Tyrone star Sean Cavanagh's concern over '100mph' training

Interesting article

There was time in the not so distant past when Tyrone were held up as a template for how other football counties could go about their business and achieve success.

When Pat Gilroy took charge of Dublin in late 2008, the one county he openly name checked as market leaders in how to do things was Tyrone. Kerry are Gaelic football's great constant, but Tyrone offered a clear formula, a method for everyone else to aspire to.

How ironic then that Sean Cavanagh, one of the great symbols of that revolution under Mickey Harte in the middle of the last decade, should now look to Dublin and how they conduct their business for his vision of the future.

In the space of a few short sentences Cavanagh twice utters the word "unfortunate" in his assessment of the path that Gaelic football is taking, both in preparation and playing style.

He stops short of describing a path to destruction but you can tell that even a three-time All-Ireland medal winner is no longer comfortable with it.

It is Cavanagh's assessment that Dublin have "changed the face of the GAA" with their approach.

On the day after Tyrone's first All-Ireland success in 2003, Harte revealed a simple formula for his side's preparations, based on one night of collective training and two gym sessions per week in the early part of the season, with two collective sessions as the evenings lengthened.

Now even Tyrone have discovered that keeping pace with the new market leaders demands so much more. And maybe even more than players can give. Is it reaching that point?

"Everyone now feels they have to train every night of the week if they want to get success, and that's the way it's going," admitted Cavanagh.

"It's probably good that initiatives like this PwC GAA/GPA initiative have come to the fore because there are players who are under pressure at home and at work and they are going to need help.

"To compete at the top we have to train every night of the week. Whether that means foregoing work, foregoing time with our families, we are going to be under pressure."

Early-morning training sessions are a most unpalatable prospect for Cavanagh, and he's thankful Tyrone have not yet gone down that road.

"At 5.30am in the morning I am trying to put the wee girl back into her cot these days. I couldn't even look at training. Usually I can hardly breathe at that time of the morning, so I don't think the 5.30am sessions would be good.

"You are training every night. I would argue there is only so much you can do in a day anyway. We are all exhausting our bodies, whether it's in the gym or on the field of play at training. You can only do so much."

The light touch days of 2003 seem so far away now.

"These things come in cycles but unfortunately now it's gone to the stage where everyone feels they have to go 100mph at it. Mickey brought in this thing in 2003 where it was all to do with skills and ball work and now it has gone full circle," continued Cavanagh.

"It's gone to the stage where everything is about power, strength, conditioning. Gaelic football now is essentially basketball, 12 men behind the ball and a couple up front."

His prediction of the game's future is not one he likes, a game where it is more important to be a tackler than a scorer.

"Positions mean very little and it is more important now to be a tackler than it is to be a scorer," he said. "Whether that takes a bit of the beauty of the flair out of the game that inside-forwards have... probably.

"In our Tyrone changing room our joke is Martin Penrose is the best tackler in Ireland. Martin Penrose, whenever I started, was a nippy corner (forward) who went for goal every time he got the ball. He wouldn't worry about tackling.

"It's just the way players have been moulded and trained, and everything now is about tackling and being negative. I'm sure if it is an ugly season in terms of spectator sport the GAA will need to take a look at it and see what way they can change it.

"At least in basketball there is a shot clock. The ball has to go at some stage. In GAA the way some teams are playing, they will hold the ball for minutes and minutes nowhere near the goal.

"It doesn't make it pretty but it's unfortunately where the sport finds itself at.

"The template was put out last year by Dublin, Donegal and teams like that. Every team will copy it this year, no doubt, and it's going to be interesting to see how it will pan out."

Cavanagh has been forced out of the game for six months because of a strength and conditioning training drill he had never engaged in before.

Taking part in his first 'maximum bench press' in Armagh with the northern members of the International Rules squad, his "bravado" in trying to keep up with Down's Danny Hughes triggered a rare but very serious shoulder injury that has often ended sports careers before, a ruptured 'pec' major tendon that came away from the bone.

