When do you decide it's not acceptable / go to law?

barneystinson

My club were involved in a junior hurling ch'ship match a couple of nights back, and something fairly sickening happened that has me wondering where's the dividing line between things that go on on the field of play, and plain common or garden assault...

Our star forward was after scoring about 2-6, and we're a goal to the good half way through the second half. A ball has been cleared down the field and play is 100 yards away when an opposition defender without provocation pulls 3 belts of the hurl across him; 1st in the ribs, 2nd to the head (with enough force it dislodged his helmet), and 3rd to the side of the (now exposed) head.

The player falls to the ground stricken, passed out unconscious, then has a seizure for several minutes, and the match has to be abandoned while awaiting an ambulance to arrive, as he can't be moved from the pitch.

At the time there was no ensuing row, due to the fact that the ball was in play off down the other end of the field, and because the immediate response was of concern rather than anger.

So, in the circumstances, since the referee didn't see it but plenty of witnesses on the sideline did and where the doctor in the hospital actually said "given where he took the blow he could've been killed", would you report the matter to the Gardai if you were this guy or his family? He's been released from hospital but is still concussed and with ringing in his ear, a few days later.

I think in the circumstances it should be reported to the Gardai, particularly if god forbid the chap ends up out of work or needing expensive treatment, he should have it on record that this happened and was reported.

As an aside, the opposition player in question hospitalised someone else with a broken leg from a dirty pull in their last match 2 weeks ago - the fella is just a disgrace.

I'm not exaggerating the viciousness here - there were women on the sideline who saw what he did, in hysterics crying.

Anyone have any insights or stories to share about similar incidents?

alchemist33

barneystinson wrote: »

My club were involved in a junior hurling ch'ship match a couple of nights back, and something fairly sickening happened that has me wondering where's the dividing line between things that go on on the field of play, and plain common or garden assault...

Our star forward was after scoring about 2-6, and we're a goal to the good half way through the second half. A ball has been cleared down the field and play is 100 yards away when an opposition defender without provocation pulls 3 belts of the hurl across him; 1st in the ribs, 2nd to the head (with enough force it dislodged his helmet), and 3rd to the side of the (now exposed) head.

The player falls to the ground stricken, passed out unconscious, then has a seizure for several minutes, and the match has to be abandoned while awaiting an ambulance to arrive, as he can't be moved from the pitch.

At the time there was no ensuing row, due to the fact that the ball was in play off down the other end of the field, and because the immediate response was of concern rather than anger.

So, in the circumstances, since the referee didn't see it but plenty of witnesses on the sideline did and where the doctor in the hospital actually said "given where he took the blow he could've been killed", would you report the matter to the Gardai if you were this guy or his family? He's been released from hospital but is still concussed and with ringing in his ear, a few days later.

I think in the circumstances it should be reported to the Gardai, particularly if god forbid the chap ends up out of work or needing expensive treatment, he should have it on record that this happened and was reported.

As an aside, the opposition player in question hospitalised someone else with a broken leg from a dirty pull in their last match 2 weeks ago - the fella is just a disgrace.

I'm not exaggerating the viciousness here - there were women on the sideline who saw what he did, in hysterics crying.

Anyone have any insights or stories to share about similar incidents?

That's nothing short of an assault. He should be prosecuted.

SureYWouldntYa

Jesus you often see the marquee forward targeted once he's started to do some damage, but never to that degree. You'll often see them trying to give the man a dead leg with a swift knee or something like that but never something to this level

One of the first things I'd do is make the county board aware of this and that the guy going round smacking people with a hurl and breaking legs is never allowed on a GAA pitch again

joebloggs32

If it is as you described then it is a clear cut case for the law.

Orizio

Why even ask?

Call the police. Now.

cilles man

Firstly , I would say this kind of behaviour is a totally and utterly unacceptable not alone in the gaa but in any sport.Now one has to wonder why the referee hasn't a compliment of officials with him especially when , what had gone on previous as I am sure the referee from the oppositions last game would have included it in his report and submit it to the county board. This I firmly believe is all that is wrong with our association that thugs like this can get away with this behaviour and get away scot free, hope the victim makes a full recovery and justice is served , by all means he needs to report this as an assault.

cul beag

Shocking stuff! My God that just sounds horrendous. I can't believe the Guards aren't involved yet. This is the one negative thing that needs to be sorted badly in our games. This wall of silence when things like this happen where you often hear of both players or both clubs trying to sort things out behind the scenes. But then take it a step further if the guards are called how many,if any,will stand up in court and say what they saw? But as you said if he's out if work or needs further treatment who incurs the expense? The club should have insurance for every player but how much will that cover? All the while the assailant is free to continue to do the same again.

