ANDY McEntee has re-iterated his call for the GAA to amend the split season in the interests of player welfare.
The Meath man is in the early throes of rebuilding the Antrim senior football squad and has encountered problems, many of which, he says, stem from the condensed nature of the inter-county season.
McEntee doesn’t have 26 fit players for Sunday’s penultimate NFL Division Three game against Cavan at Corrigan Park due to the high number of injured players.
On the last count, the manager counted 15 players ruled out for this weekend’s clash.
“It is something the GAA may have to look at,” he said. “I mean, these rules about preparation and not being allowed train [earlier] to be ready, and all of a sudden you’re thrown a couple of McKenna Cup games and seven League games all in the space of three months. It is a serious work-load.
“We’re more than halfway through it and from a panel of 36 or 37 we’re down to 22 or 23 fit players who were available to train this week.”
Compounding Antrim’s situation is the loss of a host of experienced players from last season and the induction of so many young players.
McEntee says the split season doesn’t exist for the inter-county player.
“The split season is a split season for club players. They have an off-season, but for inter-county players it’s not a split season. One pretty much runs into the other.
“If you’re operating in sport at elite level you need to be looking after yourself pretty much all year round and from our perspective we’re trying to get a group of lads up to the level of preparedness in a relatively short period of time.
“There are a lot of new fellas on that squad and they’re not used to that sort of work-load and you’re trying to get that work done.
“You can’t really fast-track it because eventually the body goes: ‘Hang on a second, what’s happening here? I’m not able for this.’ You see other teams who are further down that road and are a lot more capable for the workload.
“And you’ve a lot of players coming off the club season carrying injuries who end up having to play catch-up as well.”
Antrim suffered one of their heaviest defeats in recent times against Westmeath last weekend which has put their Division Three status in a precarious position.
With Cavan visiting Corrigan Park this weekend and then Antrim taking to the road for their last game against Longford on March 26, it is likely Antrim won’t know their fate until then.
Tipperary and Longford are below them in the division with two rounds of games to go.
“It’s a dangerous occupation to look past what’s right ahead of you,” warned McEntee, who could have key players Marc Jordan and Patrick McBride back for the Cavan game.
“We have a huge challenge to get ourselves ready, physically and mentally. You’re looking at 22 or 23 fit players but that creates an opportunity for other guys who haven’t been playing to put their hand up and see if we can get a performance together and see what happens after that.”
Meanwhile, McEntee expressed his condolences to Liam Kearns’ family following the sudden death of the popular Offaly manager.
“Obviously, the last time I spoke to Liam was the game up in Corrigan Park at the start of the League. I would have come across him quite a bit over the years and you’d have to say a very decent sort of man. You just don’t know what’s around the corner.”
