By Ronan Scott

ANTRIM hurler James McNaughton has said that he missed the craic with his team-mates while in lockdown.

The relaxed rules in Ireland means that teams have returned to collective training in the last week.

Club competitions are due to start in July and run through to August and September. Then inter-county action will take over in October and November.

For McNaughton, the return to action is a welcome one. He’s back with his club Loughgiel, and he’s also looking forward to lining out with Antrim.

He explained how he’s feeling about the return to games.

“I’m very happy about it, excited and looking forward to getting out and doing a bit of hurling, some kind of normality would be great.”

Many players have spoken to Gaelic Life about their time in lockdown. What they have said is that they have missed the time spent with their team-mates. And they said that they are looking forward to getting the social element of sport back.

McNaughton was no different.

“During lockdown it’s been tough to stay motivated for everyone but the news that competitions could return has been a great motivator.

“I’m looking forward to having the craic again with the other lads and just having the buzz around the parish and county coming up to a match will be great. It’ll bring a bit of life back to the country.”

The return to action will bring a buzz he says, but there are concerns. The collective training and matches will be watched carefully by everyone. If there is a spike in cases of the virus we might see a return to a stricter lockdown, and the season could be called off completely.

For McNaughton, there was a concern that people could get sick.

“I think you have to feel for the people who either work in the front-line services or who live with vulnerable people who are shielding. These players may not be able to return to training or competitive matches and that will be very hard on them knowing their team-mates are training away and they aren’t involved.

“The measures that we’ll have to take to keep the players and supporters safe will make for a very different experience for everyone and that’ll take some getting used to.

“The atmosphere the supporters create make the game and with the probability of reduced supporters will make for a very more subdued atmosphere which will take away some of the excitement of the game.”

The GAA have already announced their inter-county championship formats while the Saffrons will get to play their league final against Kerry.

In Antrim, the championships will be played in a group stages round-robin format designed so that all teams will get lots of games.

McNaughton said that the priority is that the players get to play their games.

“I think that there needs to be a balance struck between club fixtures and county fixtures. Both need to agree what is in the best interests of players and try to make the best out of a bad situation – not everyone will be pleased with the outcome but I think players & managers views should take priority.”

r.scott@gaeliclife.com