Respect on the playing field cuts both ways

IT is true that we were less than impressed as players after finding out that referee David Coldrick had been ‘mic’d up’ for the 2015 All-Ireland final, but it could be the future for the GAA.

I was stunned, like most people, to hear that Kieran McGeeney was issued this week with a 12-week ban as a result of something he said to Joe McQuillan, when the latter was running the line in a League match at the end of March.

The severity of that punishment has more to do with the GAA seeking to nurture a culture of respect for match officials than what McGeeney (right) actually said, but instead of using the stick, the GAA should consider providing a carrot.

That brings me back to the 2015 final, when the GAA went half way down the road rugby has gone by putting a microphone on their referee for the biggest game of the year.

The problem we had was that it was exploitative of the players as we had no idea that what we were saying was being picked up, which was wrong.

But there are benefits to this, if teased out. If players know refs are ‘mic’d up’ for the major games, you would find that there would be far less backchat from players and team officials.

On the other side, you will also find that referees will be a lot more articulate when explaining – and there was evidence of that in Coldrick’s documentary – their decisions.

This is the big bugbear of players and managers, because far too often referees refuse to give an explanation when being queried on a call.

That is simply not right, not fair and not respectful.

That is the main source of friction between players, managers and match officials.

Rather than dishing out 12-week bans, the GAA need to be proactive in ensuring, just like rugby has, that respect becomes a two-way street.