Donegal defender Neil McGee believes there will be a glut of serious injuries post-lockdown.
The three-time All Star fears players will struggle to handle the demands of club and inter-county football after the lay-off and claims injuries “will pile up”.
Full-back McGee, an All-Ireland winner in 2012, also says inter-county action should restart before the club scene and hopes to play Championship football at some stage in 2020.
For that to happen, however, he is adamant players need to be allowed to return to meaningful training in the near future.
“It’s a physical game and the injuries will pile up if there is not enough time to contact train,” McGee said.
“At the minute we are just running on our own but you need to be able to react to a man.
“You use different muscles in match situations and players haven’t been using them for a while.
“I am no expert, but I don’t think your body would be up to taking those sort of big hits if we are not back in hard-hitting training soon. We will need time to prepare for it.”
McGee, 34, has won five Ulster SFC titles as well as an All-Ireland in 2012. He has also been successful at club level, helping Gaoth Dobhair to a first Ulster club SFC title in 2018.
Although the GAA have suggested club games will return first, McGee sees it differently.
“The numbers of people involved in the club game, in terms of every club in Ireland, I just don’t see how you could organise that and do contact tracing.
“It is probably safer to start at county level and easier to police it, purely because you have far fewer playing numbers.
“You could play club football after the championship if all goes well. I know the club has been mentioned as starting first, and it may not be popular to say it, but I think it would be a better option to start with the county first.”
