Diarmuid O’Flynn
WAS HE genuinely unable to train or did he just absent himself? That was the big question in Limerick yesterday as the on-going hurling crisis took yet another twist, perhaps even a U-turn.
According to County Board secretary Mike O'Riordan, there was nothing sinister in the absence of James O'Brien (right) from training on Thursday night, the first and so far the only player from the 25 who were cut or resigned from last year’s panel, to go back training under Justin McCarthy. It now looks as if he's right.
James contacted the management to let them know he was working Thursday night, wouldn't be able to attend training, but he told them he’d be available over the weekend,” explained O’Riordan yesterday. The overworked rumour mill was soon turning at full tilt, however, with claims that James was re-considering his decision to return to training, that he had made the leap because he had been assured that several others were also going to return and would all be at the Thursday training session. Not so.
It seems James is back, and staying back. Speculation is mounting in Limerick also that specific players who have been deliberately singled out by the board - Gavin O'Mahony, Brian Murray, Donal O'Grady the most high-profile of those - are on the cusp of deciding to give up the ghost and return to the fold.
That’s one of the major problems in this dispute, the lack of any clear information, no-one willing to face the issue up front and on the record, with rumour and counter-rumour then springing up in the vacuum created.
Oddly enough, however, the facts of the situation are crystal clear. Last October, the senior management team led by Justin McCarthy dropped a bombshell on Limerick hurling; from the new panel for the 2010 season, there were 12 high-profile absentees. Only one of those players, team captain Mark Foley, got the courtesy of a phone-call, if courtesy it can be called when you're being informed of your own retirement. That clumsy management of what is always a delicate situation annoyed many; worse was to follow. In an interview with a local paper, McCarthy suggested that indiscipline, lack of commitment, a general bad attitude, was the reason behind the cuts. This, along with the original handling of the cuts, led to a succession of walkouts from the remaining 2009 panel, 13 the final number of those who had had enough, among them the likes of Damien Reale and Brian Geary, loyal long-serving players for whom this was a hugely painful personal decision.
This is surely the nub of the problem. Had that initial cut never taken place in the manner in which it did take place, had those accusations never been made against the players, none of this would now be happening – of that, there is no question.
Since then, however, and in response to what they saw as misinformation from Justin and by the county board, the disaffected players held a meeting – just one meeting – after which they issued a statement that was signed by 24, including James O'Brien.
It was a long and comprehensive communication, tried to cover every base, and because of that probably lost some of its effect. The major point raised, however, was the players refuting any suggestion there was a “lack of discipline or commitment”. In fact, they claimed, “on several occasions he (Justin) made the point that this Limerick team was the ‘most committed’ he’d ever worked with, and were ‘a pleasure to train’”.
If this claim by the players is true, then when did Justin change his mind? Why did he change his mind? Surely these are questions that have to be answered, yet they have yet to even be asked.
There is talk of divided loyalty here, people torn between Justin and the players – the only loyalty should be to Limerick hurling. Was the cut of the original dozen, and the way it was done, for the good of Limerick hurling? Even the 24 who signed the letter of protest six weeks ago accept that every year there is a cull, but 12? And most of those front-line players? Is Limerick hurling best served now by leaving those 12 in the wilderness, along with the 12 comrades who walked in sympathy (assuming James O'Brien remains with the new panel)? It’s a stark question, needs a definitive answer, but it’s time a line was drawn in the sand here. Today, Saturday, in Martinstown, Limerick play an internal challenge match; tomorrow, the remaining disaffected players have their own training session, followed by a meeting to discuss their next move; on Tuesday, the county board have their meeting, at which, in all probability, any delegate daring to raise the issue will again be fobbed off with assurances that ‘several more players are about to come back’.
All so sad as Limerick hurling dies the death of a thousand cuts.
