Roscommon set to target Dublin ladies boss Bohan
DUBLIN’S back-to-back All-Ireland-winning manager Mick Bohan could be a target for the Roscommon county board in the coming days as they seek to replace Kevin McStay.
Bohan (below) has led the Dublin ladies to their last two All-Ireland titles and has considerable experience with Dublin during the first two years of Jim Gavin’s tenure as a skills coach before coaching Clare, alongside manager Colm Collins, to the 2016 All-Ireland quarter-final.
The temptation to deliver three-in-a-row with Dublin ladies will be huge for Bohan but so too could be the lure of returning to the men’s game and a Division 1 side in 2019.
Yesterday, however, Bohan’s sole focus was on the latest success for his Dublin team, and he said the ladies’ game needed a free-flowing spectacle in the All-Ireland final after the stop-start All-Ireland camogie final the previous week. A record 50,141 were there to see Dublin finally defeat Cork in the All-Ireland decider at the fourth attempt, a tally that could well make it the biggest-attended female sporting event in the world this year. Bohan also praised the influence of match referee Garryowen McMahon. “You look at it yesterday, he had to let more go because both teams went at it. We also feel because of the camogie last Sunday, because the game was riddled with frees, there was a little bit of pressure on him to let the game go.
“My feeling is it was a better spectacle as a result,” said Bohan. “Realistically if the rules of the game were adhered to... that’s not the way it was refereed yesterday.”
“And I’m not saying anything against him, if I was in that situation yesterday I think I would probably have donethesameashedid.He had to let it go because of the ferocity of the battle.
“Our feeling is there should be a bit more physicality involved, it’s a better spectacle. They’re able for it, they’re conditioned for it, they want it.
“At times it’s frustrating, particularly in the tackle when it’s just pulled even though it’s a good tackle.
“But because you are not allowed make contact with the ball when it’s in somebody’s hands, which is the rule, it just doesn’t make sense.”
Speaking during the team’s visit to Temple Street Children’s Hospital yesterday morning, Bohan called for a change of rules to avoid possible injuries when they pick the ball directly off the ground.
“Going into that cauldron the atmosphere is magnificent when you hear that amount of noise in there, but I think anyone who came yesterday got their value because there was fantastic entertainment,” he said
“I remember years ago I was involved with the lads and people said to me the pick-up should be taken out of the men’s game.
“I would say to you the only dangerous thing in the women’s game is the pick-up because they are able to run through to the ball without stopping and pick it up.
“We have seen over my last 18 or 19 months involved a number of head collisions because of that. No other part of the game is dangerous.”