IN ALL FAIRNESS - Plenty to chew on at GAA Congress

IN ALL FAIRNESS

 

GAA Congress takes place at Croke Park next weekend and there will be a lot of interest in some of the decisions made and impact they will have on all aspects of the association.

The one that has enjoyed much of the debate in the lead up is the introduction of the sin-bin into hurling. There hasn't been much support from it among inter-county players, managers and high profile pundits and it's unlikely to be passed.

The likelihood is the motion will be withdrawn before it goes to a vote to avoid a humiliating defeat. Ideally, a sin-bin for hurling would be trailed in the league first so introducing such a big disciplinary measure into the summers championship is a big risk to take.  

As I wrote in this column two weeks ago, I'm not against the sin-bin in hurling if it can eliminate cynical play close to goal. Maybe it's not severe a punishment, maybe it is, maybe such a foul should be worth a two point free in the eyes of the referee.

Certainly it is an area that needs to be looked at thoroughly as it will come up again and when a big championship game is decided by a defender dragging a forward down and taking just a yellow card and conceding just a point instead of a goal, there'll be a clamour for some kind of new measure, mark my words.

One of the reasons some don't want to see it brought in for hurling is it will add another rule for a referee to have to deal with and if Limerick have their way, they'll have another by using Hawk-eye to determine if an official made a wrong call with regards to the validity of a score, lineball, wide or 65.

This comes off the back of the closing stages of last years All Ireland semi-final where Limerick were denied a 65 which may have seen them force extra time against Kilkenny. You can see where they are coming from but considering the backlash there is for VAR in soccer, it is hard to see the GAA having the stomach for games being stopped for periods of time to check who last touched the ball for a sideline cut or a 65.

While it was trialled over a decade ago and failed to be passed, the two point score for a sideline cut is being proposed again. There aren't many people that don't agree with such a reward for a wonderful skill and it certainly would change a players approach late in games not to concede a free such is the proficiency of sideline scorers at the moment and in terms of Tipperary where we have both Ronan Maher and Jason Forde as excellent proponents of the skill, it's one we should benefit from.

The use of a temporary substitute in both hurling and football where a player suffers a head injury is long overdue and follows the best practise in rugby where care for the player is vital when it comes to suspected concussion and takes the pressure off managers who don't want to use a full sub and forced to leave a player on the field.

It's welcome to see a club make an attempt at addressing is issue of abuse of referees with the Naomh Eanna club in Wexford proposing that two designated players on a team can talk to the referee in a match as well as one team official on the sideline. It mirrors that of rugby where only the captain can talk to the referee.

Whether it gets enough support to pass at the weekend is doubtful but certainly it is worthy of consideration as the level of backchat referees get from players and officials is unsustainable and at a time when refereeing numbers are falling across the country, including here in Tipperary, its something worth trailing at least before bringing in full time.

Always at Congress, you'll see some fanciful ideas making their way to the floor which is democratic I guess but the strangest one this year comes from Montreal GAA in Canada which wants a two second limit put on players carrying the ball in the hand in hurling.
Whether it is an attempt to reduce the number of handpasses in hurling, I'm not sure how it will benefit the game, particularly the referee if players, management and supporters are constantly yelling that a player is over the two second limit. There are many ways to reduce the overuse of the handpass but this isn't one of them.

Finally there should be a resolution to the question of the eligibility for the under 21 grade with Tipperary hoping to retain the rule where a player who turns sixteen prior to January 1st of that championship year being eligible to play while hopefully a Burgess motion will tie up a loose end whereby a walkover in a group format doesn't lead to a playoff, with all scores involving the team that conceded the walkover being disregarded when it comes to score difference.