David Fitzgerald of Clare has admitted that players want to play game after game, despite what some people might say in GAA circles.
The issue of player welfare and split seasons has cropped up in recent years, with some suggesting that players now play too much sport when it comes to Gaelic football and hurling.
The Gaelic season is now picking up speed, with many players now involved with their inter-counties in different formats.
For example, the Munster Hurling Championship, one of the best sporting formats in the country, has seen some great games this year. Clare, who were beaten by Limerick, ended up losing out to the All-Ireland champions last weekend in a pulsating contest.
After their loss to Limerick, they managed to bounce back by beating Cork by 3-26 to 3-24 in Round 2 of the Munster Senior Hurling Championship on Sunday, April 28th. They will now battle it out with Waterford and Tipperary on May 19th and 26th in order to progress in the Munster Championship and All-Ireland Series.
For some, the games come too quickly, but for Fitzgerald, the games coming thick and fast are what he wants as a player.
PwC GAA/GPA Hurler of the Month for March, David Fitzgerald, is very satisfied with how the @GaaClare hurlers bounced back from a gutting first round defeat to @LimerickCLG in the Munster SHC by beating Cork GAA, but knows there are more tough challenges ahead. #GAABelong
— The GAA (@officialgaa) May 8, 2024
“When you progress far in the league with the new structure, you’re on week on week, nearly since February,” he said after picking up PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month for March in Hurling.
“From a player’s point of view, I know a lot of players say it, and I just want to reiterate it; that is what we obviously want. We want game after game.
“Compared to the old way, when I first started back in 2016, you’d play a game, and if you lost, you might have six weeks off for another round. It is way better from a player’s point of view.”
Clare is seen as one of the leading contenders to maybe dislodge Limerick from their perch this year. Despite what people think about hurling being uncompetitive now that Limerick is the best team in the country, Fitzgerald believes that the game is in a healthy place at this moment and time.
“It is quite a competitive landscape,” Fitzgerald added. “Limerick is obviously the dominant force for the last four or five years; they have been the standard bearers.
“Every other team is trying to catch them; in fairness, the Munster Championship and All-Ireland series are quite competitive and good from a neutral perspective. I think that the game is in a really good place at the moment.”
