Limerick boss John Kiely has appealed to the GAA to row back on plans to release matchday panels to the public on Fridays.
Counties have long been obliged to submit their 26 players by 9am on the Thursday before a Championship game and that list is now to be issued to the media the following day, starting from tomorrow afternoon, though Kiely said that Limerick have been told that they will be published at 10am on Fridays.
Managers will still be able to change their starting 15 within the 26 up to 40 minutes before throw-in but will only be allowed to tamper with the list of 26 in exceptional circumstances
However, with many counties, including Limerick, often waiting until their Friday night get-together to tell the players what the starting team and panel will be, Kiely has called for the GAA to afford them the space to do so.
Speaking at the Munster Championship launch at Pairc Ui Chaoimh last night, he said: “What I would be suggesting is that a watershed of 9pm be used, 8pm or 9pm on a Friday.
“In order to ensure the player is front and centre around team selections and team management which is the most important aspect of it, I’m asking them to reconsider the time and delay it until later on that evening and I think everybody would be happy with that.
“The converse is what’s going to happen if you don’t, if it stays at 10am or even 1pm, it doesn’t matter, if it’s a time before training would occur that evening, what’s going to happen is the teams that are going to be submitted are quite simply going to be just the panellists.
“I think it’s a disservice to those who purchase a programme on the day, I think they deserve to know within reason what the team is going to be, that there might be one or two changes but there’s not going to be 12 or 15 changes to the team that’s going to be put out.
“Teams might be inclined to name their team according to alphabetical order and you might have a corner-back wearing No 15 and a corner-forward wearing No 4.”
Meanwhile, Kiely said that he is hopeful that a solution can be found to allow Limerick and Tipperary to support the Dillon Quirke Foundation in their Munster Championship clash on May 21 in honour of the Tipp hurler who died tragically last year while in action for his cub Clonoulty-Rossmore.
It was intended that the two counties would wear the foundation’s logo on their jerseys for the game but the GAA recently introduced a ban on that particular practice.
“We were very happy to do that,” said Kiely, who spoke to Dan Quirke, father of Dillon, about the idea last year. “And that afterwards the jerseys would be handed back to the Foundation for them to auction – that was the concept.
“Clearly, it has run into a difficulty now, because of the particular rule it might be in breach of. That’s disappointing. We’d still be very much open to finding a way of helping the Foundation acknowledge what they are trying to do, and honour Dillon’s passion and his life, which was hurling.
“I feel his situation is that little bit unique in that he died playing the game that he loved, on one of the most hallowed surfaces of all in Semple Stadium. I think his situation is different to wider charitable causes.
“I think there is a distinct difference here. A player, playing for his club, who is a county player, who died whilst on the surface in Semple Stadium. For me that makes it different. And maybe a reason to examine the situation and see if there is a way for us to find something that will work for both Tipperary and ourselves. And for the Foundation most of all.”
Ahead of Sunday’s League final against Kilkenny, Kiely confirmed that David Reidy and Graeme Mulcahy will not be involved, while Limerick will not be contesting the one-match ban proposed for midfielder Will O’Donoghue arising out of an incident in the semi-final win over Tipperary.
“The incident itself, listen, it came about because the referee was waiting for the players to get back behind the 50. The players were in the middle of the pitch for quite some time.
“It was what it was. We’ve accepted it, William has accepted, and we’ve moved on.”
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