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Irish Examiner
a day ago
- General
- Irish Examiner
Refs must retain right to adjudge kick-out mark infringements, insists Deegan
Football Review Committee member Maurice Deegan says referees have to retain the authority to interpret the 50-metre kick-out mark penalty as they see fit. Three-time All-Ireland final referee Deegan revealed he has received several messages following this past weekend's All-Ireland SFC Round 2 games where there were several instances of the rule being implemented. In the Cork-Kerry game in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday, referee Derek O'Mahoney exercised the 50m advancement on several occasions much to the ire of both managers John Cleary and Jack O'Connor. In the second half, Cork were adjudged to have obstructed Kerry a few times and as per rule the visitors took the option of bringing the resultant free advanced 50m outside the arc for a two-point free. Deegan is adamant it should be left up to referees to determine what constitutes an obstruction within four metres of a kick-out mark. 'That part of the rule has been there for some time now but it's probably being more enforced now. 'As for it being policed a bit too harshly, I don't think so. I would say the lads are policing it correctly. You're probably seeing more implementing it to the letter of the law. 'Every referee is different in how they judge certain facets of the game. It's like the advantage rule, which now has no time limit in football. The extent of the advantage given is open to the interpretation of the referee. 'There had been a time limit of kick-outs earlier this year but there is none now and that is also up to the referee and what he thinks is the acceptable amount of time for the 'keeper to take the kick. You don't want to take that out of the referee's hands either. 'The rules are being scrutinised like never before and I can understand where they are coming from. Nobody should want to take the power out of the referee's hands. It would be the wrong to do that. You have to trust the referee. It's the same in every walk of life, everyone is different.' Deegan accepts the point that the act of a player in unsuccessfully challenging to claim a kick-out shouldn't be considered as a tackle within the four metres. 'No, that isn't a challenge in that sense. If two players are coming down to the ground, you would imagine that is fine and the player who wins the mark either takes it or plays on.'
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- Business
- The Irish Sun
More than €40million was splashed on GAA county teams in 2024 – current spending is unsustainable in amateur association
THE GAA confronted the elephant in the room when it came to paying managers — but what happens next is anyone's guess. In fairness to Jarlath Burns, he vowed to tackle the runaway train of inter-county team spending when he Advertisement The state of football was also high on the agenda and that has largely been addressed by Jim Gavin's Football Review Committee. But the feedback from the Amateur Status Survey — launched by Croke Park chiefs yesterday — will make for interesting reading, especially when it comes to managers and money. A review into where the GAA stands in its amateur ethos is being led by Professor David Hassan and the former Derry footballer is a shrewd appointment. Association members will be asked if they feel a unit should be established to enforce amateurism in the GAA. Advertisement Read More on GAA But the standout is if an 'allowance' should be granted to inter-county managers or whether a rigid expenses system be introduced and enforced. Regarding managers, it is time for transparency. The team spending issue must be addressed too. More than €40million was splashed out by county boards last year to keep their flagship panels on the road. Advertisement Most read in Sport That sort of cash is not sustainable in an amateur environment that is becoming almost professional. The GPA will be eagerly awaiting the feedback in relation to reducing the weekly hours asked of inter-county players too. Tipperary GAA star 'had to do live apology on RTE' the day after cursing during All-Ireland interview - The commitment levels are insane. And they have been increasing all the time. Advertisement Hassan's committee will report back to top brass in the autumn, with potential motions going before annual Congress next year. The survey — which can be completed by members on the GAA website — will play a big role in the direction of the association. Preserving amateurism while coming clean when it comes to remuneration for bosses is a tricky balancing act. But will players eventually demand the same? Advertisement That's the real question. 1 GAA President Jarlath Burns has vowed to address spending on managers Credit: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
The Irish Sun
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘That has to be tidied up' – Jack O'Connor slams ‘ridiculous' new gaelic football rule after Kerry win over Cork
