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What do people make of the standard this year? brisbane (Galway) - Posts: 674 - 29/06/2019 23:42:08 2202634 Link
Deegan was shocking yesterday. He was always looking to penalise Armagh while giving Mayo the constant benefit of the doubt. This is completely unacceptable. Deegan effectively steered Mayo to a win. Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9697 - 30/06/2019 00:57:40 2202654 Link
As bad as I can ever remember. We all know it's a thankless job, but every week it just seems to get worse and worse. Something needs to change, maybe 2 referees like the aussie rules have. cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5010 - 30/06/2019 09:18:13 2202703 Link
Probably improved overall, there's always the strange calls made but thats in all sports. I'd really like to see more use made of the other 3 refs to tidy up the game ie allow linesmen call frees let the 4th official keep an eye on off the ball stuff and introduce a monday review of incidents such as diving, players pretending to have head injuries to slow the game down etc lillyboy (Kildare) - Posts: 429 - 30/06/2019 09:20:31 2202705 Link
Standards are shocking, at club level it beggars belief. Some aren't even up to date with the rules. GAA ran many good people out of the organisation, officials, refs etc through its politics, that's what's left contains a percentage of people who would never be given any kind of authority in most walks of life. moc.dna (Galway) - Posts: 1212 - 30/06/2019 12:47:50 2202821 Link
Replying To Ulsterman: "Deegan was shocking yesterday. He was always looking to penalise Armagh while giving Mayo the constant benefit of the doubt. This is completely unacceptable. Deegan effectively steered Mayo to a win." Wouldnt agree at all. I thought Deegan was reasonably good yesterday though he did give a free to Armagh at a crucial stage yesterday that most definitely was not a free but justice was done cos the Armagh player sent the free wide. PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1902 - 30/06/2019 13:30:39 2202848 Link
The main issue seems to be refs are not applying the same rules to both teams the Cork and kerry game being a good example. The referee decided the outcome of that game with his decisions brisbane (Galway) - Posts: 674 - 30/06/2019 15:58:37 2202937 Link
Replying To Ulsterman: "Deegan was shocking yesterday. He was always looking to penalise Armagh while giving Mayo the constant benefit of the doubt. This is completely unacceptable. Deegan effectively steered Mayo to a win." Disagree with that ,he was shocking but seemed to be bad for both teams giving soft frees to both teams I don't think he decided the outcome Galwayjoe86 (Galway) - Posts: 258 - 30/06/2019 16:34:21 2202966 Link
Balance the books v enforce the rules impartially. This has been a constant refereeing dilemma. Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 30/06/2019 17:14:40 2202986 Link
We see good referees at sigerson games and in particuliar Dublin Club games where there is a great development structure. But inter co referee panels dont let these in. Armagh were right to feel unhappy as soon as they saw the appointment. A few useless guys continue to get on top referee panel instead of picking on merit.that particuliar referee has shown lack of concern for fairness to players over years. We dont pay in to see a pompous referee glorying himself and cosying up to his favourite players. Ashrules (Dublin) - Posts: 518 - 01/07/2019 11:31:00 2203423 Link
Dublin were obviously deserved winners and the better team but the Tyrone referee in Dublin v Meath gave the most biased performance I've ever seen and the statistics from the match back it up. I understand there was an article in the Sindo yesterday highlighting how biased he was. Dublin conceded 22 frees (including a couple of high tackles similar to ones Meath got yellow cards for and a professional foul to stop a 1on1 with the keeper) and didn't get a single card. Meath conceded 18 frees and got 6 yellows and one black. Crinigan (Meath) - Posts: 1316 - 01/07/2019 11:57:31 2203451 Link
Deegan had a shocker. Both Mayo goals featured 12 step runs. We definitely need two referees at inter-count level. It beggars belief that we haven't already opted for that system for Championship. An inter-county referee may cover 9-12km in a 70 minute match. Two referees would mean that this could potentially be cut to 5-8km. It would give the referees more recovery time which means that their decision-making is not being hindered by fatigue. A second pair of eyes on the field goes a long way to deterring players from getting involved in off-the-ball incidents. We have a small panel of inter-county referees. This could be expanded if the required fitness levels of referees could be relaxed somewhat, and as a result the overall standard would be improved due to having the best decision makers on the field. The game's simply too fast for one man to keep up with. It always has been. We've been giving out about referees since time immemorial. Same goes for hurling. SurelyToGod (Donegal) - Posts: 373 - 01/07/2019 12:29:01 2203477 Link
