The Gaelic Players Association say any proposals to move the All-Ireland finals to August would necessitate a later start to the intercounty season.
And the players' body is firmly against suggestions of starting the Allianz Leagues earlier than the last weekend of January.
Tom Ryan, director general of the GAA, raised both possibilities when launching his annual report last week.
“There is a gathering mood to shuffle the finals back by a week or two, and that may well transpire in the future,” stated Ryan. “Stretching the season out a little would be no bad thing – but I don’t foresee a return to September.
“A further opportunity to stretch the season might well present itself at the other end of things, in January. Perhaps the suspension of the provincial preseason competitions could point to starting the Allianz Leagues a little earlier in future?”
But Tom Parsons, chief executive of the GPA, indicated both moves would probably result in kickback from intercounty players. On the possibility of All-Ireland finals in August, Parsons said: “I’d have to get a mandate from players.
“One piece is obviously the window of intercounty activity, the other piece is players want meaningful time with their clubs. And I don’t think they’ve got the split season right because a lot of county finals are being played at the end of October when I’m sure the vision was that maybe county finals would be played in the last week of September.
“But at a minimum that principle of if we want a seven-month window and you want to stretch [the finals] to August, then you’ll need your National Leagues starting the end of February or the start of March and players returning [to training] in January.
“But I don’t know would I get that mandate from players because players like that meaningful time with their clubs. The key stakeholder here has to be the players that are involved in this.”
And whatever about August finals, the possibility of the National Leagues throwing in at the start of January appears to be off the agenda.
“From a GPA perspective, that would be a no-no,” said Parsons. “Is January the best month for serious competitions? Look at the crazy weather that we’ve got and how important the National Leagues are, your whole season could hinge on the first round of the league played in mid-January. It could be off the back of a storm.
“I really don’t see merit there in starting any league earlier.”
Parsons also stood by the GPA’s position on the discontinuation of the pre-league competitions, saying he does not envisage any change on that viewpoint for 2026.
“I don’t think we can take one step forward and two steps backwards on the preseason competitions,” he said.
Parsons felt recent criticism of the GPA by provincial secretaries over teams breaching training was unjust and he is to seek the establishment of a taskforce to examine the area of return-to-training dates.
“I think a fair approach is that the powers that be don’t blame the GPA and look at ‘Is there a shared responsibility here?’ And of course there is. The counties are contracting management teams, many of whom are paid.
“The GPA aren’t contracting or paying management teams, we don’t have that relationship. It’s the counties and the provinces who have the relationship with county grounds, centre of excellences, they open the gates, not the GPA. So it’s totally unfair to put all blame on the GPA.”
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to the Counter Ruck podcast for the best rugby chat and analysis