JACK O'CONNOR labelled one of Gaelic football's new rules 'ridiculous' after Kerry saw off Cork. The But both sides were impacted as there were several instances of referee Derek O'Mahoney imposing the penalty on the rule which governs the kickout mark at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. And O'Connor fumed: 'That's going to have to be tidied up. 'I felt all along that was going to cause problems and it is. You can't just disappear. 'Jesus Christ, like, you're battling for a ball. It isn't as if you're cool, calm and collected. You're battling in the middle of a gang of men for the ball and then you're supposed to have a clear head to realise which way the free is going and disappear out of the way.' Read More on GAA Following changes introduced for the 2025 season by the Football Review Committee, the referee can move the ball 50 metres if a player is challenged within four metres of where a mark from a kickout is claimed. While noting he is 'not blaming referees', O'Connor insisted: 'Half the time he blows the whistle and neither team knows who the free is for. How are you supposed to get out of the way if you think the free is your own. 'This is something that has to be addressed because it's gone to ridiculous proportions.' For Cork, the application of the rule proved costly during a second half that saw Kerry punish their indiscretions with two-point frees. Most read in GAA Football Echoing his Kingdom counterpart, Rebels manager John Cleary said: 'You won't make excuses but I thought our lads made a genuine attempt to go for the ball. 'There were some awfully strange decisions there on that. What's a fella supposed to do? Tipperary GAA star 'had to do live apology on RTE' the day after cursing during All-Ireland interview - 'It was on both sides but I thought we were hit particularly hard on it after half-time. 'Not an excuse, it's just a general comment that the rule has to be looked at.' 1 Referee Derek O'Mahony shows a yellow card to Kerry manager Jack O'Connor Credit: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Irish Examiner
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Colin Sheridan: Gaelic football is off life support but its rehabilitation should continue
Gaelic Football is so hot right now. If it were an actor, it would've gone to Cannes this week and received an 18 minute standing ovation, so attractive it has become. Which is quite something, because the sport was on life support two years ago - riddled with a plague of lateral passing and stacked defences. It reached rock bottom when some lad from Westmeath finished his thesis while playing midfield during a Tailteann Cup match. Solo, solo, hop, solo. Run sideways and backways. Order some takeout while you wait for your keeper to come up to take a free. It was bad, very bad, but the good news is the sport went to a life coach and started listening to the High Performance Podcast. Little bit of Botox by way of the Football Review Committee. A tummy tuck and a Hyrox subscription and before you know it, the Ulster Football Championship makes Munster hurling look like a Fellini movie where everything looks beautiful, but nothing really happens. As makeovers go, this is Bradley Cooper levels of transformation. This is exclusive subscriber content. Already a subscriber? Sign in Subscribe to access all of the Irish Examiner. Annual €120€60 Best value Monthly €10€4 / month Unlimited access. Subscriber content. Daily ePaper. Additional benefits.
The 42
23-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
'We have a small, loyal group of supporters that we care about a lot'
AS WELL MICHEÁL Aodh Martin might recall this Saturday's opponents Meath (Navan, 3pm), as Cork and their goalkeeper get ready for the opening round of their All-Ireland group stages. A goalkeeper in the more traditional mould, Martin was never one to go for a wander around the field until the Football Review Committee measures came into effect for the first few rounds of the league. With a potential 12 attackers facing 11 defenders, it meant having a roving goalkeeper was not only preferable, but essential to breaking down the opposition. Therefore, Martin was forced to go looking for the ball in open play, something he hadn't stressed over in the past. As it happens, he got on plenty against Meath. While he didn't split the posts himself, he provided an assist before he had to leave the field injured after 52 minutes. A few weeks later, it was all different again as certain tweaks were made to avoid the numerical advantage. Martin doesn't lament that change as much as others. 'The lads who play outfield for their clubs are obviously more comfortable in taking ball into contact and stuff. And then the lads who wouldn't have, you were still an extra man.' All the same, he wouldn't have been getting bolshy in the way of a Niall Morgan about potential restrictions on goalkeepers. 'That comes down to individuals then a lot of the time,' he says. Advertisement 'I suppose when I grew up, when I actually became a goalkeeper, it was probably pre-Stephen Cluxton and he probably changed everything really. He literally changed the game. Prior to him, it was shot-stopping, catching the ball and kicking it out long. So that's the way I grew up. 