various replays in the GAA, and demand a result on the day. He was also responding to the idea, from Paraic Duffy, that the All-Irelands be moved forward two weeks, which was also rejected. https://twitter.com/JohnFogartyIrl/status/703527743758192640 https://twitter.com/JohnFogartyIrl/status/703533892695932928 The frustration among current players was obvious. https://twitter.com/alanbrogan13/status/703589782845259776 https://twitter.com/EamonMcGee/status/703584545019465728 The morning’s early talking point was the introduction of the mark, while the afternoon began with a discussion about the future role of Sky in relation to broadcasting games. https://twitter.com/MartyM_RTE/status/703598113852936192 After a heated debate, and several contributions, the motion from the Dublin County Board was defeated. https://twitter.com/JohnFogartyIrl/status/703594852198567936 https://twitter.com/SeanMcGoldrick1/status/703598291733364737 https://twitter.com/MartyM_RTE/status/703599740244664320 Dublin’s Michael Darragh Macauley summed it all up this afternoon. https://twitter.com/MDMA_9/status/703606685634568193 Elsewhere today Antrim’s proposal for a change to the Leinster championship was approved. https://twitter.com/AontroimGAA/status/703620551349280768 While a Clare motion to open up all county grounds to so called ‘foreign sports’ was also rejected. https://twitter.com/CorkEveningEcho/status/703605404123717632 However motions to eliminate the All-Ireland junior football and intermediate hurling championship also failed. But the overwhelming feeling is once again an opportunity lost for radical change in the GAA. https://twitter.com/weemenace/status/703647190858727424 https://twitter.com/mossyquinn/status/703605199101886464 https://twitter.com/JoeBrolly1993/status/703601646086070281