Fair Play in GAA

milos

Hi all,

I very seldom post on boards and this is , I think , the first time I have posted on this forum but I feel I had to start a discussion on fair play in the GAA after reading the "Donegal Player Allegedly Bitten" tread.

My sons and i have been at every senior Dublin football game in both league and championship for the last five years.
During this time we have seen some terrific games and have enjoyed some great days out.

But we have regretfully noticed that players from ALL teams seem to accept the situation where your opponent can push, elbow, shove, argue, punch, kick, and generally abuse you off the ball AND YOU CAN DO THE SAME TO THEM once you are not seen and if you are seen the referee will ask you to please stop?

Next time you are at a match look at the players not around the ball. I can nearly guarantee that at least two players will be pushing each other.

It is dreadful to see and over time we will see more unsavoury incidences like the "bite" from the Donegal/Dublin match.

I am a big Dublin fan but if I see someone score a great point or a team putting a great move together I applaud them. But now is the time when we must put something in place to make the game a game and not a war.

Can I please ask that people DO NOT post comments degrading or slagging any team or player in this post and to please only comment on the post...

Sorry about the size...

bruschi

there were a couple of newspaper articles in the past 2 weeks pretty much alluding to the exact same thing as you have here. And you're dead right, the respect that was once clearly there in games is slowly being eradicated. Respect to teams, referees players, fans, is just being diminished year in, year out. Countys and clubs themselves need to start from the ground up, and enforce proper rules with regards to respect. Ulster have a campaign for no fould language (http://ulster.gaa.ie/coaching/no-foul-language/) which hopefully will help in some part there. Some parts of the country are doing what they can, but the overall thing needs to improve.

keane2097

The threat of a black card for aggressive behaviour towards a ref and for sledging should hopefully be a step in the right direction on this front.

68Murph68

One key point related to off-the-ball incidents is the blindness that seems to strike linesmen and especially umpires.

For a referee they have to be following the action/where the ball is, so that for large parts of the match they will be unsighted in relation to other sectors of the pitch, especially when the action is at one end of the pitch.

The fact that players constantly get up to shenanigans in front of umpires when the ref is otherwise engaged show how useless the vast majority of umpires are. Once Hawk-Eye is up and running in Croke Park, the GAA might as well sell the four umpire spots as special extra premium bonus tickets kinda like the equivalent to floor-side seating in basket/ring-side seating in boxing given the umpires won't be doing anything anyway.

Personally I think that any off-the-ball action should be a red card offence. It's one thing to commit an offence when there is a ball in the area but if you are pulling a player's jersey when the ball is 100m down the pitch, there is no excuse for it. Instead it seems that because there is no ball in the area referees treat off-the-ball incidents more leniently and the overwhelming majority of the time incidents which would get red cards if they happened in front of the ref only every get the standard yellow card and the "stop messing lads" speech.

For some reason 99% of the time when there are incidents in a match it is always the ref that gets criticised, hardly ever an umpire or a linesman. On those occasions when it is an umpire being criticised the overwhelming majority of the time it is in relation to controversial scores, never in relation to seeing a cheap bully of a player abusing a player, hitting a player.

Another aspect in relation to fair play in the GAA is there is no incentive whatsoever for a player to take responsibility if they misbehave. If there was a system whereby a player who was charged with an offence would be shown leniency if they came out after an incident and admitted their guilt and said something along the lines of I admit responsibility I think it would improve things greatly. What I did was wrong and unacceptable. However the current system is set up so that players have no incentive to admit their guilt and every incentive to try and appeal a conviction under any possible loophole.

As another bugbear, the notion of "what happens on the pitch, stays on the pitch" is essentially a scumbag's charter. I'm delighted that with the advent of cameras and videos as it makes it so much easier for the scumbags to be caught in action and it takes a way a whole raft of the usual excuses you hear when there isn't visual evidence e.g.(physicality/man's games/accidents/didn't really mean it/out-of-character)

One thing the media could do to help is keep a constant tally of yellow cards and fouls conceded during the Championship. At present there is little tracking done of this. If some team is going out an picking up an average of 7 or 8 yellows every game and conceing an average of 35 frees in a game compared to another team who are picking up 2 or 3 yellow and conceding 20 frees, surely this is a factor that should be reported on. Have some equivalent to the fair play league in soccer so that those teams who are constantly the worst will be shown up for their bad behaviour.

elefant

I've always considered it a sign of an inferior player. Show your aggression when the ball's there to be won instead of posturing off the ball.

klairondavis

elefant wrote: »

I've always considered it a sign of an inferior player. Show your aggression when the ball's there to be won instead of posturing off the ball.

