Referee quits panel after All-Ireland snub
regular. I don’t even open some of them, to be honest. They go straight in the bin.’ Donoghue, who believes Gearóid McInerney, John Hanbury and Joe Canning will all ovecome knocks in time to face Limerick in the All-Ireland final on Sunday week, says he expects to get criticised in his role, but some of it is over the top. ‘Everything is scrutinised, the unfortunate side of it is what’s acceptable or what people think is acceptable. I think some of it goes OTT.’ Speaking on Off the Ball AM yesterday, former Kerry boss Fitzmaurice also opened up on the issue. ‘It goes with the territory,’ he said. ‘Jack O’Connor got it, Pat O’Shea got it, Páidí [Ó Sé] got it. Mick O’Dwyer won eight All-Irelands and he got it. But something that changed this summer was players, and one player in particular, got a letter. ‘The player was told to jump off a cliff and take three or four other players with him. I felt that was going way too far.’ Meanwhile, referee James McGrath sensationally resigned from the GAA’s national referees panel last night, after being snubbed to take charge of this year’s All-Ireland hurling final. The experienced Westmeath official, who had referreed the 2012 and 2013 All-Ireland SHC final replays, claimed in a hard-hitting statement that he ‘felt betrayed by the Association’ as he was overlooked in favour of Wexford’s James Owens. ‘I’m not your second choice nor your back-up plan. Either choose me or lose me if I’m not your first choice,’ McGrath wrote in a Facebook post.