The surgeon in Santry Clinic had only seen it done twice or three times before, revealed Cavanagh.

"I'm 28, it was the first time I had done maximum bench press. I didn't know what sort of level to go to. Danny Hughes was doing weights with myself and Ciaran McKeever," he said.

"Danny hadn't even started yet - he is some sort of a freak of nature when it comes to bench-pressing. He was only starting at 120kgs, myself and Ciaran were starting at 80kgs.

"It was a wee bit of bravado almost, we'll try and go as hard as we can here. It snapped at 120, I heard the snap on my shoulder. It was a really freak injury, it was only diagnosed after two or three X-rays. I was lucky. I always felt I had a strong chest but obviously there is some sort of weakness there and it snapped on me."

Tyrone's third match in the National League is the competitive return he's aiming for, a return to a vastly changed Red Hand landscape after so many retirements. He admits that Tyrone were "naive" in their tactics against Dublin last year, a defeat they never saw coming.

But he warns while they are not the force of old they aren't "a stone's throw away" either and are making the necessary changes. Even ground breakers are having to readjust fast in a rapidly changing market.

Really interesting read Boc, cheers for posting!

I am still an advocate in fitness through skills and ballwork, something i learned from talking to Mickey Harte on the odd occassion and travelling to watch numerious club and county teams train. The players love it and the simply don't realise how much running they are doing!

I find it sad that athletes that are not paid feel they have to train every day, some in the mornings circa Clare in the 90s (not a new thing brough in lately as everyone thinks) and that a player from the "tackling revolution" has pointed out the improtance nowadays of a tackler over a scorer!

With times come styles and evolution, hopefully football will evolve back into a more pleasing to the eye game for the untrained eye, personally i love the tactical warfare of an attacking team and an ultra defensive team! I loved watching Donegal last year as they played to their strengths and i would find it sad if the GAA brought in a law that forced teams to drop a particular tactical approach! For me, that would make games more boring.

bald eagle wrote:Really interesting read Boc, cheers for posting!

I am still an advocate in fitness through skills and ballwork, something i learned from talking to Mickey Harte on the odd occassion and travelling to watch numerious club and county teams train. The players love it and the simply don't realise how much running they are doing!

I find it sad that athletes that are not paid feel they have to train every day, some in the mornings circa Clare in the 90s (not a new thing brough in lately as everyone thinks) and that a player from the "tackling revolution" has pointed out the improtance nowadays of a tackler over a scorer!

With times come styles and evolution, hopefully football will evolve back into a more pleasing to the eye game for the untrained eye, personally i love the tactical warfare of an attacking team and an ultra defensive team! I loved watching Donegal last year as they played to their strengths and i would find it sad if the GAA brought in a law that forced teams to drop a particular tactical approach! For me, that would make games more boring.

Bottom line is, if we only have one game style it would ruin the games, would be one demensional like rugby league, as it stands, we dont know what format a team will take until we see the game.

I too agree that athletes who are not paid should not have to train every day but i guess that is where the bar is at, maybe this ties in with the other thread on the pro amatuer issue!

EIther way we need the game to evolve. I feel the mark could be something that would allow the defensive revolution, while reviving a disappearing skill, while speeding up the game and attacks, could be something we could look at!

Don't think this is down to Dublin meself. Its the way everyone is going. If it was just Dublin then we would have beaten everyone by 20 points per game last season. The early mornings get the headlines but plenty of other counties put in just as many hours.

Parouisa wrote:Don't think this is down to Dublin meself. Its the way everyone is going. If it was just Dublin then we would have beaten everyone by 20 points per game last season. The early mornings get the headlines but plenty of other counties put in just as many hours.

i dont think Cavanagh was accusing Dublin of anything here P - just merely pointing out that he thought the Dublin setup from last year would be replicated by other counties trying to achieve some success

bocerty wrote:

Parouisa wrote:Don't think this is down to Dublin meself. Its the way everyone is going. If it was just Dublin then we would have beaten everyone by 20 points per game last season. The early mornings get the headlines but plenty of other counties put in just as many hours.

i dont think Cavanagh was accusing Dublin of anything here P - just merely pointing out that he thought the Dublin setup from last year would be replicated by other counties trying to achieve some success

Yep - but point I'm making is that this type of devotion and time has been put into top intercounty setups for a good few years now.