+1

None of the truly hard men who played the games never needed any of those verbals or any other cowardly nonsense.

Darragh Ó Sé's article about his late uncle in the Irish Times a few months ago made some great points against this type of stuff:

He was adamant about not getting into any verbals with your opponent. Not so much out of some big, high-minded motivation for sportsmanship and respect, more that an air of mystery was a great thing to have. If you get involved in a slagging match on the field, you’re giving up ground. You’re letting them pierce the skin.
Far better for them to be wondering what this madman from west Kerry has going on in his head.
Stand up for yourself if there’s a bit of pucking going on, but don’t ever open your mouth. Don’t ever let your guard down or give them an insight into what you’re thinking.
The way he would have seen it, getting involved would have been showing weakness. And he had no time for that. He’d regularly tell you not to go down unless you were really properly hurt. “Don’t give them the satisfaction; don’t let them know they hurt you.”
He saw it as a cop out, as giving them ammunition they didn’t need to have. He drilled that into all of us. I remember one time playing Cork in Killarney in 1998 when Stephen O’Brien came out and caught Maurice Fitzgerald a sweet one and winded him. Maurice got his free and hopped up off the ground, but straight away he looked over at me standing beside him.
Now, the year before in the All-Ireland final, I took a quick free at one stage and Maurice ate the head off me because the way he was playing that day he knew he would have stuck it over the bar. This was a far easier kick and yet Maurice just threw me the ball. He saw the quizzical look on my face and said out of the side of his mouth, “Kick that free there, I can hardly stand up.”
No way would he let the Cork lads see that he’d been hurt.
That was pure Páidí.
He saw playing in black and white terms. Do your job, don’t mind the other crowd. If they’re hopping off you, pulling out of you, that means they’re not focused. That means they’re showing weakness. Don’t do the same. Don’t showboat either. If you get a goal or score a big point, don’t be waving to the crowd. You’re only doing what you’re supposed to – it shouldn’t impact on you high up or low down. Go back and mark your man.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/kerry-was-kerry-and-p%C3%A1id%C3%AD-was-kerry-i-m-not-the-first-or-last-to-say-it-but-he-really-was-unique-1.1252595

milos

Some great points 68murph68. I wonder can the umpires be trained as video referees with the ability by radio to inform the match referee of any incident that he does not see.
With the cost of digital camera equipment today I cannot see why all areas of a pitch cannot be covered.

Thank you klairondavis. The words of Páidí Ó Sé should be a mantra for all players in all sports,

"Do your job, don’t mind the other crowd. If they’re hopping off you, pulling out of you, that means they’re not focused. That means they’re showing weakness. Don’t do the same. Don’t showboat either. If you get a goal or score a big point, don’t be waving to the crowd. You’re only doing what you’re supposed to – it shouldn’t impact on you high up or low down. Go back and mark your man."

Words from a giant.

daniels.ducks

A great forward once told me that a backs job starts when his team gets a score. I found this works for the players who are fond of having things their own way. If you let the forward know you are there and watching them it puts them off a lot. In my opinion it is part of the game now and if some people are saying that it should be a red card offence.
What about the forward that pushes the back on the chest when a ball is coming in to put them on the back foot? Off the ball incident? Red card offence?

milos

If the forward deliberately pushes the back in the chest so that he cannot fairly contest the ball then surly that is an off the ball offence.

daniels.ducks

milos wrote: »

If the forward deliberately pushes the back in the chest so that he cannot fairly contest the ball then surly that is an off the ball offence.

