Referees GAA v Rugby

seen this on O'Neills website and thought it worth sharing

Blood Boilers

Every so often pundits talking about Gaelic games point at rugby union and tell us that GAA referees should be treated more like rugby referees. This usually boils down to the way rugby players kow-tow to the ref with their yes sir, no sir and three bags full if it’s OK with you sir. I'm not so sure.

There is no doubt that refereeing in the GAA is a thankless task. Any man who pulls on the Reiteoir’s shirt will not have his sorrows to seek. Accused of being sight impaired, having doubtful parentage, wishing to wear the jersey of one of the teams he is supposed to adjudicate between. In between times he is liable to intimidation and occasionally physical interference and occasionally assault. Would you do it yourself for EuroMillions?

What the pundits (Joe Brolly most recently included) fail to see, is that rugby is an inherently different game to Gaelic football. It is technical stop/start in nature plus the referee only has to adjudicate on what’s going on in front of him. He doesn’t have the concern that a GAA referee does that the corner back and corner forward a hundred yards away are winding each other up like a rubber band with verbals, nips, hugs or in Joe’s case blowing kisses. The melee is never too far away!

In rugby, at any given time there might be sixteen players engaged in hand to hand attrition in a ruck, maul, scrum or lineout, yet behind each offside line the backs and loose forwards are not in a man marking situation. They are standing not needling their direct opponents, but getting to remember the next play that is called in this most stop/start of games. It is a different animal. The ref doesn’t need eyes in the back of every part of his anatomy.

Rugby is always keen to learn from the GAA, they love players crossing codes who can field high balls, kick and move with apparent ease of either foot. They bring to the game less structure and a bit more unpredictability. Rugby clubs just love having GAA players in their ranks.

By all means there should be two way traffic, but we also need to be careful the bits that we learn in turn from rugby where there is a condoned level of physical aggression, less so in modern times than in the good ole days. Rugby for all its rules and technicalities also has had its own innovations, most notably perhaps the sin bin that was tried, tested and discarded by the GAA. A missed opportunity.

Rugby has also shown a willingness to amend and update its Rules in the light of new developments or patterns of play. The game has changed greatly at the breakdown and scum over the years in response to concerns that the game needed to be more attractive to players and the general public.

The frustrations at present with Gaelic football are to do with the defensive set up of teams more concerned with not losing rather than winning. In this context and with areas of play such as the tackle interpreted differently by different referees it seems that the problems will remain with us. And the man in black is left in the middle to sort things out. Likewise, unless a decision is made collectively to cease giving referees a hard time that, unfortunately, will continue.

As one referee put it to me, a good friend from University days, ‘Gaelic football is played by savages, everyone know that.’ He refereed accordingly.

What about this for a suggestion, Instead of lambasting every refereeing performance at a club or county game, why not follow the advice of Seamus Heaney?

Yes, ‘whatever you say, say nothing!’ Let the referee get on with it and give him or her a break. That way, what belongs with rugby can stay with rugby. The GAA can get their own house in order with the help of players and supporters.

I think what alot of players, coaches and supporters would like from referees is consistency, How often have we heard "Oh that referee will let her go" or on the other hand "Oh that ref is far too fussy and fond of the whistle". Players and coaches could benefit from question and answer sessions with referees either at club or county levels to debate certain grey areas, but the difficulty is getting that level of consistency during a game.

As far as the respect for referees go I feel it is important to make young players aware at under 8 and 10 level not to speak back to referees and if a free is awarded against a player, he drops the ball or releases his opponent from a headlock and gets on with the game without saying a word in anger. A Sin bin punnishment has even been muted at this early age. The main difficulty at this level though is getting an over exhuberant parent to follow these guidelines. Many seem to view referees as fair game.

It can be hard in the heat of the moment to convince a father that in all your years of watching football that you havent seen a referee change his mind yet and risk not only falling out with the parent but for them to say that the child isn't allowed back or is joining a neighbouring club or the local soccer or golf club.

In fairness Alain Rolland had a stinker this evening!