Yeah P but i think hes getting at the point that the dubs have brought it to another new level and where does it stop?

Pay the players, only way to go from here on in.

Parouisa wrote: Yep - but point I'm making is that this type of devotion and time has been put into top intercounty setups for a good few years now.

Reading the article as it is posted, Cavanagh groups Dublin and Donegal together when discussing the styles of play, so I think he is referring to the defensive tactics, as opposed to the early morning training sessions etc.

Yeah he covers two elements. I disagree with him lumping Dublin with Donegal - heaven forbid. I think Tyrone's own system was not a million miles from Dublin's. But they refined and improved it and in my mind were the first team to make jersey numbers from 2-15 meaningless. I would like to see Dublin develop this way too. And with the pressure of finally winning Sam now off their back maybe they can and will.

North Side Gael wrote:
Pay the players, only way to go from here on in.

Aside from the fact that it would be completely unsustainable.

The Puke wrote:

North Side Gael wrote:
Pay the players, only way to go from here on in.

Aside from the fact that it would be completely unsustainable.

Depends how its handled puke!

We currently pay a range of gaa people and im sure this could be extended to the players.

North Side Gael wrote:

The Puke wrote:

North Side Gael wrote:
Pay the players, only way to go from here on in.

Aside from the fact that it would be completely unsustainable.

Depends how its handled puke!

We currently pay a range of gaa people and im sure this could be extended to the players.

All you need do is loom at the affects of paying players had on the League Of Ireland and Club rugby when they went from amateur to to professional. It is too small a pool for it to be maintained, especially now with a good number of county boards in serious financial trouble. Once you start paying players it will be the death knell of the club game as once money comes into it then county boards will demand complete access to the players and their availability to their club sides will deminish completely

One of my reasons for it going pro is for player welfare to be honest puke. Boys shouldnt be expected to put it all into both any more, in my eyes in a pro game inter county players would only be available at championship time.

The club game can become better as in rugby the quality improved with the pro game, the club game can maintain the amatuer ethos and be the starting block for the pro game around the world as it will instantly grow internationally as business men in the states and england can look at officially investing in something they love officially.

County boards probably shouldnt be in the trouble they are and you know that as well as the next man, but at the end of the day, it can work like lower league english soccer counties will be owned by either a board appointed by a business man or a board appointed through the investment of supporters.

It would open more avenues, in hurling sakes counties would need to combine but this isnt before time, possibly in football to some amalgamations could pave the way to more success.

The pro game would have no boundaries, the club game can be kept for us, the grass roots, to go out and watch games and know that what could be an extremely fast growing sporting organisation internationally begins in small parishes in Ireland.

Its a romantic notion but it needs looked at properly by business planners to let us work out the pros and cons without speculating.

That is an awful lot of wishful thinking. It simply cannot be done and if attempted will do more damage than good to the association. I would doubt that there is a business planner in the world that would say it is a good idea.

The irish have been scattered all over the 4 corners of the world for the bones of 150 years and the game has never caught on anywhere with the locals. If you think that making it professional would suddenly make it a fast growing organisation globally you are deluded. It would never work. We are an island of 6 million people and would not be able to sustain it medium term.

North Side Gael wrote: Its a romantic notion but it needs looked at properly by business planners to let us work out the pros and cons without speculating.

It's a rancid notion, and would destroy the very ethos of the organisation. It is also as impractical as is is unappealing.

Rugby has grown phenomenally across the world since its change.

Im sure with the right regulations and so on players could be paid, most south of ireland soccer clubs are doing well now, many went due to a lack of financial regulations and this was their own fault.

Pro rugby clubs survive not just here but also glasgow where around 1500 show for games and even in connaught where they are shouting if they get above 4, gaa league games average out around 5 - 10 for league, so no reason why not, it needs tiered though, your not going to get as much at div2 games so that team cant pay as much wages.