It is but it's part of the game. Some posters suggesting here that an off the ball offence is a red card?

nice_guy80

a lot of the time, forwards simple win/earn frees - pulling down marker, falling rather easily etc

I like to see all players protected and allowed to go out and play football/hurling

D'Agger

Was playing in a senior championship match during the week and have to say that once again I felt left down by the officiating of it.

Was playing corner forward and in the second half in particular I was fouled off the ball constantly, even when going for a jog with a view to making space for myself to run into I was getting pulled and dragged. The umpires did nothing. Now while I'm aware that it's difficult for them to communicate to a referee or might not feel it's their place - it's a culture that needs to change.

Another thing about it that bothered me - the referee himself, I felt I was being pulled back while going for a ball and said it to him when the ball went out of play, he refused to acknowledge me and just walked off. This happened a second time, again, I got no response. A few minutes later an I was chasing an opponent down, he laid off the ball and I bumped into him - nothing serious, I didn't knock him over, we collided - he leaves out a yelp, ref comes straight over and gives me a yellow.

Now while I'm aware I'm showing one side of a story here there's a few things that bothered me and were on my mind on the drive home:

1) Seeing as the umpires were doing nothing to help my cause, should I have fouled the back, should I have swung him around and bought myself a couple of yards? I'm not that kind of player but I was being done by my marker, should I have fought fire with fire?

2) I felt the referee booked me as a direct result of dissent which made me wonder - why didn't he give a warning to keep shut and not question him or I'd face a yellow rather than keep quiet - there was no communication regarding his interpretation of the rules imo. Secondly - I didn't think I was abusive in what I said to him and during the discussion I asked him had he not seen what had happened me on two occasions which I felt was more deserving of action - again I got no response.

3) I'd say something if this was a county league game, but unfortunately it wasn't, it was senior championship - the standard of refereeing allowed for unfair play to take hold on a game which at that level is unacceptable.

There's not much that can be done about it either because if you report it to the county board - "You'll get a name for that sort of thing" at least that's what I was told anyway.

I love playing football, but it seems that nowadays if you want to get ahead and get that yard you have to be willing to go outside the rules and puck a fella or foul him 'smartly' in order to get ahead - and the officiating of games is allowing this to go on.

I know forwards can win 'smart' frees too fwiw but this is where umpires and linesmen need to communicate in order to make sure that it's not just down solely to the referee.

milos

daniels.ducks wrote: »

It is but it's part of the game. Some posters suggesting here that an off the ball offence is a red card?

I do not think that anyone thinks all off the ball offences are red cards but some off the ball offences need to be red carded. I mean you would not like to see someone punch their opponent and not get a red.

D'Agger thank you for explaining how it feels to be let down by the GAA officials.

IF ANYONE IN AUTHORITY IN CROKE PARK SEES THIS THEN DO SOMETHING. NOW BEFORE IT IS TO LATE.

Ps. Maybe this is part of the reason people are not going to matches.
Bad umpires/referees equals bad games.

jive

D'Agger wrote: »

1) Seeing as the umpires were doing nothing to help my cause, should I have fouled the back, should I have swung him around and bought myself a couple of yards? I'm not that kind of player but I was being done by my marker, should I have fought fire with fire?

2) I felt the referee booked me as a direct result of dissent which made me wonder - why didn't he give a warning to keep shut and not question him or I'd face a yellow rather than keep quiet - there was no communication regarding his interpretation of the rules imo. Secondly - I didn't think I was abusive in what I said to him and during the discussion I asked him had he not seen what had happened me on two occasions which I felt was more deserving of action - again I got no response.

3) I'd say something if this was a county league game, but unfortunately it wasn't, it was senior championship - the standard of refereeing allowed for unfair play to take hold on a game which at that level is unacceptable.

1) Yes, fight fire with fire. That's the sport, it's how the game has evolved. It kind of is 'fair play' because it is tolerated by the officials, if you've played the game for any period of time you'll know what is acceptable and what's not. To someone who doesn't play the game they might see a bit of shoving and stuff off the ball as not fair play but it happens _all_ the time.

