THEY MIGHT JUST come up against each other this weekend, but the thoughts on head injuries brought us back to a piece written in 2017 about the effects of concussion.
Mattie Donnelly of Tyrone told of the effects of a bang on the head playing for his club Trillick.
“I would have been chattering gibberish that evening. I was sitting at home and I didn’t go to work for a few days after it,” he said.
“I never felt nauseous from either of them, but definitely any form of exercise or even concentrating, you get a dead ache in the centre of your head, just between your eyes. That would have been the case.”
And Monaghan’s Darren Hughes revealed, “They asked me at half-time was I alright and I said I was. But I went to go out for the second half and I was feeling a bit off with what was going on around me. So I said, ‘I’m out here’.
“I felt dizzy that week and it was difficult to concentrate. It is a busy time at home too (on his farm). It did have an effect and I knew that I had to sit out a week. I was in no condition to be playing.”
From those that have suffered from concussion, it’s an extremely grave matter. But faking head injuries in order to kill momentum has become an almost accepted practice in Gaelic football over the last few seasons.
One to keep an eye on this weekend.
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2. Ah, Ref!
Well, the process of elimination will tell us a lot from this weekend forward.
Last weekend with a few games on in the provincial football series, there was a bit of a jam when one referee was appointed to take charge of a game, but in the meantime failed the usual referee’s fitness test.
However, arrangements were at an advanced stage and the referee still had to go ahead and fulfil his role in the fixture.
The referee’s fitness test is more gruelling than the average Joe might appreciate, but it is also the reason why some other high-profile and prominent referees of recent seasons are not on the refereeing panel for the 2023 championship.
The referee in question will not be taking charge of any more games in the championship series, which leaves a nice clue for those inclined to find out their identity.
3. What a washout?
Will Brewster Park stand up to the resurfacing and rain this weekend? Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
The data recorded across March had it that in certain parts of Ireland and the UK, it was the wettest March on record in many cases.
After a fine and dry February, the total amount of rain was 137.4mm of rain in the north, 58% more than average, with sunshine hours being lower last month.
It wasn’t the wettest on record – 2019’s stunning figure of 160.7mm standing as the Limerick hurling of our times, but wetter than the proverbial otter’s pocket all the same.
Why all the weather talk? Well, after a county final that had to be postponed due to a waterlogged pitch last October and the Brewster Park surface generally turning to mush in the last few years, it was being resurfaced over the spring. Hence the county team basing themselves at the ground of St Joseph’s, Ederney.
However, the bedding-in period of the pitch is in question. Already, the minor curtain-raiser game has been moved. Could a sticky pitch be the ‘great leveller’ of yore when Rory Gallagher’s Ulster champions roll into town for this Saturday’s quarter-final?
4. All dressed up and nowhere to go
Last weekend, there was a National hurling league final.
There were two Munster football championship matches. Three in Leinster. Three in Connacht. One in Ulster.
That’s a lot of premium level football and hurling to be watching and the pot was kept boiling nicely by New York getting their first championship win in Connacht, Clare and Roscommon also providing shocks for the consensus by beating Cork and Mayo respectively, it gave plenty of sustenance to followers of Gaelic Games.
Come to this weekend. On one hand it is nice that the Joe McDonagh, Christy Ring, Nickey Rackard and Lory Meagher Cup games are not thrashing around the surface trying to grab the oxygen of publicity. That GAA fans from the likes of Donegal, Meath, Kerry and Kildare have the opportunity to go along to watch their county hurlers in action. There’s no end of ladies’ sport on too.
On the other, well, there’s no top-level hurling on. And just two big games in football with Ulster champions Derry beginning their campaign away to Fermanagh, and Omagh hosting the latest Tyrone-Monaghan skirmish.
Does this look like smart scheduling to you?
