“It’s not Croke Park as much, it’s the individual county boards who are an absolute mess”

Wooly has let rip like never before.

The Kildare Mayo storm gathered so much momentum from Monday to Wednesday that the whole championship was under threat for a while. Something had to give as Kildare and the GAA stared each other down at loggerheads. With neither looking like taking a backward step, this whole mess looked like it would have seismic effects on the whole organisation. Eventually, the GAA bowed to logic and their own rules as they caved in, but it looks like the way the GPA and the players flexed their muscles in the face of such mistreatment could be a watershed moment in the GAA's history. There is no stopping them; the most important stakeholders of all when they state their case and they proved that when they go after something, they can force the GAA into changes. Colm Parkinson gave his take on the whole saga on Thursday's GAA Hour Show.

"It was a build up of so many decisions by the GAA without consulting players that didn't really have players' situation in mind. "We saw it in the league this year, we saw them changing games from a Sunday to a bank holiday Monday without any consultation with players. "We saw Laois being sent to Nolan Park to play Dublin instead of at home. We saw Carlow being sent to O'Moore Park instead of playing them in Carlow. "We saw Wicklow not allowed play them in Aughrim, all to satisfy supporters. Not a notion given to what actually suits players. "We see Kildare being sent to Croke Park, we see Dublin being given two Super 8 games in Croke Park, all for financial purposes and not, for what as far as I'm concerned, are the most important people in the GAA: the players."

https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_GAA/status/1011203024969191425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportsjoe.ie%2Fgaa%2Falan-brogan-take-super-8s-mess-completely-misses-point-165971 This was the straw that broke the camel's back, however, and Wooly feels it could have serious consequences down the line.

"I think this could be dangerous for the GAA going forward considering that when players and management dug in, they'll get what they want. There's nobody, nobody more powerful in the GAA than the GPA and the inter-county players." "The shit that inter-county players go through for our enjoyment. To think that these fellas are treated as second class citizens to say, 'you're giving up your home advantage because we want to make more money from these supporters.' Think about it for a second."

Wooly doesn't agree with the notion that the Kildare county board deserve credit for their stance on it all.

"100%, Cian O'Neill and the Kildare players deserve huge credit. I don't give a shit about the Kildare county board. I don't care about them. They would have changed their minds for two seconds on the promise of a few quid. We've seen county boards do it before.

https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_GAA/status/1011304500676554752

"That's how the Super 8s got through, with sweeteners to County Boards about money because they all haven't a clue how to control their finances. I don't care about the Kildare county board. I care about the Kildare players and Cian O'Neill. "The GAA deserve credit. They understand they're losing face by this but they still did it. That takes a level of leadership," he said.

Indeed, the Laois man feels that the main underlying cause of so many of the GAA's problems nowadays is the incompetence and cluelessness of individual county boards.

"It's very easy to throw out that the GAA is greedy, but how is it greed when they give most of their money away via games development, infrastructure and grants?" "When you look at Kildare, they have been a basket case for a long while now. They can't balance their books. The GAA are constantly trying to bail these fellas out who are incapable of running the business that is a county board.  "The GAA are looking at them saying, we'll get more money out of them because these fellas are going to come looking for money to re-do St Conleth's Park. If you look at O'Connor Park, O'Moore Park; all modern grounds in Leinster, it's clear that Kildare just don't have their house in order." "I can see the GAA's side of it here. Kildare are constantly putting their hands out. The GAA have had to offer to take control of Kildare finances, these lads deserve a slap on the wrists because they're such a mess."

Unfortunately the players were the ones paying the price for the mess created by their county board, but Wooly feels that's the case all over the country.

"The point I'm trying to make is that the GAA have so many mouths to feed. Most county boards are running deficits. It's not like the GAA are trying to make all this money and it's lining pockets. It goes back in. "I always say in this podcast lads, all the GAA have to do is stick a professional CEO in county boards. They'll make money in the long run. They'll be run competently, they won't have to bail them out. They'll stand up to managers and all this astronomical spending. "I'm starting to think that it's not Croke Park as much, but it's the individual county boards who are an absolute mess." "If you look at Kildare county board, they're taking this principled stand now. Laois brought a motion to a Leinster Council meeting to take Dublin out of Croke Park, did Kildare back them? No. Did one Leinster county back them? Not one because they all wanted the money. Isn't that a disgrace?"

It's hard to argue with that much. You can listen to Wooly's take, Seamus Hickey's opinion and much more from Thursday's GAA Hour Show. https://soundcloud.com/sportsjoe-gaa-hour/emlyn-mulligan-seamus-hickey-interviews-plus-newbridgeornowhere