I've never seen anyone get injured off the ball for the kind of behaviour that OP is talking about. There's still respect and people will still shake hands and laugh it off at the end of the match. However, when the tom foolery kind of carry on escalates to something serious like biting or punching then obviously someone will intervene. Shouldering off the ball, pulling a lads jersey etc. is all fairly common place and as someone who plays the game I'm not too bothered by it although I'm usually not arsed in getting involved. A referee worth his salt will spot that kind of argy bargy when people are competing for a ball though and will blow it up, only when the ball is not in your proximity will he let it go on.

2) Sounds like a typical GAA ref haha. Say it to him once and after that just leave it. If he doesn't blow up then just 'send a message' to your marker when he's on the ball. You can always let someone know you're there with a legitimate shoulder at full tilt.

3) GAA officiating at lower levels is, for the most part, absolutely appalling. It's just something you have to deal with. Some days you will get the rub of the green but other days you'll just have to lump it.

D'Agger

jive wrote: »

1) Yes, fight fire with fire. That's the sport, it's how the game has evolved. It kind of is 'fair play' because it is tolerated by the officials, if you've played the game for any period of time you'll know what is acceptable and what's not. To someone who doesn't play the game they might see a bit of shoving and stuff off the ball as not fair play but it happens _all_ the time.

I've played the game since I was about 6 or so - I'm aware that it happens 'all the time' - that's my point, it shouldn't be allowed as it's not fair play - if it was deemed alright to pull a drag a guy or pull his jersey as he's making a run for a ball then it'd be in the rulebook I'd imagine.

I've never seen anyone get injured off the ball for the kind of behaviour that OP is talking about. There's still respect and people will still shake hands and laugh it off at the end of the match. However, when the tom foolery kind of carry on escalates to something serious like biting or punching then obviously someone will intervene. Shouldering off the ball, pulling a lads jersey etc. is all fairly common place and as someone who plays the game I'm not too bothered by it although I'm usually not arsed in getting involved. A referee worth his salt will spot that kind of argy bargy when people are competing for a ball though and will blow it up, only when the ball is not in your proximity will he let it go on.

The fact that nobody gets injured from it is absolutely irrelevant imo.

There's respect after matches to an extent - I'll always shake my markers hand, I'll always wish him luck going forwards etc. but I have alot more respect for guys who haven't resorted to fouling off the ball, guys who've competed for the ball, taken the small victories and losses that make up a match and either lost to you or beaten you fairly.

2) Sounds like a typical GAA ref haha. Say it to him once and after that just leave it. If he doesn't blow up then just 'send a message' to your marker when he's on the ball. You can always let someone know you're there with a legitimate shoulder at full tilt.

You either didn't read my post or you're just not getting it

3) GAA officiating at lower levels is, for the most part, absolutely appalling. It's just something you have to deal with. Some days you will get the rub of the green but other days you'll just have to lump it.

Doesn't get much bigger than Senior County Championship for local referees now does it?

milos

2) Sounds like a typical GAA ref haha. Say it to him once and after that just leave it. If he doesn't blow up then just 'send a message' to your marker when he's on the ball. You can always let someone know you're there with a legitimate shoulder at full tilt.

How many of us have seen a player being sent off because he responded to the unfair opponent by tackling hard. The referee will send him off because he has not seen or has ignored the bullying that player has endured.

With the introduction of hawkeye why cant the umpires be trained as sideline officials and placed around each section of a pitch.
It would be their job to ensure fair play off the ball.
If an incident happens they can signal the ref by radio or flag.

jive

D'Agger wrote: »

I've played the game since I was about 6 or so - I'm aware that it happens 'all the time' - that's my point, it shouldn't be allowed as it's not fair play - if it was deemed alright to pull a drag a guy or pull his jersey as he's making a run for a ball then it'd be in the rulebook I'd imagine.

It's not allowed. If it's seen by the ref then he'll blow it up, that happens all the time too. Off the ball carry on is a part of every contact sport where players are in close proximity to each other. That's part of playing a contact sport whether you like it or not, it's always going to happen and it will never be eradicated. If you expect the ref to see everything then you're delusional. And if you're realistic and accept that he can't see everything then you'll just have to put up with people trying to get an advantage by fouling off the ball.

D'Agger wrote: »

You either didn't read my post or you're just not getting it

LOL. You fouled someone and got booked for it but are pinning it on dissent and i'm the one not getting it? Right.