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Will the Brewster Park pitch be the 'great leveller'? Weekend GAA talking points
1. Teams using their heads
THEY MIGHT JUST come up against each other this weekend, but the thoughts on head injuries brought us back to a piece written in 2017 about the effects of concussion.
Mattie Donnelly of Tyrone told of the effects of a bang on the head playing for his club Trillick.
“I would have been chattering gibberish that evening. I was sitting at home and I didn’t go to work for a few days after it,” he said.
“I never felt nauseous from either of them, but definitely any form of exercise or even concentrating, you get a dead ache in the centre of your head, just between your eyes. That would have been the case.”
And Monaghan’s Darren Hughes revealed, “They asked me at half-time was I alright and I said I was. But I went to go out for the second half and I was feeling a bit off with what was going on around me. So I said, ‘I’m out here’.
“I felt dizzy that week and it was difficult to concentrate. It is a busy time at home too (on his farm). It did have an effect and I knew that I had to sit out a week. I was in no condition to be playing.”
From those that have suffered from concussion, it’s an extremely grave matter. But faking head injuries in order to kill momentum has become an almost accepted practice in Gaelic football over the last few seasons.
One to keep an eye on this weekend.
2. Ah, Ref!
Well, the process of elimination will tell us a lot from this weekend forward.
Last weekend with a few games on in the provincial football series, there was a bit of a jam when one referee was appointed to take charge of a game, but in the meantime failed the usual referee’s fitness test.
However, arrangements were at an advanced stage and the referee still had to go ahead and fulfil his role in the fixture.
The referee’s fitness test is more gruelling than the average Joe might appreciate, but it is also the reason why some other high-profile and prominent referees of recent seasons are not on the refereeing panel for the 2023 championship.
The referee in question will not be taking charge of any more games in the championship series, which leaves a nice clue for those inclined to find out their identity.
3. What a washout?
The data recorded across March had it that in certain parts of Ireland and the UK, it was the wettest March on record in many cases.
After a fine and dry February, the total amount of rain was 137.4mm of rain in the north, 58% more than average, with sunshine hours being lower last month.
It wasn’t the wettest on record – 2019’s stunning figure of 160.7mm standing as the Limerick hurling of our times, but wetter than the proverbial otter’s pocket all the same.
Why all the weather talk? Well, after a county final that had to be postponed due to a waterlogged pitch last October and the Brewster Park surface generally turning to mush in the last few years, it was being resurfaced over the spring. Hence the county team basing themselves at the ground of St Joseph’s, Ederney.
However, the bedding-in period of the pitch is in question. Already, the minor curtain-raiser game has been moved. Could a sticky pitch be the ‘great leveller’ of yore when Rory Gallagher’s Ulster champions roll into town for this Saturday’s quarter-final?
4. All dressed up and nowhere to go
Last weekend, there was a National hurling league final.
There were two Munster football championship matches. Three in Leinster. Three in Connacht. One in Ulster.
That’s a lot of premium level football and hurling to be watching and the pot was kept boiling nicely by New York getting their first championship win in Connacht, Clare and Roscommon also providing shocks for the consensus by beating Cork and Mayo respectively, it gave plenty of sustenance to followers of Gaelic Games.
Come to this weekend. On one hand it is nice that the Joe McDonagh, Christy Ring, Nickey Rackard and Lory Meagher Cup games are not thrashing around the surface trying to grab the oxygen of publicity. That GAA fans from the likes of Donegal, Meath, Kerry and Kildare have the opportunity to go along to watch their county hurlers in action. There’s no end of ladies’ sport on too.
On the other, well, there’s no top-level hurling on. And just two big games in football with Ulster champions Derry beginning their campaign away to Fermanagh, and Omagh hosting the latest Tyrone-Monaghan skirmish.
Does this look like smart scheduling to you?
Get instant updates on the Allianz Football and Hurling Leagues on The42 app. Brought to you by Allianz Insurance, proud sponsors of the Allianz Leagues for over 30 years.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
GAA head injury Talking Points