WE'VE NO TIME TO BREATHE

It's the hectic Championship season that needs tweaking more than the new rules

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THE temptation was to connect Rory Mcllroy's success at Augusta to the GAA world.

And I imagine that'll be a route a few people will go down this week.

And that is why I'll stay clear of joining them. One thing I will say on it, though, is that the Mayo GAA world should take note.

Looking ahead to this weekend, it struck me how we have no time to breathe.

I talked earlier on in the season about how the fixtures are just so manic. And I've seen nothing to change my view. In fact I'm even more worried than before.

The new rules are fine, a few tweaks and they'll be grand but the way the season is panning out would be a bigger issue for me.

There was no bigger advocate of the split season than me because the club game was dying on its feet as the county scene was allowed to assimilate literally everything on the GAA calendar year.

The split season needs work, though, as supporters are realising how much of a false idol the provincial championship is.

Look at recent attendances at provincial games. Crowds have stayed away from a lot of big games over the last few weeks.

Worse again, the club game isn't getting the bump I thought it would as some counties are having club games without their county players for the bulk of their season, which is a recipe for disaster in the long term.

And that is part of the reason for the disconnect within supporters because once you make club and county two completely separate entities in the eyes of fans, you don't have unity.

I see this first-hand in Donegal. The majority of county players are in Division 1 clubs. Those clubs are playing right now and it's a complete farce.

We have a situation in Donegal where lots of teams are playing glorified friendlies, no real cut and thrust among a lot of games.

That is totally unfair on teams who have county players such as Kilcar, who are a rural club hammered by emigration.