Kelly defends treatment of hurling

GAA news: GAA president Seán Kelly has strongly defended the association's treatment of hurling. His comments come against a backdrop of escalating unhappiness amongst the hurling community because of the manner in which the experimental rules trial was altered purely on the basis of football data and before the Hurling Playing Rules Task Force had had an opportunity to assess the now abandoned sin bin.

"I appointed two task forces. They both reported to us with experimental rules that were accepted by Central Council. We'll see how they work out and at the end of the day congress will make up its mind.

"The football committee met first and the hurling committee probably felt that they would run with that as well. They haven't had the same opportunity for experiment as the footballers, but I had to go with what they proposed. If it doesn't work out, that will be reflected at congress."

Former Wexford All-Ireland winning manager Liam Griffin, in his Sunday Tribune column, condemned the GAA for letting the Football Task Force decide the rules of hurling. This is the Gaelic Football Association with hurling tagged on, he wrote.

Then, at the weekend, there were stinging criticisms of the experimental rules from two high-profile inter-county managers, Brian Cody and Tom Ryan, both of whom felt that the game was being emasculated by measures designed to remedy problems in football and which had nothing to do with hurling.

Asked would hurling benefit from administration by a separate association, Kelly firmly rejected the idea.

"I don't think that would be in the best interests of hurling because we are as an organisation responsible for the two major games of hurling and football and I think hurling would probably suffer if it was pulled away from football and football allowed to prosper at its own pace.

"Hurling could suffer in an awful lot of counties because in most counties unfortunately football is the dominant game.

"The fact is that we have money from Government as well as our own money to promote hurling. You would have to do that through the structures that are there.

"You couldn't possibly set up a new structure because, without the support of key people on county boards and in the clubs, it wouldn't be effective."

Finally, it has been announced that Ciarán McDonald will captain the Mayo footballers this season. McDonald, who was named as the TF Royal Hotel Connacht GAA Sportswriters' Personality of the Year 2004 last weekend, had a great season last year, culminating in his first All Star award.