Mayo goalkeeper Rob Hennelly has had a cut at Colm O'Rourke over his criticism of the GPA.

In a recent article, the Meath great launched a scathing attack on the player association's modus operandi and accused them of ignoring the matters that would really make a difference for players.

Hennelly took exception to the line: "young men are not as mentally tough in dealing with normal life issues as previous generations".

Speaking to The Irish Independent, the Mayo goalkeeper responded: "He's comparing generations, saying his generation just got on with it and dealt with it and maybe inferring that our generation is soft and that they had it harder than us.

"If you work in a corporate environment now, it's not easy, they don't care if you play football for Mayo, they need you having an output.

"I don't think it's fair for someone from his generation to comment on our generation that we should basically get a kick up the hole if we are depressed or something like that.

"An article on a Sunday that was a load of tripe. . . and people are agreeing with it which is worse, because it's so far away from what we should be talking about.

"It really does frustrate me as a player and as somebody who has had personal problems in the past.

"I'm very lucky that in my home environment I have a person of the same generation as Colm O'Rourke in my dad that if I went to him and said 'I've a problem' his answer wouldn't be 'you need a shoe up the hole and get on with it'. He'd understand."

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