LIMERICK senior hurling manager John Kiely has questioned the necessity of releasing teams too early in the week.
As announced midweek by the GAA, such teams must be submitted on Thursday morning, causing a problem for Limerick, and many other counties, who only complete their weekly training schedule on Friday nights. Unless the GAA alter their stance, Kiely reckons dummy teams could be issued by some counties.
“If your team is out on a Sunday and you’re out on a Friday, we feel very strongly that the players should hear from the management before the team is announced to the wider public and the wider media,” said Kiely, in an interview with the Irish Examiner, at Wednesday’s launch of the Munster Senior Championships.
“You have to understand that this isn’t going to be just for the first round of the championship, it’s going to be for an All-Ireland Final and some difficult decisions will have to be made around team selections and panel selections.
“For a player that doesn’t make it onto a matchday team or the matchday 26, it’s going to be a significant disappointment in his life, for his season and I think it’s really important that we have the opportunity to lead that internally within our groups in every county.”
Limerick’s team for the National Hurling League Final against Kilkenny on Sunday will be named at 9pm tomorrow night (Friday).
In Championship action, Limerick’s Munster semi-final against either Cork or Clare is not scheduled for live television coverage, while in hurling Limerick’s Munster round two fixture against Clare (April 29) is listed for streaming on GAAGO, which carries a charge (possibly €12). The Master Fixture List also has Limerick’s concluding outing with Cork scheduled for coverage by either RTÉ or GAAGO.