By Rory Gallagher

TADGH Kennelly's revelation that he deliberately went in on Nicholas Murphy at the start of the All-Ireland final has caused a bit of an outcry, but let's keep some perspective on things.

It's not the cleverest thing he came out with, but it's not as if he went out to deliberately 'do' him in the way Roy Keane went in on Alf-Inge Haaland.

What Kennelly actually said was that he wanted to set the tone, to make a big hit. I don't think for one minute he set out to drive his elbow into Nicholas Murphy. Yes, it was a sending off offence, but Kennelly didn't set out to do that. He didn't know what way the ball was going to break, he just wanted to set the tone. It has to be taken in the context in which it happened.

Let's face it; He hasn't been shy of the public. His courting of the media did him no harm in getting him an All-Star. He now wants to sell a book to help supplement his loss of income from coming home, so he knows what he's at. He has weighed everything up, and decided it was worthwhile to do this.

What's the worst that can happen? Worst case scenario, he'll get a month or two month suspension from the GAA, a rap around the knuckles. So what? He's still going to sell more books in the lead-up to Christmas.

There's the option of going back to Australia, which he may yet decide is the best course of action. But if he does stay about, I think that Cork in particular will take a very different approach to him when they meet.

I think he has hurt the Kerry team by his actions. Colm Cooper, Darragh O Se or Tomas O Se are just as entitled to write a book. I don't think it's fair on his team-mates, because he's made their job harder by giving Cork that bit of extra ammunition next year.

But there were no complaints from Cork at the time, they just got on with it. Because they did the same against Tyrone.

It goes back to the whole argument about players and managers writing books. Personally, I don't think it should happen.

Jack O'Connor has come out since and said that this isn't the Kerry way. And before him, Mickey Harte said that he doesn't send his Tyrone team out to goad the opposition. But you can totally discount what they both say.

The fact is that they don't substitute players for doing it, they don't drop or discipline players. In all of my experience of dressing rooms, managers tend to tell players to do whatever it takes. If they see that by either physically or verbally having a go at someone will get to them, managers are willing to let that go because as well as the overall game, there's another game going on between each player and his opponent.

It's no coincidence that the extracts came out after the All-Stars were announced, and I think that if they had been published before last Friday night they could have affected his chances, but when all is said and done he has been the golden boy of the media this season, and I don't think it will do him all that much harm.

These are leaked intentionally to sensationalise the book and to get sales. It's the same with Donal Og Cusack and Mickey Harte.

O'Connor's book caused some ill-feeling in Kerry, and the only thing that made it go away by winning the All-Ireland. Harte could find himself in a similar situation.

I know that if I was in a dressing room, and had made a commitment to the manager the way the Tyrone players have, then I wouldn't be happy about the manager writing a book. Likewise, if I was Sean Cavanagh I wouldn't want the manager expressing his opinion on why I didn't play against Cork. But I don't know what goes on in the Tyrone dressing room, and what the dynamic is between Harte and his players.

Inter-Provincials

The Inter-Provincial semi-finals are on this weekend, but you'd be hard pushed to know. It's a great honour for anyone to play for Ulster, but let's get in the real world and realise that it's not the competition it used to be.

The managers, Brian McEniff and Joe Kernan, have always been keen to tell us how much the players love it. Maybe they do, but I have my doubts.

It seems to be at the minute that if you have no other commitments, then come along and play. I don't know if it has a time or a place in the calendar at present.

I'd love to see it restored to the glory days of the past when up to 20,000 people were at Railway Cup games, because everyone wants to see the best players in action against each other.

I think there was a missed opportunity this year in the absence of the International Rules to properly market the Railway Cup. Everyone would love to see the 60 best Gaelic footballers in action over a weekend, with the final say one year in Belfast, one in Dublin, Galway, Cork... rotated like that. Maybe even play the semi-finals and final all on the one day, something as drastic as that.

Even if you wanted to, it would be difficult for any Ulster GAA follower to see their team in action this year. The semi-final is in Crossmaglen on Saturday at 2.30 in the afternoon. The final, if they get through, is in London. So what opportunity is there to see an Ulster team?

The only ones who are talking the competition up are the respective managers and the sponsor, Martin Donnelly. He's a GAA man and he's doing his best, but the reality is that in my opinion is that he has been flogging a dead horse. I don't think it has improved any since then, and the fact is that 50 years ago it was a better competition than it is now.