A panel of semi-pro refs would help get calls right
IHAVE to start in Thurles and the big talking point from the Tipperary and Clare in the Munster SHC. Before we get to referee James Owens and the controversial sin-binning of Aidan McCarthy for his tackle on Jake Morris, I have to say that the first half of the tie was brilliant end-to-end stuff. If you keep the ball in play, keep up a high tempo as Clare did, it can be such hard work to defend.
The Clare forwards have low centres of gravity, they are mobile and fast. They had a Tipperary defence packed with strong, physical ball players under all sorts of pressure – leaving them close to breaking point at times. Then Michael Breen got a great goal to keep Tipperary in touch until the break.
Clare had the wind in the second half and changed their tactics. They fell into the trap of shooting from distance. I always think, as a coach or analyst, that it’s better in that situation to keep the ball in play, keep whizzing it in on the diagonal rather than trying low percentage shots, as they did against Waterford. They reverted back to a lot of aimless shooting.
It looked to me then like Tipp were getting back on top when the penalty and sin bin for McCarthy happened. I’m not sure the incident had as big an impact as some are suggesting. It’s impossible to quantify. I know Tipperary outscored Clare 2-4 to 0-2 in that period but they were already weathering the storm. They had Pádraic Maher sweeping and the game was beginning to develop on their terms.
McCarthy’s challenge was clearly a foul, clearly a yellow card. I was watching the play in co-commentary for RTÉ, so I couldn’t look across the field to check how many covering defenders were in place.
I was in favour of the sin bin and penalty being introduced to deal with cynical play – Eoin Murphy’s sin bin in Kilkenny’s win over Wexford being the perfect example – but maybe we didn’t think of the interpretation enough. Maybe it should have been trialled in the National League first, to tighten things up.
Murphy took out the Wexford attacker who was through on goal but Brian Lohan and the whole of Clare are up in arms over the idea that there was a goalscoring opportunity when Morris was tackled closer to the Ennis Road than to the goal. Imposing that level of interpretation on referees in the heat of battle is tough. Of the four instances so far – Shane Fives and Peter Casey the others – only one looked a clear-cut penalty and sin bin.
I think it has helped to reduce cynical play. Murphy made the decision to go for man and ball – and it did necessitate a number of changes, including putting in a replacement goalkeeper in extra time. Did Kilkenny bring on an extra sub over the course of the whole game with everything that was going on?
THE referees had a meeting on Thursday night. It’s that clear, in-on-goal rugby tackle that we want to see punished so maybe there has to be a tweak in the wording. At the moment it doesn’t say ‘clear’ goalscoring opportunity, just goalscoring opportunity.
Owens is one of the top referees. Compare the Tipp-Clare game to Kilkenny-Wexford where Fergal Horgan was on the liberal side. There were plenty of fouls but he let it flow and it made for a great game. But rules don’t allow for that liberal interpretation.
Down the tiers, at Christy Ring and Joe McDonagh level, I’ve noticed that you don’t get the same flow.
At club level, it’s getting worse on the refereeing front in terms of trying to recruit the numbers needed. So you take my position in Offaly where we are trying to radically expand our games programme, double it at underage. But you need loads of referees.
We have Brian Gavin as chair of our referees and Damien Brazil as the coordinator for appointments. They are putting huge time into restructuring, training, and grading referees. We are lucky to have two lads with such knowledge who are giving their time on a voluntary basis.
Being a referee is a hard-sell with the level of abuse they often receive. We have to make the whole area of officiating far more central to our games. At times, they are almost a last thought.
I think they should be part of our management committee at board level – because we don’t have a future without officials to take the games.
I’ve had plenty of arguments with referees down the years – I’d never claim to be a saint – but I think if we had a panel of semi-professional referees at elite level, it would help to get the big calls right.
It doesn’t need to be a big panel, just six or seven names. Make sure they are looked after and they are open in coming out and explaining those big decisions. I think that would be healthy.
A good year and you’re on that panel; a bad year and you’re out. Run it centrally through Croke Park. Give a pathway to people, even ex-players, to take up the whistle, especially when very few get involved. They have that natural understanding of the game. It needs to be looked at urgently.
In Offaly where we have ambitious plans for our games programme. It’s great to have those plans. But you need referees.
Camogie and ladies football are dependent as well.
It might be quite a small panel at the very top where they are guaranteed six or seven games – no different to how The Sunday Game operates for commentary and analysis – but we must develop something attractive or worthwhile.
And that helps in some way in ensuring the focus is on the players rather than the big decisions.