With a media blackout preceding this weekend's All-Ireland hurling semi-finals, Donal Óg Cusack has said it is the GAA's responsibility to create an environment where players and managers are encouraged to engage with the media.
Clare face Kilkenny on Sunday after Galway meet defending champions Limerick on Saturday in Croke Park, however none of the teams involved have organised any press events or conducted media interviews ahead of the games.
Cusack, speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, agrees this is counter-productive for promotion of the game and the Gaelic Players Association president has no problem with players being paid for appearances.
The current reluctance from the game's leading lights doesn't help in terms of helping to promote football and hurling, says the former Cork goalkeeper and All-Ireland winner, who has long bemoaned the fact that the games, hurling in particular, are being short changed in terms of coverage.
"Both sports are constantly battling and it is a battle," he said on RTÉ Radio's Morning Ireland.
And while he feels the GAA have a big part to play in ensuring that the players are not always silent, he can understand the reluctance to speak ahead of big games.
"You have many factors feeding into it. For the players their number one priority is to play and compete and they don't want any other distractions at this time of year. Energy is a priority for them and if they can avoid giving energy to anything else they will.
"Feeding into that, they are obviously amateurs and the journalists are professionals, so there is an imbalance there immediately. We see right across society misquoting, taking words out of context, spinning in a different way is commonplace in sport. Things get passed along in different ways like 'Chinese Whispers'; one trying to sound more dramatic than the other.
He also gave an example where a player's quotes were taken out of context.
"There was a really good example in Cork last week. Patrick Horgan spoke in public, Patrick is a very interesting, independent thinker. His words were totally taken out of context and spun back as if he were telling Pat Ryan, who's the Cork senior hurling manager, that he would stay on the panel next year.
"It was said that Patrick was putting unnecessary pressure on Pat Ryan to pick him, whereas in fact that was totally incorrect and Patrick didn't say that.
"He was giving a really interesting interview about how he felt at this stage of being an athlete in his career and that he would be available if Pat wanted to pick him in the future. You could see then why a player would say 'why would I be bothered?'.
"You do have the toxicity of social media playing into the whole thing, the condensed, microwave season doesn't help in that you have a shorter turnaround, shorter times between games.
"I would say also that a number of successful teams over the last few years have deployed a policy of, have had a secrecy around them that would make North Korea blush, to be honest. Because they have been successful that sets the template also."
Cusack ultimately feels the GAA and its followers are losing out on not having its stars more illuiminated, though he does add that this may be somewhat uncomfortable for the governing body.
"You have top journalists in the country, many of them brilliant GAA and sports gurus in their own right, wanting to do proper pieces with the players. The kind of soundbite environment that's in place doesn't do them, the players, or the game, justice.
"Fundamentally it's the game that's losing out and the GAA ultimately. Sport is built on personalities and stories. We've outstanding games in hurling and football, not perfect, but games we can be proud of and are made for modern day society in terms of the way they are played.
"I do worry that the GAA isn't comfortable with stars and individual characters. Deep down I feel the GAA are more comfortable with bodies filling jerseys, that that suits them better. It's incumbent on us all to do better in this space and it would say it needs to be led by Croke Park. They have the resources to make a difference."
As to whether players should get paid for representing a championship sponsor at an event, the three-time Liam MacCarthy winners was in no doubt, when saying: "I see no problem with that. I couldn't see why anybody would have a problem with it
"Would you have any issue going to an event where a player is getting paid"?, he asked presenter Des Cahill.
"You're obviously getting paid for it. I don't think that's a problem. When you look back over the last while, players and managers would argue that at the start of the league, at the start of the championship, at the start of the All-Ireland series, that they put themselves forward.
"But it's an environment that is more suited to soundbites rather than in-depth articles and interviews with some of the top journalists."
In conclusion, Cusack again called for a unified stance in ensuring that GAA affairs remains in the public consciousness and highlighted a stat to back his point up following the end of last year's championship.
"RTÉ has the biggest sports website in the country. When the inter-county season finished last year, for the rest of the year there were only two GAA stories that made the top ten for that period, that was the sad passing of two of our members: Brian Mullins and Dillon Quirke.
"Operating in that manner is not good for the GAA and the association as a whole. We can be better, we must be better, and our games, our players, our media, sponsors, and our members, deserve it."
