The Throw-in

The football league action dominated over the weekend but it was off-pitch that was generating much of the headlines with Tom Parsons saying the GPA were prepared to take further action in the players’ stand-off with the GAA over expenses. However, Dick Clerkin, who joined Will Slattery, Sinéad Kissane and Donnchadh Boyle on this week’s Throw-In podcast believes that a conversation over player welfare needs to take precedence over expenses first. “What are the GPA looking for in terms of a sustainable model for the intercounty game?” he asked on the show. “Because I don't think anybody could agree that it should be ok that a county team should be asked to train seven days a week around the Championship season and that can be funded carte blanche because that's effectively what Tom Parsons was saying. If it is the case with the county teams now that it's the norm to be asked to train five to six times a week, that's not sustainable, that's not fair and it's not sustainable.” Back to on-pitch matters, Dubl