Queen’s University manager Conor Deegan has claimed that rushing in football’s new rules for the Sigerson Cup would have been ‘penal’ on the players.
Club and county teams will play under an entirely new suite of rules in 2025 following the recent Special Congress endorsement of the Football Review Committee’s proposals.
But the third-level football competitions will be exempt from the change and will stick with the 2024 rules, meaning those who are county players will jump between two different sets of playing rules for a period across January and February.
UL manager Declan Brouder claimed on the X platform that it was a ‘huge opportunity lost for (the) Sigerson Cup competition in 2025′.
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Speaking after the draw for the Electric Ireland-sponsored third-level championships, Deegan, whose side have drawn Belfast rivals St Mary’s in round one, said he felt it was the right decision not to change rules.
“I would have voted for them to stay with the older rules, purely because I just thought the timescale to bring them in was penal and it was going to be very difficult,” said Down great Deegan, a two-time All-Ireland winner.
“These guys are going to go off with their counties and they’re going to train like hell over the next few weeks and they’re trying to bed those (new rules) in and then when they come back to us, they’re going to have to change again which in itself is going to be a difficulty.
“But I think it’s going to be easier in terms of them coming back to the older rules because those are more ingrained in them, rather than for us all to go forward with the new rules. So yeah, I think in many ways it had to almost stay as it was (for the Sigerson).”
Long-serving Queen’s manager Deegan said the new rules have still had an impact on his set-up, explaining that county managers are demanding more time than normal with players in advance of the new season.
“With the new rules they are dragging their players in left, right and centre, which is totally understandable,” said Deegan.
“So unfortunately you are not getting the players you would like to see on a regular basis but, again, you have to sort of take it and understand that that is the nature of the beast at the moment. Of course we want them ourselves but unfortunately we’ll lose them right up until maybe, if we are lucky, the week prior to the Sigerson.
“This year we have a fairly strong contingent of inter-county players, whereas in the past we would have had two or three. We have considerably more this year and this is the first year it has really hit us a wee bit harder.”
Deegan confirmed that towering midfielder Anton Tohill, son of Derry legend Anthony and a key figure for Queen’s, has returned to the Oak Leaf county panel under new manager Paddy Tally.
Medicine student Tohill returned from an AFL career with Collingwood in 2021 and featured for Derry under Rory Gallagher but opted out in February of 2023, saying he ‘wasn’t particularly enjoying it’.
“He’s back within the Derry panel,” said Deegan. “Like a lot of county managers at the moment, they are extending their panels, and Anton is back in there. He’s an interesting guy, he’s a great fella. He’s six-foot-seven, fit as a flea, big quick lad, so there is potential in him without a shadow of a doubt.”
Deegan is hopeful that his side can emulate their northern rivals Ulster University, who went all the way last year.
“The Maynooth one last year was tough,” said Deegan, referencing his side’s one-point quarter-final defeat.
“We went in with six injuries or whatever it was and then we lost Conall Bohill after 15 minutes. We’ve been close but just no cigar but we’ll go forward in hope.”
Holders UU will face ATU Sligo in round one, which will be played on January 7 and 8, while UCC, the 2023 winners who claimed the Division One title last week, will face UCD.