Griffin exit increases pressure in Clare

TONY GRIFFIN’S surprise retirement from hurling at the age of 28 has thrown further pressure on the Clare county executive to resolve the standoff between Mike McNamara and the senior panel within the seven to 10-day deadline declared last week.

Sunday night’s meeting between the county executive and panel didn’t come off as planned, but the panel have now prepared a detailed list of grievances for the executive’s consideration as a matter of priority.

In the meantime Griffin’s retirement has been described by Clare press officer Syl O’Connor as “an isolated one” – in that it was surprising, but not a sign of further players following suit.

However, in a detailed statement outlining the reasons behind his retirement, Griffin hardly concealed how the role of the current management structures and the developing standoff has contributed to his decision. It remains to be seen, therefore, if Griffin can be coaxed back into playing should McNamara’s reign come to an end.

Over the weekend, the hurling panel met among themselves to condense the list of grievances which 23 players had written out individually, on 23 separate sheets of paper. These will now be presented to the county executive, on top of the efforts by a three-man mediation committee, under county board chairman Michael O’Neill, to work out some compromise between the players and the management, within seven to 10 days, as agreed at last Tuesday’s county board meeting.

“They are still working to a seven to 10-day deadline as announced last week,” explained O’Connor, “and my understanding is that something will be decided by this weekend, one way or another. I think the next 24 hours could tell a lot. But it’s not up to Mike McNamara to make the next move. It’s really between the players and the county board now, to come to some arrangement.”

Clearly, Griffin’s retirement has added greater urgency to the situation, and from a Clare hurling point of view, it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

“It was a major surprise, and at the same time disappointing,” added O’Connor, “that a man at 28 would feel he’s had enough of the game, when you’d think he would have so much more to offer. But at the same time the hope is this would be an isolated incident. The focus right now is a long way away from hurling, but a lot can happen in a short space of time.”

An All Star in 2006, Griffin is renowned for his complete dedication and commitment to hurling, and sport in general.

In 2007, he embarked on a cycle across Canada to raise funds for cancer treatment and awareness, establishing the Tony Griffin Foundation in the process.

In outlining the reasons behind his retirement, Griffin pointed towards flaws in the current Clare set-up as one of the main reasons why he found himself questioning that very commitment.

“After long and deep consideration and having spoken at length with my family I have decided to call an end to my time as an intercounty hurler,” he says. “I consider myself blessed to have been able to fulfil my lifelong dream of representing my county at the highest level possible over the course of 10 seasons.

“I always believed we had the potential to win an All Ireland championship in my time with Clare and we came close in 2002, ’04, ’05 and ’06.

“An All-Ireland with my county was always my ultimate ambition and therefore leaving the game without a medal is one disappointment I will unfortunately have to take with me.

“This brings me to 2010 and the reasons behind my decision to announce my retirement from inter-county hurling with immediate effect. Essentially there are two reasons for this. In February, I launched a sports management business – Sports Academy International – and its continual growth will mean that I will not be able to commit the necessary time to hurling that the modern game demands. I cannot give inter-county hurling anything less that my very best and my inability to commit myself totally has forced me to question my future on the field.

“Secondly, based on this year’s experiences, I do not have sufficient confidence in the current management structure and I cannot dedicate myself to something I do not fully believe in. Having said that, as a player, I take a certain amount of responsibility for our poor season in ’09 but feel justified in stating that the correct structure was not in place in order for the team to operate to its true potential.

“I have every faith that under the correct circumstances and in particular considering the successful campaign of our under 21s, Clare will soon be back where we belong, at the very top.”