Cork boss Pat Ryan on his biggest bugbear ahead of All-Ireland final
Since 2021 the maor foirne, or runner, is not allowed in Gaelic games after it was felt that too many management teams had overstepped the mark with their use of the role but several managers have called for its return and Ryan feels that it should be facilitated to some degree going forward.
Ryan was speaking in the context of Cork's recent All-Ireland semi-final win over Dublin a a sold out Croke Park when he was unable to communicate with his players during the game.
'It's impossible,' he said. 'To be honest it's the biggest bugbear I have. You're putting in the best time you can, you want to make changes, you want to make things, and you just can't. I was shouting at Mark Coleman from 10 yards away from me.
'It was only a simple thing just to push up on a puckout and he just couldn't hear me.
'It's crazy that I think we're the only sport that you don't do it in. Maybe it was too far before, the cult of the maor foirne running onto the field all over the place and that side of it, but I think there should be a situation where you have something in place, some sort of mechanism where you can give instructions maybe two or three times a half, maybe in a game where you have a runner or something like that.
'I don't know, there's better fellas outside there than me come up with those ideas, but it's absolutely crazy that coaches can't adjust on that situation on that day. I'd say we're definitely the only sport that that have it, so I think it's amazing.'
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