Replying To Ulsterman: "Deegan was shocking yesterday. He was always looking to penalise Armagh while giving Mayo the constant benefit of the doubt. This is completely unacceptable. Deegan effectively steered Mayo to a win." An Armagh player dragged an opponent to the ground in the opening half and the result was a free to Mayo. Where was the Black Card for a deliberate open field aggressive foul ? No The rule was not applied and this is where refs lose credibility. Gaa Fan (USA) - Posts: 749 - 01/07/2019 12:55:40 2203501 Link
I think both Dublin and Roscommon benefited from the referee but it wasnt going to change the result of the games but both Kerry and mayo benefited hugely and had a direct impact on the result brisbane (Galway) - Posts: 674 - 01/07/2019 12:57:01 2203504 Link
If I was a Westmeath supporter I'd be a bit annoyed with the referee after their defeat to Clare. I only saw the highlights so can't judge the performance in it's entirety. We can argue all day over what's a foul in the tackle and what isn't but the incident I'm referring to was a blatant technical infraction right at the death. The Clare No.8 caught the kickout to win a mark and hold on to possession when they really needed to. According to rule he has to kick it within 5 seconds. He took a full 18 seconds to do it!! A throw in should have been awarded and that might have given Westmeath one more chance to equalise. Sindar (Roscommon) - Posts: 348 - 01/07/2019 16:47:56 2203732 Link
Main problem is the tackle; sometimes a foul is clear (a jersey pull) but often it's subjective, and supporters interpret it according to their own bias. The lack of respect for refs is also a problem. For example, Armagh's star forward misses from 6 yds out, and the supporters blame the ref for losing the game. At club level it's far worse, the abuse refs take is shocking and unacceptable This is a contrast to rugby, where no dissent is allowed and seriously penalised, no matter how bad the decision. But a huge culture change would be needed here. Until this is addressed no-one in their right mind would want to be a referee befair (Down) - Posts: 237 - 01/07/2019 17:05:15 2203747 Link
Tomsmith Cavan here Would it be an idea that the Referee would sit down and look at the replay and justify his calls after the Game is over . After what I saw at the weekend I just dont know how a few of the top class Refs could explain some of the decisions tomsmith (Cavan) - Posts: 3856 - 01/07/2019 17:39:23 2203778 Link
Replying To befair: "Main problem is the tackle; sometimes a foul is clear (a jersey pull) but often it's subjective, and supporters interpret it according to their own bias. The lack of respect for refs is also a problem. For example, Armagh's star forward misses from 6 yds out, and the supporters blame the ref for losing the game. At club level it's far worse, the abuse refs take is shocking and unacceptable This is a contrast to rugby, where no dissent is allowed and seriously penalised, no matter how bad the decision. But a huge culture change would be needed here. Until this is addressed no-one in their right mind would want to be a referee" Spot on. It's accepted as part of the culture. Refs are fair game apparently. No matter how bad a ref might be he should never be subject to the sort of abuse that goes on in the GAA. Croke Park and all the County boards pay only lip service to tackling the problem. With a concerted effort and plan and some balls this could be dramatically improved within a few years. Sindar (Roscommon) - Posts: 348 - 01/07/2019 17:44:52 2203781 Link
Replying To brisbane: "I think both Dublin and Roscommon benefited from the referee but it wasnt going to change the result of the games but both Kerry and mayo benefited hugely and had a direct impact on the result" Just as a matter of interest can you point out specific incidents where Mayo benefited from the referees decisions. I'm just curious as I have heard this narrative a lot since Saturday but I have watched the game back twice and I wonder what people have seen that I haven't. Sean Cavanagh said on the Sunday game that Armagh were unhappy when Deegan was appointed, to be honest we weren't over the moon either, but he didn't explain why they were unhappy which I thought was unfair on said Deegan. Then he said Armagh were unhappy after the game and mentioned something about harsh calls. Now that's okay for the likes of us lads to make statements like that as we