Fermanagh boss Pete McGrath.
By John Hughes
Fermanagh manager Pete McGrath has spoken of the difficulties in keeping his panel fit for Ulster championship while the club programme is in progress.
The Down man said that club commitments had taken a considerable toll on county players.
“After the players came back after the first round of league matches were played only 11 players were unable to take part in our training. That’s really high,” said McGrath.
“That was because of hamstring injuries, ankle injuries, knocks and bumps. I’m baffled by this because at the end of the day these guys have trained since November. They’ve played a hard National League campaign. They go into club matches which theoretically shouldn’t be as intense or physical or demanding, yet you get this catalogue of injuries and it was real, they weren’t bluffing.
“This was a fortnight before the Armagh game. Thankfully they were just soft tissue injuries and they eventually got back on to the training pitch.”
McGrath added that reaching the Division Three NFL final gave the side a welcome window to build on the gains made across the course of the league and prepare for championship.
“We have been lucky in that the league final gave us a focus at the end of the regulation National League matches. That was a three period that was taken up with that. Then from the league final to championship is five weeks. But all counties have that problem [club v county] to deal with,” said McGrath.
“Players go back to club football. The strange thing is that during the course of the National League team management has nearly total control of its players and then when you come to the most important part of the season, the weeks prior to championship that control is loosened considerably by the demands of club football.
“That’s inevitable, you can’t abolish club football, you’ve got to live with that. It is an issue, but all counties have that problem so you shouldn’t complain too much about it.”
The Erne boss also questioned the wisdom of asking players to play so many games in such a short period of time in the light of issues such as player burn out.
“Asking players to play two matches in 48 hours, or maybe three matches in eight days is asking a lot for amateur players and you are then at the same time trying to factor in some team preparation for the championship. You hear managers in England complaining about three matches in maybe eight or nine days. We were going to play three matches in eight days here and it happens in other counties as well,” said McGrath.
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