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Galway manager Pádraic Joyce fears that the close contact rule related to positive tests for Covid-19 could wreak havoc on this year’s championship.
The Tribesmen ended their Allianz League campaign in Salthill on Sunday, losing a close encounter with Irish champion Dublin, and will now begin preparing for the Connacht championship start.
Joyce’s team begins their All-Ireland campaign with Connacht’s semi-final clash with Sligo in Galway on 7 November, with the final scheduled for the following weekend.
And the Galway manager is concerned that some of his players will miss the entire provincial campaign when viewed as close contacts from a positive test in the run-up to the opening game.
Joyce revealed that he was missing players for the clash with Dublin as a result of the close contact rule and said he would like to see if anything could be done for the GAA players during the championship.
“We were missing one or two today that were classified as close contacts, and that is a killer for us, because if they classify you as close contacts you have been gone for 14 days,” said Joyce, speaking with RTÉ Sport.
“And if one of our guys goes for 14 days next week, he will miss the entire Connacht championship, as the semi-finals and the final are in seven days, as long as we get that far.”
“It’s the same with Mayo, Roscommon and most of the teams. The question of close contacts is an important thing and I’m not sure if it can be seen from the GAA point of view, otherwise the teams will struggle. to get teams onto the pitch. ”
Joyce said that, from their county’s perspective, they are working hard to eliminate the possibility of players contracting the coronavirus by doing all their work outdoors, while post-training foods are available but must be removed for consumption.
And while extreme caution is being exercised, Joyce acknowledges that it is impossible to fully legislate for such matters other than asking players to “hurry up” for the benefit of all.
He said: “From Galway’s point of view, all we can do is worry about ourselves. The guys are working really hard to stay away from people and they treat everyone they meet like they have Covid, that’s what you have to do.
“We have established protocols for when they come to train, we don’t go inside, we stay outside and try to do our work in the field, and then they get some food and the food is to go.
“We are working as closely as possible to eliminate the possibility of players picking it up, but you cannot legislate about it and we have told players what is happening with their family and close friends and they have to get down to business. play and support county players across the country. ”
Looking back on the loss to Dublin and the entire league campaign, Joyce said he’s happy with his team’s third place finish, while also delighted to see the contribution of veteran Gary Sice, who came into the break.
Sice has been called up to the team this year, having helped his club, Corofin, win three Irish club titles in a row.
“I’m delighted with the performance. It’s been a good league for us and we can start to focus on Sligo,” Joyce said.
“Gary played very well and that’s why I brought him back to the panel, to add a little cuteness and a little experience. He adds that little composure that we lacked at the beginning.”
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