CAVAN manager Terry Hyland has warned the days of working men playing inter-county football could soon come to an end.
Hyland says the commitment required to play Gaelic football nowadays is making it increasingly difficult for players to juggle training and games while holding down a job. The Breffni boss, who has had to cope with 14 withdrawals from last year’s squad, fears the inter-county game will soon be played exclusively by students and teachers unless the demands on amateur players are not reined in.
“It’s too hard [to play county football] unless you’re a student or, possibly, a teacher,” he said.
“If you’re working in the trades, you haven’t a hope of playing inter-county football. We had Damien Reilly, for example, last year. Damien is an electrician and he started out on his own job, he hired two men, he was building a house… it was impossible.”
Hyland blooded several new players against Armagh last Sunday, including Enda Henry, Thomas Moore and midfielder Liam Faulkner.
“They stood up to the task well,” he said after the game and, with 14 jerseys to fill, their promising performances must have been a relief to him. Hyland says the pattern of players opting out of county panels is being repeated throughout the country.
“If you went through any county in Ireland you’d find that because inter-county football is very difficult to play at the moment, because of the amount of time that has to be put into it,” said Hyland.
“If it keeps going on the way it is, in five or six years I don’t know where they’re going to get players from. I don’t know how you can work and play inter-county football going forward. It’s too demanding.”
At least Cavan can fall back on talented youngsters from the teams who delivered four Ulster U21 titles on-the-trot between 2011 and '14 for the Breffni county. This year’s squad is so young, Gearóid McKiernan is among the senior members now at the age of 26. Seánie Johnston’s return has pushed up the average age and Cavan fans will hope he can replace clubmate Martin Dunne - another absentee from last year.
“Martin is talking about doing a bit of travelling,” Hyland explained.
“He’s studying accountancy, he’s doing exams, he does weekend college work, so that goes back to commitment and time. I would think he is [out for the year]. We have ruled nobody out and if lads put their hands up and ring me and say ‘Terry I might recommit’, we’ll see how we can accommodate them.
“All these lads have come through together and they know each other well. There’s no animosity with anybody about when they come in if they’re fit to help the set-up.”
While Johnston’s return has been welcomed, there’s no doubt Cavan could do with a ball-winning full-forward like Eugene Keating. But the Dublin-based quantity surveyor is another player who has had to make the choice between his career and his county.
“Eugene is working as a QS in Dublin, he’s on sites,” said Hyland.
“He may or may not [come back] but, at the moment, I would say ‘no’.”
Meanwhile, Hyland says his panel is in good shape as Cavan look to continue their excellent start to the year with McKenna Cup group games against Ulster University and Monaghan.
“We didn’t start training really until December,” he said.
“People might laugh at that, but it’s true. There was a lot of club football going on in Cavan - there was an U21 competition going on right up until Christmas. The lads were in good enough shape, we didn’t feel we had to do anything with them.”