NIMAN

Incidents like that are what give the game a bad name.

There should be no case for that happening, I would believe that things like that should be followed up in law.

But then again I listened to 3 pundits on RTE radio try to defend the fight that broke out before the game the other week, as long as people think mass brawls are part of the game, then things won't filter down to all levels of the game.

fatherted1969

Guards, no question

twowheelsonly

Absolutely no question that it should be the Guards and not the GAA handling this.

It's a big problem within the culture of the GAA but it's usually known as "letting him know that you're there.."
If I walk down a street later on and "let everyone know that I'm there" in the same manner I'd be arrested. I fail to see why it's any different on any playing field.
It also seems that every time there's a substitution in GAA the first job is to stick the shoulder in to the direct opponent even though the play is usually stopped at the time. It seems to be tolerated because it's a 'mans game' but it's nothing more than common assault.
The hatchet man is also a badge of honour with some teams/clubs and once fellas get that name it seems that they have to try to live up to it every single time.
In my own very last game of hurling, aged about 18, I got a busted lip and a cracked tooth from a sneaky smack of a butt of a hurley whilst play was at the other end. That's the very reason it was my last game of hurling even though I played football for quite a few years after that.

Deskjockey

Guards no question.

As regards "letting someone know you're there" there's no comparison to giving someone a shoulder and beating the **** out of them by striking repeatedly with the hurley which sounds like what happened in this case.

dastardly00

Same opinion as everyone else, get your club to contact the Gardaí.

Boom__Boom

barneystinson wrote: »

As an aside, the opposition player in question hospitalised someone else with a broken leg from a dirty pull in their last match 2 weeks ago - the fella is just a disgrace.

It's pretty clear the opposition player in question shouldn't be allowed on a pitch, especially as it'd clearly not a once-off incident.

Look at it this way - if the Guards aren't brought it, the odds of the same fella doing something similar in the future with even more tragic consequences are likely to be very high.

Hamstrings59

Referees have a lot to answer for in general, the level of officialdom at club games is scandalous, you have referees who are not upto and their 70 year old father in law and his brother doing umpire. Players will do in a game what they can get away with and referees if they are not up with the play and laying down the law a game can become a farce. I'm not saying a referee should be over fussy but there are obvious things that most referees don't blow up on. Umpires stand there with their arms folded squinting through their glasses while a corner forward is being laced off the ball or an obvious score or 65/45 gets waved wide. It's so frustrating for players, training all year to lose a championship game due to appalling referees and of course at club level you also have rivalry and bias coming into it, don't try tell me that referees within a county are neutral, refs will always have a gripe with one club.
Gaa really needs to sort out refereeing at club level, I'm beyond sick of it at this stage. Inter county is bad enough but club level is a complete joke. If it means giving referees better "expenses" to encourage more people to take up the whistle then so be it, it's not as if the gaa doesn't have the money. Recently retired players need to be encouraged to referee.

Browney7

Guards and sue for damages. God knows what sort of effect an assault like that could have on you. That's noting short of a serious assault.

Hammer Archer

I'd go along with the consensus here. A trip to the guards and probably consultation with a solicitor is definitely the right thing to do in this case.
I think the most cowardly thing a player can do in hurling is use his hurl as a weapon against another player.

djPSB

barneystinson wrote: »

My club were involved in a junior hurling ch'ship match a couple of nights back, and something fairly sickening happened that has me wondering where's the dividing line between things that go on on the field of play, and plain common or garden assault...

Our star forward was after scoring about 2-6, and we're a goal to the good half way through the second half. A ball has been cleared down the field and play is 100 yards away when an opposition defender without provocation pulls 3 belts of the hurl across him; 1st in the ribs, 2nd to the head (with enough force it dislodged his helmet), and 3rd to the side of the (now exposed) head.

The player falls to the ground stricken, passed out unconscious, then has a seizure for several minutes, and the match has to be abandoned while awaiting an ambulance to arrive, as he can't be moved from the pitch.

At the time there was no ensuing row, due to the fact that the ball was in play off down the other end of the field, and because the immediate response was of concern rather than anger.

So, in the circumstances, since the referee didn't see it but plenty of witnesses on the sideline did and where the doctor in the hospital actually said "given where he took the blow he could've been killed", would you report the matter to the Gardai if you were this guy or his family? He's been released from hospital but is still concussed and with ringing in his ear, a few days later.

I think in the circumstances it should be reported to the Gardai, particularly if god forbid the chap ends up out of work or needing expensive treatment, he should have it on record that this happened and was reported.

As an aside, the opposition player in question hospitalised someone else with a broken leg from a dirty pull in their last match 2 weeks ago - the fella is just a disgrace.

