Officialdom

Cooney has jumped to the defence of GAA match officials this week after some controversial decisions made at the weekend, most notably on Sunday when the comeback king of the most beautiful county in the whole entire universe was whistled for a square-ball.

http://hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=149250

Although I'm not blaming the referee for Meath's defeat (it didn't help though) and I believe in accepting the ref's decision, be it right or wrong. But with the goings on of a certain Leinster final last year, controversial decisions on Sunday (we certainly attract it don't we!) and no doubt other instances in games involving other teams, is the standard of officiating as high as it could be in your opinion? Are the reffing standards as high as cooney claims, or were they better in previous years? Tell us about recent decisions that have affected your county/ club that you are unhappy with and should the GAA seriously consider introducing some sort of video technology to review decisions? (after all even the best refs and umpires will make mistakes)

Discuss....

I refer you to every single post I ever made on 606.

Players put so much in that they deserve better officiating. the lives of these young men shouldn't be affected so drastically by the vagaries of officialdom.

Syl Doyle collaborated with his brother and son at the weekend to come up with the wrong decision but they did it in the right way.....if that makes sense. Martin Sludden made the wrong decision in the Leinster final last year and he made it in the wrong way.

I think it was the debut on here, or the last one over on 606. Doyle came on as sub ref. His style is different to others. He changed the game by the way he went about his business. He was no better or worse than the man he came on for. just different.

Players and manages prepare for games based on who is refereeing. That cannot be a good thing.

I have a list as long as your arm about dubious decisions that have gone against us. In Kerry they have two names for a ref.

a) A referee.
2) A grand Kerry referee.

I personally thought that was a perfectly good goal and what the ref was doing over ruling his umpire is beyond me. After seeing the replay it was a goal, they were talking about a video ref on that committee room thing last night and I can see it coming in, it would take a lot of pressure off umpire's and ref's.

dublfcynwa wrote:I personally thought that was a perfectly good goal and what the ref was doing over ruling his umpire is beyond me. After seeing the replay it was a goal, they were talking about a video ref on that committee room thing last night and I can see it coming in, it would take a lot of pressure off umpire's and ref's.

"Square ball or you both walk home".

It looked to me like he had a consultation rather than anything else. Neither umpire was ideally placed, or looking for a square ball.

The video ref would be of great assistance but where and how do you implement it? Every game, every ground? just championship or what?

I would say just have it for every champ game because nobody really care's that much about the league, as you said the player's put so much in and it's going to cause riot or something some day. The ref in the Meath v Louth game last year could have been hurt after the game and all that could have been avoided with a video ref.

I think the rule itself is a big part of the problem.....apparently the GAA rule defines "in the square" as " in the small paralellogram". Where does that leave a fella standing on the line?? Some of him is in, some of him is out. What about his hurley? If his hurley is in, is he in?? Is the line in or out?? Does the whole of the ball have to be over the whole of the line to be in??
Personally, I don't think the rule is needed in any case...........

What exactly is the point in the square ball rule anyway, what was it introduced for in the first place?

I know what you're saying RB, match officials should not cast such a large shadow over fixtures. The events surrounding last years Leinster final made our "victory" seem hollow, that's one example of a piece of officiating that should be avoided as part of the standard the refs should be. I think the video ref should be introduced for every championship game at least, although they'll prob use the league as a guinea-pig for it like they do with everything else.

Another problem is the interpretation of certain rules like the tackle, the match officials and the GAA should get together and define a national "interpretation" of those rules to avoid confusion and limit that kind of effect the officals have on the game.

I haven't seen the incidents in the Meath game yet, I'll be watching it on the sunday game at some point tonight though.

Square ball does sound funny. Mind you Tescos are doing Squonuts now. That's a square doughnut...

Never liked the rule when I played or now. Impossible to tell if a player is inside before the ball or not at times. It is penalised sometimes and not other times. It is a bit like some counties being penalised by the CCCC and others getting off with it.

Rebel you will really have to talk to a professional about your obsession with Kerry. Almost all your posts have a reference to the Kingdom. Is it an inferiority complex or is it that you don't find Cork that interesting to talk about? I would'nt blame you for the latter as I never give them a second thought. I would be more interested in counties like Tyrone and what's happening up there.

The question was about recent decisions that have affected my county.

The dubious and downright wrong decisions that have adversely affected us in championship football have all been against Kerry.

sure we had a man wrongly sent off in the 09 semi final, but we also had a man not sent off who probably should have been. As no team other than Kerry beat us in football, it is natural that we look at those games where things might have been different. Like the referee making the correct calls. Crucial correct calls.

You are quite right to be more concerned about the likes of Tyrone. You are looking up at us now.

Rebel
Kerry vs Cork at Croke Park. Only one result is possible.

We'll see if you are good enough to make it that far.

You have already conceded your attentions lie with the lesser counties rather than the National League, All-Ireland and world champions.

