Updated Tue 8:03 PM<\/p>\n
JAMES HORAN HAS called the demands on young inter-county players \u201cunsustainable\u201d in the wake of Tommy Conroy\u2019s ACL injury.<\/p>\n
Conroy had been double jobbing with Mayo in the Allianz Football League on weekends while on Sigerson Cup duty with NUIG in midweek.<\/p>\n
His season came to a crashing halt when a devastating knee injury in the third-level quarter-final, which took place two days after he played the second-half of Mayo\u2019s league draw with Donegal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking with the Mayo News, Horan criticised the scheduling of third-level GAA competitions as the average age of inter-county panels continue to drop.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just unsustainable. If you were designing it from scratch, the current scheduling of the Sigerson would be the worst case you could possibly design. The demands on players don\u2019t make sense at any level and we\u2019ve worked hard to protect our players.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had sessions where we have nine guys training and 22 not training. There are more guys not training than training most nights. We have to have them there because we need to go through how we play, but this situation doesn\u2019t make any sense to anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure about the U20 competition and when that can be played but certainly the Sigerson must be pulled out of where it is. That\u2019s the first and obvious thing that needs to happen. Can it be pulled pre-Christmas like it used to be?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s what should happen and see how it works. It\u2019s just not right and I\u2019d say the same thing if Tommy hadn\u2019t got injured. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Sigerson cannot be played the way it currently is. Inter-county football is getting younger and younger, and that age-group is being constantly squeezed. Players are trying to play for us, and they\u2019ve got Sigerson or Trench Cup and the U20s as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eoghan McLaughlin is expected to miss three to four weeks with the ankle injury he sustained in the second round against Monaghan.<\/p>\n
McLaughlin\u2019s UL face Conroy\u2019s NUIG in tomorrow\u2019s Sigerson Cup final, with both Mayo stars sidelined for the decider.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n Meath’s Jordan Morris.<\/p>\n
Source: Ken Sutton\/INPHO<\/p>\n