aren't expected to back them up but the bold Sean is getting paid for his input so the least you expect is that he would give some examples to back up the assertions. There was some mention in passing that Andy might have touched the ball on the ground but apart from zooming in to show the ball appearing to sit on Andys toe there was no attempt at clarity. They had time to meticulously go through all the stoppages to determine that the referee didn't play enough injury time, seemingly on McGeeneys prompting so surely it would be easy to find some of these harsh calls that impacted on Armagh. Oddly enough they paid no heed to the injury time played in the first half which was also four minutes even though injuries to five players three from Armagh and two from Mayo took slightly over six minutes not to mention the two bookings and two substitutions which would have added on another couple of minutes. James Horan musn't have complained about that. Andy took a couple of extra steps as did Kev Mc in the lead up to the goals but then young Campbell over carried on several occasions and actually took seven and then twelve steps in scoring one of his points. Deegan made mistakes and frustrated both sets of supporters at times but I can't find any evidence to suggest any hint of bias. There was even a suggestion from one poster that the Gaa wanted Mayo in the super eights and Deegan was part of some fiendish plot. If that was the case wouldn't it have been simpler to pair us against Leitrim in the first round, Offaly in the second and anyone bar Galway in the third. Any chance we could get a five point start the next day! Llaw_Gyffes (Mayo) - Posts: 1113 - 01/07/2019 19:42:46 2203877 Link
Replying To Llaw_Gyffes: "Just as a matter of interest can you point out specific incidents where Mayo benefited from the referees decisions. I'm just curious as I have heard this narrative a lot since Saturday but I have watched the game back twice and I wonder what people have seen that I haven't. Sean Cavanagh said on the Sunday game that Armagh were unhappy when Deegan was appointed, to be honest we weren't over the moon either, but he didn't explain why they were unhappy which I thought was unfair on said Deegan. Then he said Armagh were unhappy after the game and mentioned something about harsh calls. Now that's okay for the likes of us lads to make statements like that as we aren't expected to back them up but the bold Sean is getting paid for his input so the least you expect is that he would give some examples to back up the assertions. There was some mention in passing that Andy might have touched the ball on the ground but apart from zooming in to show the ball appearing to sit on Andys toe there was no attempt at clarity. They had time to meticulously go through all the stoppages to determine that the referee didn't play enough injury time, seemingly on McGeeneys prompting so surely it would be easy to find some of these harsh calls that impacted on Armagh. Oddly enough they paid no heed to the injury time played in the first half which was also four minutes even though injuries to five players three from Armagh and two from Mayo took slightly over six minutes not to mention the two bookings and two substitutions which would have added on another couple of minutes. James Horan musn't have complained about that. Andy took a couple of extra steps as did Kev Mc in the lead up to the goals but then young Campbell over carried on several occasions and actually took seven and then twelve steps in scoring one of his points. Deegan made mistakes and frustrated both sets of supporters at times but I can't find any evidence to suggest any hint of bias. There was even a suggestion from one poster that the Gaa wanted Mayo in the super eights and Deegan was part of some fiendish plot. If that was the case wouldn't it have been simpler to pair us against Leitrim in the first round, Offaly in the second and anyone bar Galway in the third. Any chance we could get a five point start the next day!" I agree what some of what you said, Sean Cavanaghs pick off the ground analysis was very selective. But to specific incidents, Aidan O'Shea's dive for a penalty against Fermanagh to get them out of jail in 2016 would never have have been given if it was the reverse situation, i. e. to knock them out. I seem to remember Kerry getting a similar break against Sligo in the qualifiers a few years back as well. Meath's 'goal' to deny Louth in the Leinster Final all those years ago. When's the last time a major decision like that went in favour of the underdog in a big game? Seamus Derby? Eamonn Sweeney had an interesting article on the subject in today's Indo although I didn't agree with his methodology in analysing GAA games. Sindar (Roscommon) - Posts: 348 - 01/07/2019 22:17:33 2204014 Link