D'Agger wrote: »

Doesn't get much bigger than Senior County Championship for local referees now does it?

I never said it didnt? I said GAA officiating at lower levels is generally poor. County championship at this time of the year is lower level in my books even if it is senior. At later stages in the year you might get the referees who are perceived to be better or who make more of an effort but county championship in April is hardly a big occasion.

milos wrote: »

How many of us have seen a player being sent off because he responded to the unfair opponent by tackling hard. The referee will send him off because he has not seen or has ignored the bullying that player has endured.

It's extremely rare anyone would get anything more than a yellow for a legitimate hard tackle. I've seen yellows but in my experience I haven't seen more than that for a fair tackle.

D'Agger

jive wrote: »

It's not allowed. If it's seen by the ref then he'll blow it up, that happens all the time too. Off the ball carry on is a part of every contact sport where players are in close proximity to each other. That's part of playing a contact sport whether you like it or not, it's always going to happen and it will never be eradicated. If you expect the ref to see everything then you're delusional. And if you're realistic and accept that he can't see everything then you'll just have to put up with people trying to get an advantage by fouling off the ball.

The entire premise of the point I made on this is that umpires and linesmen need to help the referee officiate the game, the referee obviously doesn't see everything - he's only one man. My point is that considering he has to officiate a game with 30 men on the field of play then surely he needs assistance in helping the game flow and cut out off the ball fouling, Which could be erradicated from the game to an extent if the attitude of 'you'll never get rid of it' changes.

LOL. You fouled someone and got booked for it but are pinning it on dissent and i'm the one not getting it? Right.

Ironically enough I'd use your own point that physical contact in close proximity sometimes means that you're going to collide with fellas - that's what happened in my case and I got booked for it - I merely harbor suspicions that my dissent to the referee didn't endear me to him and led to a yellow. With that said, there's a large difference between bumping into a guy going for the ball in a genuine manner, and dragging back a guy making a run to get to the ball - in the case of the game I was referencing, from a personal viewpoint, several of these incidents resulted in no action, whereas one instance of the other resulted in a yellow.

I never said it didnt? I said GAA officiating at lower levels is generally poor. County championship at this time of the year is lower level in my books even if it is senior. At later stages in the year you might get the referees who are perceived to be better or who make more of an effort but county championship in April is hardly a big occasion.

The fact is it's the highest standard being played at the moment in the county therefore the best referees will/should be made available for it which is usually the case I would've thought - if anybody can shed some light on this matter - how referees are chosen for SFC I'm all ears.

jive

D'Agger wrote: »

The entire premise of the point I made on this is that umpires and linesmen need to help the referee officiate the game, the referee obviously doesn't see everything - he's only one man. My point is that considering he has to officiate a game with 30 men on the field of play then surely he needs assistance in helping the game flow and cut out off the ball fouling, Which could be erradicated from the game to an extent if the attitude of 'you'll never get rid of it' changes.

These kind of things are open to interpretation though. At present the referee can consult with the umpires but the umpires don't have any power outside of that. Even in soccer at the highest level the extra officials either side of the goal don't have any power. It's difficult to implement because basically too many cooks spoil the broth. I'd like to see it done but it's far easier said than done, particularly at just county level.

D'Agger wrote: »

The fact is it's the highest standard being played at the moment in the county therefore the best referees will/should be made available for it which is usually the case I would've thought - if anybody can shed some light on this matter - how referees are chosen for SFC I'm all ears.

Well a lot of the good refs may be lost to intercounty fixtures, underage and senior, which are going on. I don't know how referees are selected or how some of them are even referees tbh so I shouldn't really comment.

Plus 10

I was at most the Dublin league games this year - surprised at some of the "defending" tactics of one of their defenders (I won't name him). Watched him facing his own goal (or rather turned his back to the play which was the other end of the pitch - faced the forward he was marking - continued to face him (not looking at play) until the ball came in his area - constant jostling, etc - I imagine very annoying for the forward

milos

I think the forward should give him a quick kiss. I cannot see the defender getting to close the next time...

