Martin Cole gets four week suspension

[haranguerer]

I'm a neutral as regards the result of this tie, but I think this suspension is a disgrace. Coles arm was being impeded (not necessarily illegally) and he threw back his arm to shrug off the player. Theres four or five of these incidents in every game, sometimes the arm connects, sometimes not - in this case it connected with hartes face, so depending on interpretation ref could well give a yellow card for it, as he did, end of. Usually theres no penalty. There certainly shouldnt be a ban, it wasnt a deliberate attempt to elbow harte in the face.
And that 'by the letter of the law' stuff is rubbish - it doesn't and can't ever apply to gaelic football. FFS our tackle is a series of 'by the letter of the law' strikes to the opponents body!

[orangeman]

I'm telling you - soon gaelic football will be non contact !

[buglebhoy]

has it def been confirmed that monk's got a 4 week ban!! it's an absolute joke and a disgrace if he gets a ban!!

[Maximus Marillius]

lads should we accept that it is OK to hit some one in the haed either by accident or intentional...forget about this particular incident...as a rule of thumb is it OK or NOT

[Uladh]

personally i think cole is very hard done by. the hand off by way of giving yourself forward momentum is a very natural movement in gaelic football when a ball carrier is under pressure. rarely does it result in a free but if the tackler is caught high (usually when he's smaller) it can look worse than its intended. yellow card was a fair adjudication for this one.

interestingly, going by the technicalities posted on the other thread, the ref has obviously looked at the video evidence and communicated to the powers that be that he should have sent cole off. that being the case, i'd worry about colderick's understanding of the natural flow of the game.

on a lighter note, this gave me a good laugh -

I hope they don't decide to appeal but that has never been Down's style.

[Uladh]

lads should we accept that it is OK to hit some one in the haed either by accident or intentional...forget about this particular incident...as a rule of thumb is it OK or NOT

Max thats silly. there are hundreds of accidental collisons in every high intensity game. intent is a very big part of the rules of any contact sport and a referee's ability to ready that is very often the benchmark for hi overall refereeing

[Maximus Marillius]

lads should we accept that it is OK to hit some one in the haed either by accident or intentional...forget about this particular incident...as a rule of thumb is it OK or NOT

Max thats silly. there are hundreds of accidental collisons in every high intensity game. intent is a very big part of the rules of any contact sport and a referee's ability to ready that is very often the benchmark for hi overall refereeing

perhaps, but it is but the inference here is that it is Ok to hit some one on the head if unintentional....surely if you throw your arm back during a game and are not sure where it is going to hit you have to bear the responsability if it hits someone in the face and break their nose.

[cornafean]

its ok to hit someone once its not on television and the Sunday Game analysts have no other controversy to talk about.

[Uladh]

Each situation must be judged on its merits - thats why we have referees. Broken nose or not, i don't believe cole's intention was to strike harte. that said, his flailing action could be interpreted as dangerous so a yellow card.

[western exile]

Maximus, you are entitled to take a hard stance on this.  But if you choose to do so, you should be (or at least attempt to be) consistent and fair.  If you criticise Cole for his reaction, you must also criticise Harte for the original strike with intent!   I hope your head was not buried in the sand for that one 
I don't hear you shouting for a suspension for Harte     It is most unfortunate that Harte came off the worse, injury wise, and we all hope  he makes a speedy return to football, however that does not excuse him of his illegal strike on Cole.

[orangeman]

its ok to hit someone once its not on television and the Sunday Game analysts have no other controversy to talk about.

But this game wasn't live on any channel !

[Maximus Marillius]

Maximus, you are entitled to take a hard stance on this.  But if you choose to do so, you should be (or at least attempt to be) consistent and fair.  If you criticise Cole for his reaction, you must also criticise Harte for the original strike with intent!   I hope your head was not buried in the sand for that one 
I don't hear you shouting for a suspension for Harte     It is most unfortunate that Harte came off the worse, injury wise, and we all hope  he makes a speedy return to football, however that does not excuse him of his illegal strike on Cole.

auld hand let me tell you something...you didn't hear shouting that Cole should be suspended either...but saying as your a bit doppy, here i have posted it for you

amallon...if you read my posts, no where have I said he should be suspended....my posts have been in respect of many who are in denial of the fact that his use of his fore arm was deliberate. Personally I feel that the ref dealt with and that should be the end of it...but you can thank the Tyrone County board for their unwillingness to accept suspensions back in 2005 for the reason this new rule was introduced...

ah for the want of a brain

[Main Street]

The real issue is not whether Cole fouled or not.

The Ref saw it full on, he gave a yellow, the matter should be left at that.

The issue here is that there is no need for more referees in the game to judge the same incident.
Hindsight is wonderfull
and throw in  a medical report into the mix.

There is a case for other incidents not dealt with by the ref  to be brought to the CCCC.
I´d say the vast majority are happy enough when a good ref keeps up with the game, spots the incidents and applies the law.

[western exile]

I need a brain,  and you need a heart 
The Coldrick and the Committee need some courage, instead of bowing to outside pressures.
Where is the wizard when you need him 

Sorry, Max for inadvertently accusing you of shouting for suspensions.   My main point to you was to be consistent.  The vibe of your posts, whether intentional or not, was on an anti Cole bias and Harte was an angel.

[cornafean]

its ok to hit someone once its not on television and the Sunday Game analysts have no other controversy to talk about.

But this game wasn't live on any channel !

What has that to do with anything? It wasn't until 10pm on Sunday night that one of the Sunday Game panelists made a big fuss of the incident.