'But that will always come down to personal preferences and goalkeepers should really not have too much of a say in that debate because that rule change is about the game for the spectator, as opposed to a goalkeeper's individual feelings. And then myself, it probably applied to me less. I wasn't a roaming goalkeeper.' The obvious question to ask any goalkeeper of course, is why they became a goalkeeper? 'I always enjoyed saving the ball. I was a hurling goalkeeper. Literally as a child, you're a hurling goalkeeper, a soccer goalkeeper. 'I don't know what put me in there but I was in for everything. It was probably hurling actually. I don't know what it was but it was the old rubber mats in a hall, you used to get to dive around on them with the indoor hurling. 'That was actually what started it. Then someone realises that fella has got half-decent reflexes and you end up in there for everything.' After the first league game, he was observational in his comments and assessment, rather than for or against, saying, 'I actually think [the long kick-out] is nearly slowing the game down at the moment, but look, that's just an opinion. Some people love the contest. I get that too, and don't have a problem with it. I don't mind kicking out long. 'There's no point pretending; it is probably going back in time a small bit.' On reflection and with a greater sample size to assess, he revisits the issue. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO 'I see positives and negatives to it. I probably hadn't thought that night about the knock-on impact of it, which is the fact that a team having a chance to win the ball back does encourage shooting. 'So when you actually take a step back and look at the whole game, I think that's a major part of it. The fact that it's a contest for possession after you kick a wide or a score means teams are more willing to go for those scores, which is a positive.' '…There are positives and negatives and the main thing is most people are positive overall about the rules. You can always nitpick one or two but if you take a step back, are people enjoying the games more? Yeah, I think so. 'Are players enjoying playing more? Yes. 'And David Gough was saying referees are enjoying refereeing more so you have to look at the big picture. There will always be one or two and everyone will have individual opinions on one or two. But that's the main thing.' The example of Armagh goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty in the Ulster semi-final win over Tyrone was a huge one for Martin, albeit Tyrone did not apply a man for man press on the Armagh restarts. 'Everyone kind of stood up and took notice of Armagh. I think they were 17 from 18 so I have no doubt a lot of people will be looking at them, like how did that happen?' he asks. 'Because a lot of the games throughout the league would have been close to 50-50. And then if you were breaking on the right side of 50-50, you were doing OK because you were hopefully hurting the other team on their kick-out. 'Obviously we can't get around the fact that there's less green grass to hit, so inevitably there's going to be more where there's a long ball. But keepers have shown that they can. 'I think as the weather improved, people sometimes underestimate the impact of the weather. League games are played in totally different conditions. 'Those kicks to pockets, they're really not on in some of those weather conditions, whereas I think for the first time in the last couple of weeks now, you've started to see teams going for those riskier kick-out. It's an interesting thing. We all have to look at it and maybe try and do a bit better.' In other years, Martin has been a regular attender of Cork hurling games. The recent hype around the Rebels has been punctured by the 16-point defeat to Limerick but all the same, their fevered support has always been something that contrasts heavily with the smaller group of Cork football afficionados. Jealous, much? Related Reads Meath game a measure of what Dublin have lost, Galway in Salthill will test further Barrett returns for Cork, Kerry make two changes with Paudie Clifford absent from squad Here we go: The eight teams that start the race for Sam Maguire this weekend 'No, I'm not,' laughs Martin. 'Our aim and our hope is to be playing in big Championship games that Cork people want to go to and that we draw those crowds. But I've been involved with the Cork team since 2015 on and off and this is the way I've always known it. It is what it is. 'We have a small, loyal group of supporters that we care about a lot. There's a small group that will come up to Fermanagh and places and we really value them as well. 'So I'm not envious. It would be great, don't get me wrong, and I hope to get the chance to play in games where we do draw that support. But I don't look at it with envy or anything like that.' There's only one place to start; Saturday in Navan. * Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