I suppose one of the biggest c**k-ups by a referee in history is not spotting Seamus Darby's push on Tommy Doyle in the 82 final.

That's it lads let it all out. You mention an incident back in the 80's redtop, I don't remember GAA back then, was the officiating better back in those times than now, or was there more or less the same issues?

On a side note I believe Cork would just edge it between Munster's big two at Corker atm. This Munster final is going to be very interesting.

akaredtop wrote:I suppose one of the biggest c**k-ups by a referee in history is not spotting Seamus Darby's push on Tommy Doyle in the 82 final.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1zX-DDznyk

You have to invent things to complain about

Officiating was equally as bad back in the 80's as I recall it. I can't remember the early 80's but certainly by the mid- late 80's officials were as bad as they are now. the problem is now that the job is so much harder. more TV cameras to see where the ref went wrong. The players are much faster now and the officials are only a small bit faster. Also, it was mano-a-mano back then. The geography of the field was much easier. you knew roughly where all 30 players should be at any one time.

As for the Munster final, it is hard to work out what is best for both teams. Kerry might want the extra game in the qualifiers to get their stuff together, Cork may want it to settle on the right starting 15. Kerry may not want it because of them having a few older legs. Cork may not want it because winning is a good habit and it is always nice to beat them.

Right now, it doesn't really matter 'that' much but com throw in it will be the most important game in the world. the only killer would be a hammering.

Yeah it is hard to compare the officiating nowadays with previous decades but I would presume it was worse judging on what you would see from the archives. Much more of a spotlight on it nowadays and the game has changed completely with the movement and fitness of players.

As regards the munster final I would not be too bothered if Kerry lost as we definitely have to sort out our full-back position. As regards a hammering I think is more of a danger for Kerry than for Cork.

its funny how officals can see a player hitting another but cant see genuine score or a player throwing a ball over the line.

neither teams cares if they really lose just and extra game on the way to croke park.

Just saw it on youtube. Goal definitely should have stood.

While we are on the subject of the Munster final, some worrying news for Kerry and GAA as a whole-

http://hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=149326

1000 a week leavin the country. a quarter of those are members of the GAA

RebelBhoy wrote:1000 a week leavin the country. a quarter of those are members of the GAA

I'd best head over and start pro-creatin' with some locals. "Oi! Cadogan, Brogan... you got a minute...?"

Cads would last more than a minute.

It is a big problem in Kerry alright. It has always been black spot for jobs. My brother in law is in Australia for the past three years and he remarked lately that the number of GAA over there is unreal and the clubs are over-subscribed. It is a sad situation.

RebelBhoy wrote:Cads would last more than a minute.

That's assuming he didn't get sent away for losing his temper first

Here, I saw this article this morning. Can I just say I think it's rubbish...or do I have an inaccurate romanticised view from across the Irish Sea?

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2011/0610/1224298679046.html?via=mr

i just checked in the mirror and 100% of my findings suggest this to be correct.

Irish men are a warrior race, and an honest people who don't feel the need for beautifying themselves up for the camera. What you see is what you get, there's nothing wrong with pictures they've taken in the pub.

I must say though, from what I've seen, I'm not at all surprised at how well Ireland's women are doing!

I've only got to look at Tommy Bowe, David Wallace, Bernard Brogan, Conal Keany, Eoin Cadogan...the place is crawling with talent! Stoopid website...

[quote="RebelBhoy"]Officiating was equally as bad back in the 80's as I recall it. I can't remember the early 80's but certainly by the mid- late 80's officials were as bad as they are now. the problem is now that the job is so much harder. more TV cameras to see where the ref went wrong. The players are much faster now and the officials are only a small bit faster. Also, it was mano-a-mano back then. The geography of the field was much easier. you knew roughly where all 30 players should be at any one time.

As for the Munster final, it is hard to work out what is best for both teams. Kerry might want the extra game in the qualifiers to get their stuff together, Cork may want it to settle on the right starting 15. Kerry may not want it because of them having a few older legs. Cork may not want it because winning is a good habit and it is always nice to beat them.

Right now, it doesn't really matter 'that' much but com throw in it will be the most important game in the world. the only killer would be a hammering.[/quote

Is that Munster arrogance. Are you suggesting that either Cork or Kerry would throw the final to get a run in the qualfiers.

No, once the game starts, they will both be trying to win, but it has certainly benefitted both sides taking the scenic route over the last couple of years.

Particularly with Kerry, who have more expertise at winning all Irelands, I believe they approach matches with Cork with the idea whether or not their team needs games, or needs to be wrapped in cotton wool. This year, the answer is not particularly clear.

Morning All

Just watching TSG from last week on the eye player. Mone's challenge in the Tyrone/Monaghan match was like rugby! Don't think Clerkin deserved his though. Looked accidental and unavoidable to me.

And Laois' goalie should've been MOTM!