I'm not exaggerating the viciousness here - there were women on the sideline who saw what he did, in hysterics crying.

Anyone have any insights or stories to share about similar incidents?

Both a civil and criminal case to be pursued here.

Has to be reported to the Guards.

Some people think that because there on a pitch, they can get away with what they like.

Have no problem with a bit of pushing and shooving off the ball but not when there's malicious intent.

At the end of the day, everyone has to be able to get up out bed and go to work the next day. Not lying on a hospital bed because of some tramp.

savannahkat

It was assault pure and simple. The victim, his club and any one else who witnessed it should report it to the Gardaí. This type of thuggery has no place in the game and ruins more careers than people realise.

rebel girl 15

I completely agree it has to go legal - we have a similar case in our club from October of last year, where one of our players has been left with long standing issues after receiving a concussion from an elbow into her temple off the ball after other smacks during the game. It also needs to be investigated by the committee in charge once they get the referees report to ensure that that player is banned for his actions from the field of play. Wonder what happened the referees report from the previous game - must not have been carded at all for it.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/icrime/man-fined-after-attack-on-former-gaa-player-173933.html is one case I can remember, where a player is prosecuted off the field of play for his actions on it - case definitely has to go to the guards. Witnesses need to go and give statements, as many as possible go. The lad can then decide whether to take it forward afterwards

grazeaway

I have to agree, taking a lad out of the game with a sly dig or trip that will curb their influence on the game but won't have any lasting effects is part of all contact sports whether we like it or not. However cheap shots and incidents like you have outlined are out of order.

I think his club need to step up on this too as it effects them as well.

If he was outside a pub on a Saturday night there would be a court case. There was a high profile case in the states last year when a fella was left in a coma after a belt in a match.

I played junior for a long time and got a few sly knocks over the years. One of worst I got was from one of my own team mates in a game of backs and forwards when he almost blew a finger off my hand. He was a very lucky lad I didn't box the head off him, when I recovered the coach let me mark him in a game and I flaked him round the pitch nothing overly bad but his shoulders we black and blue for a few days. He would do that kinda thing in matchs so the coach thought it would be a good lesson for him.

I got taken out of it a championship game once,was dominating the full back and had won about 10 balls in a row, scored one point but set up about 2-5. Won a long ball and was through on goal when the corner back came across and pulled straight across me and I got it full whack into the Crown Jewels. I have never had that kind of pain before or since. I was down for about 5 mins and we had used all our subs so I stayed on but was less then useless for the rest of the game so eventually came off. Anger and adrenaline kept me going for a while and I was bulling for revenge. The ref only gave a clash ball in as he thought it was a collision so the opposition had taken the corner back before I got my bearings. The opposition team full back was trying calm me down as I went to exact revenge and drove the replacement sub into the back of the net. Got very sick in the dressing and had to go to the doctor who informed me I was very lucky not to lose a testicle. I was very sore for a few days but didn't miss any work and made a full recovery. The opposition club made contact and apologised for the incident.

999/112

barneystinson wrote: »

My club were involved in a junior hurling ch'ship match a couple of nights back, and something fairly sickening happened that has me wondering where's the dividing line between things that go on on the field of play, and plain common or garden assault...

Our star forward was after scoring about 2-6, and we're a goal to the good half way through the second half. A ball has been cleared down the field and play is 100 yards away when an opposition defender without provocation pulls 3 belts of the hurl across him; 1st in the ribs, 2nd to the head (with enough force it dislodged his helmet), and 3rd to the side of the (now exposed) head.

The player falls to the ground stricken, passed out unconscious, then has a seizure for several minutes, and the match has to be abandoned while awaiting an ambulance to arrive, as he can't be moved from the pitch.

At the time there was no ensuing row, due to the fact that the ball was in play off down the other end of the field, and because the immediate response was of concern rather than anger.

So, in the circumstances, since the referee didn't see it but plenty of witnesses on the sideline did and where the doctor in the hospital actually said "given where he took the blow he could've been killed", would you report the matter to the Gardai if you were this guy or his family? He's been released from hospital but is still concussed and with ringing in his ear, a few days later.

I think in the circumstances it should be reported to the Gardai, particularly if god forbid the chap ends up out of work or needing expensive treatment, he should have it on record that this happened and was reported.

As an aside, the opposition player in question hospitalised someone else with a broken leg from a dirty pull in their last match 2 weeks ago - the fella is just a disgrace.

I'm not exaggerating the viciousness here - there were women on the sideline who saw what he did, in hysterics crying.

Anyone have any insights or stories to share about similar incidents?

A brain injury isn't just for the weekend.......