The only reason soccer survived is due to the fact that clubs scrapped the professional set up and went back to amateur/semi pro basis, professionalism brought the league to its knees once the Celtic Tiger subsided. Club rugby has been destroyed at adult level since professionalism came in. The reason pro rugby clubs survive is due to the fact that they are heavily subsidised by the IRFU, who have centrally contracted the best irish players and pay their wages (this money is mainly generated by the national team) along with giving huge amount of investment into the provinces as well over the last 15 years, if the provinces had to pay their own way they would be fooked and unable to sustain professional rugby to the level it is currently at

The Puke wrote:The only reason soccer survived is due to the fact that clubs scrapped the professional set up and went back to amateur/semi pro basis, professionalism brought the league to its knees once the Celtic Tiger subsided. Club rugby has been destroyed at adult level since professionalism came in. The reason pro rugby clubs survive is due to the fact that they are heavily subsidised by the IRFU, who have centrally contracted the best irish players and pay their wages (this money is mainly generated by the national team) along with giving huge amount of investment into the provinces as well over the last 15 years, if the provinces had to pay their own way they would be fooked and unable to sustain professional rugby to the level it is currently at

Completely right, and throw into the equation that fact that there are 4 provinces and a relative handful of clubs in comparison to the GAA. We have 64 senior (hurling & football) teams for a start, and God knows how many clubs.

NSG, of course, will argue for amalgamations, which is well and good until he realises that he doesn't have an Antrim team to support in either hurling or football. And then he has to drive 15 miles to his new local club as it too folded, but he can't get a game at the new club, as they are cherry-picking the best players from a 15 mile radius.

So, NSG can stand on the terrace watching his new local club, Lisburn GFC, in the Ulster hurling league, or he can travel to Newry or Omagh to watch Tyrone or Down compete with Kerry, Cork, Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Connaught in the all-ireland football series.

But yes, a few players will be slightly better off, so it is all worthwhile.

Puke i never used local rugby as my example i used glasgow a small club who sustain themselves quite well, ill still argue that without actually sitting down and working it all oout with the gaa providing transparent figures etc its hard to actually debate, call it semi pro if you will the gaa boys training 5/6 nights a week deserve more than expenses.

This brings us to another argument the foolish (heard that today already) argument of TC on the ethos, wise up, ethos, paying a county secretary 40k a year? county managers on 30k a year plus and regional coaches on 25k a year average? Ethos, quite like your political argument is extremely hypocrytical.

Thomas Clarke wrote:

The Puke wrote:The only reason soccer survived is due to the fact that clubs scrapped the professional set up and went back to amateur/semi pro basis, professionalism brought the league to its knees once the Celtic Tiger subsided. Club rugby has been destroyed at adult level since professionalism came in. The reason pro rugby clubs survive is due to the fact that they are heavily subsidised by the IRFU, who have centrally contracted the best irish players and pay their wages (this money is mainly generated by the national team) along with giving huge amount of investment into the provinces as well over the last 15 years, if the provinces had to pay their own way they would be fooked and unable to sustain professional rugby to the level it is currently at

Completely right, and throw into the equation that fact that there are 4 provinces and a relative handful of clubs in comparison to the GAA. We have 64 senior (hurling & football) teams for a start, and God knows how many clubs.

NSG, of course, will argue for amalgamations, which is well and good until he realises that he doesn't have an Antrim team to support in either hurling or football. And then he has to drive 15 miles to his new local club as it too folded, but he can't get a game at the new club, as they are cherry-picking the best players from a 15 mile radius.

So, NSG can stand on the terrace watching his new local club, Lisburn GFC, in the Ulster hurling league, or he can travel to Newry or Omagh to watch Tyrone or Down compete with Kerry, Cork, Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Connaught in the all-ireland football series.

But yes, a few players will be slightly better off, so it is all worthwhile.

A GFC in a hurling league, well thats strange, always good for the banter tc!