D'Agger

jive wrote: »

These kind of things are open to interpretation though. At present the referee can consult with the umpires but the umpires don't have any power outside of that. Even in soccer at the highest level the extra officials either side of the goal don't have any power. It's difficult to implement because basically too many cooks spoil the broth. I'd like to see it done but it's far easier said than done, particularly at just county level.

Well a lot of the good refs may be lost to intercounty fixtures, underage and senior, which are going on. I don't know how referees are selected or how some of them are even referees tbh so I shouldn't really comment.

True, I don't think it'd cost a huge amount to get a radio system going where an umpire can simply give a call to say that he's seeing off the ball stuff - same for the linesman and at inter county you'd like to see it implemented and tested for the league.

You'd like to think that referees and the GAA are in contact with workshops etc. to see where they can improve. I know a former inter county referee so I might ask him a few questions on it next time I see him.

Last year a linesman spotted one of our players being struck off the ball and in fairness got the referees attention and informed him of what had happened. It was refreshing to see because you see stuff like that being ignored more often that it's being spotted.

68Murph68

From the Rules of GAA

The umpires shall bring to the notice of the referee, during a break in play, any instances of foul play in particular, rough or dangerous play, striking, hitting, or kicking, or unauthorised incursions onto the field of play,
which have not been noticed by the Referee.

Reading that its clear that umpires are failing to do their job a lot of the time.

D'Agger wrote: »

True, I don't think it'd cost a huge amount to get a radio system going where an umpire can simply give a call to say that he's seeing off the ball stuff - same for the linesman and at inter county you'd like to see it implemented and tested for the league.

Simple cheap solution - have the umpires wave both the green and white flags. Would surely get the refs attention before long.

D'Agger wrote: »

Last year a linesman spotted one of our players being struck off the ball and in fairness got the referees attention and informed him of what had happened. It was refreshing to see because you see stuff like that being ignored more often that it's being spotted.

The problem is how rare this is. You'd like to think that if there was more of it in inter-county games it would become more common in club games.

68Murph68

daniels.ducks wrote: »

A great forward once told me that a backs job starts when his team gets a score. I found this works for the players who are fond of having things their own way. If you let the forward know you are there and watching them it puts them off a lot. In my opinion it is part of the game now and if some people are saying that it should be a red card offence.
What about the forward that pushes the back on the chest when a ball is coming in to put them on the back foot? Off the ball incident? Red card offence?

Personally I think the notion of "letting the player know you are there" it's simply an euphemism/code word for acting the bollox and its simply the behaviour of a player who isn't capable of competing fairly with an opponent.

The notion of it "being part of the game" is a rationalisation that simply says that's the way things are and there is no point in trying to improve things. It's could be a catchphrase for the lazy. It's far easier to say "that's the way things are", throw the hands up and not bother trying to do anything about it than try and come up with possible solutions. My opinion is that is shouldn't be part of the game and that everything should be done to rid the game of it.

Basically to me if I see a back getting up to scummy behaviour off the ball its a sign of a lesser player who simply can't handle dealing with a better player.

As regards your question of whether a red-card is appropriate for back pushing a forward in the back when a ball has been kicked in, I wouldn't regard this as a blatant off-the-ball incident given the ball is incoming.

I'd be leaning towards this being a yellow card where it is a blatant push.

There are occasions in games where a back will be trying to compete with a forward and get beaten to the ball and there would be a push which would only be a free. I have seen cases where the forward will pause for a fraction of a second once they are in front of a defending which will result in the defender's momentum carrying them into the forward. The intent counts for a lot in this cases.

My original statement was

It's one thing to commit an offence when there is a ball in the area but if you are pulling a player's jersey when the ball is 100m down the pitch, there is no excuse for it.

If a player is fouling a player and the ball isn't anywhere nearby or incoming, there is no excuse. I was talking about where a player is hit or struck off the ball. If a player is acting like this off-the-ball, chances are that they are also a dirty player when the ball is in the area.

bruschi

I was at a game recently where a player was sent off after he took an opponant out of it off the ball. the linesman drew the referees attention to it. As the player was coming off, he made a beeline to the linesman and throttled him. and then the linesman had to endure verbal abuse for the rest of the game.

much like most instances, instead of a player holding his hands up and saying I did wrong, they first of all blame everyone else, and then try to get off their suspension by some technicality. there are too many loopholes that players try get off on, instead of taking their punishment. I thought that might change when John Mullane accepted his red card for an off theball altercation against Cork a few years back, but nothing moved on from that and only got worse.

daniels.ducks

Look at Richie McCaw? One of the greatest rugby players ever to play the game. He's great because he lives on the edge.

