Should the weekend’s games in Healy and Hyde Park have gone ahead?

Looking at stewards struggling to brush away pools of water on each pitch, you couldn’t help but think the referees should have erred on the side of caution and postponed the matches as a duty of care towards the players.

That belief was cemented watching those from Tyrone, Armagh, Roscommon and Mayo then struggle to negotiate the conditions. The wet ‘n’ wild photographs from each venue hardly painted the GAA in a good light. That the games were televised live didn’t help matters but we’ve seen before where broadcasted matches have been called off because of adverse weather conditions. That it was the penultimate weekend of the league may have come into the decision-making process too. There is little time remaining in the competition. A postponement would have been unwelcome particularly ahead of next weekend where, for the sake of fairness, the throw-ins of all final round fixtures are at the same time. Expediency here, though, loses out to welfare and optics. The GPA state they bring player welfare issues to the GAA behind closed doors. What happened in Omagh and Roscommon should be on their agenda at their next meeting.