Cork County Board Address Criticism Over Players' Controversial Club Release

When it comes to inter-county players, one of the most difficult aspects of their playing careers is balancing time between their club and county sides. That is especially true in dual counties such as Cork or Galway, where many players may line out in both codes at club level.

Of course, with the training regimen and match schedule currently in place at inter-county level, it can be difficult for players to find time to slot in with their clubs. That is one of the things that had made the split-season such a success, giving GAA stars a defined timeline as to where they will be spending their time in a given year.

In saying that, even this improvement in the calendar leaves many clubs without their best players for long stretches of their season. While some counties will release players to play at the lower level, this can lead to some questions over player welfare.

READ ALSO: Lee Keegan Thinks Derry Have Exposed Potentially Deadly Armagh Weakness

READ ALSO: Former Wexford Manager Has A Controversial Take On GAA Split-Season

The Cork footballers are currently in the thick of their championship campaign, having played the opening fixture of their All-Ireland round robin campaign on Saturday evening. They would lose to Meath by four points on that occasion, although it was the appearance of some of their players for the clubs the following day that has been a talking point within the county.

While players who are not part of the matchday panel are often released to play at club level, Cork took the rather unorthodox decision to allow some key players who featured against Meath to line out for their clubs the following day. This is despite the fact that they would have another Championship outing against Kerry the following weekend.

Rory Maguire and Conor Cahalane both lined out for Castlehaven in their Division 1 fixture against Carragaline, despite having featured for Cork against Meath the previous evening.

Maguire would come on in the 50th minute of that inter-county game, while Cahalane would feature in the final ten minutes or so. They were joined by fellow county player Cathal Maguire, who did not feature against Meath.

Castlehaven would go on to win the game on a scoreline of 3-15 to 1-15, a result which looks like it could be a vital one in their bid stave off relegation in the league.

The decision to allow the pair to play in this game will have raised some eyebrows, especially when both are likely to feature in against Kerry.

In a statement to the Cork Echo, the Cork County Board said that the inter-county management team had made the decision to allow some players to feature for their clubs that weekend, even if they played against Meath.

Team management endeavoured to get all players on the Cork senior football panel valuable game time over the past weekend, as is their policy generally.

Those not on the official match day panel for Saturday were released to clubs across the weekend, while those who played less than 35 minutes on Saturday were all released to play with their clubs on Sunday, subject to them being fit enough to do so.

Such decisions are at the discretion of team management, based on advice from the medical and S&C personnel involved with the team.

There is no precedent established for future weekends, particularly on "free" weekends, when all players are generally required for challenge games or A v B games.

Allowing players to feature in two games in less than 24 hours is sure to have raised some eyebrows within Cork. This is especially true when the Cork Echo report that the Catlehaven men were the only ones of the substitutes that featured against Meath to also play for their clubs last weekend.

From their perspective, they will be hoping that the call has no impact on their game against Kerry this weekend.