Well I'm going to keep playing the way I do, it seems to be working for me anyway, if people don't like to look at it, or if the forward is not happy with it, it doesn't bother me really as long as I keep my man scoreless and I only get four or five possessions in a match or make a few runs up the field i'll be happy

Clareman

The guards were called to a Chess match in Cork recently, EVERY sport has people playing on the edge, not just the GAA.

IMVHO, yes there are issues with people going too far in every sport, the GAA isn't any worse than any other sport.

shaungil

Young lad started playing last year. I coach rugby but help the GAA if they're stuck. Onesimple things I've noticed. Coaches subs and specatators wander onto the field of play all the time. I've seen player run behind spectators and mentors as they've gone so far on the pitch. Never seen a ref make the specatoros go back. IMHO its very dangerous but also seems to set a standard that the ref is not in charge.

Spoke to one of the senior lads about the shouldering malarkey and he told me to tell my lad if someone does it to him just step out of the way it makes the defender more annoyed.

daniels.ducks

shaungil wrote: »

Young lad started playing last year. I coach rugby but help the GAA if they're stuck. Onesimple things I've noticed. Coaches subs and specatators wander onto the field of play all the time. I've seen player run behind spectators and mentors as they've gone so far on the pitch. Never seen a ref make the specatoros go back. IMHO its very dangerous but also seems to set a standard that the ref is not in charge.

Spoke to one of the senior lads about the shouldering malarkey and he told me to tell my lad if someone does it to him just step out of the way it makes the defender more annoyed.

As a ref i've tried to get spectators and mentors off the field. It works if the match is not tense. The spectators will realise where they are. If it is a semi final/final it can just cause a lot of trouble for yourself.
I know it's off topic but in GAA the ref doesn't have the power to tell poeple get behind the fence/off the grounds. We do however in ladies football, not sure about comogie.

EDIT: I've reffed an U12 final and i've seen an oul lad running off the sideline because he didn't agree with what direction the free was going in to shout at the young lad as he took the free to put him off. The youngfella half hit the free so I allowed him to take it again and this caused more aggro with the coach. Some right aul twats there.

bruschi

daniels.ducks wrote: »

As a ref i've tried to get spectators and mentors off the field. It works if the match is not tense. The spectators will realise where they are. If it is a semi final/final it can just cause a lot of trouble for yourself.
I know it's off topic but in GAA the ref doesn't have the power to tell poeple get behind the fence/off the grounds. We do however in ladies football, not sure about comogie.

EDIT: I've reffed an U12 final and i've seen an oul lad running off the sideline because he didn't agree with what direction the free was going in to shout at the young lad as he took the free to put him off. The youngfella half hit the free so I allowed him to take it again and this caused more aggro with the coach. Some right aul twats there.

yes he does.

Rule 6.42 e - unnauthorised entry to a field by a team official - 4 weeks suspension.
Rule 7.2 c - a whole list of what a team official cant do with regards to being on the field.
and these take effect with the playing rules as well. It was discussed on here, but managers can be sent off, and its in the referees rights to abandon a game if he feels the playing grounds are not safe, and that includes having spectators on the field.

daniels.ducks

bruschi wrote: »

yes he does.

Rule 6.42 e - unnauthorised entry to a field by a team official - 4 weeks suspension.
Rule 7.2 c - a whole list of what a team official cant do with regards to being on the field.
and these take effect with the playing rules as well. It was discussed on here, but managers can be sent off, and its in the referees rights to abandon a game if he feels the playing grounds are not safe, and that includes having spectators on the field.

Ya the penalty is a suspension but he/she doesn't have to leave the grounds/pitch if told to. Match can be abandoned alright but that's unfair on bot sets of players. All refs can do is really record and report.