Alan O'Connor sending off.

[Hardy]

You don't seem to see Mc Guigan's reaction was irrelevent once Miskella hit him in the head. Thats a no-no in all contact sports as the rulebook states. So its irrelevent debate really.

That would only be an issue if Mc Guigan wasn't hit and he was feigning injury. And he was hit. End of story.

It's worse than I thought and I'm beginning to despair for the soul of the game - people actually think it's OK to pretend you're hurt when you're not. Sad.

Doen't matter whether he was hurt or not.....as a very famous Prime Minister once said...'a foul is a foul is a foul...' or words to that effect.

It really does seem there's a generation growing up now, substantial numbers of whom believe this.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

The end result is immaterial here: the intention is all that counts, and when you strike to the head the intention is unwholesome and dangerous (whichever way it's spun), and is therefore automatically a red card offence (what's the alternative, a rapid reaction board of injury assessment on the sideline?).

Can understand Hardy's frustration though, his lads can stand on heads and everything without so much as a caution 

[Hardy]

People can't seem to get their heads around the fact that we're talking about two different subjects. Nobody is disputing the rules or the justice of sending people off for hitting other people.  As a separate issue, we're discussing the behaviour of people who feign injury. Take the foul as read. Take the red card as read and red. That's the law satisfied. The striker is in the shower. Now - what are your thoughts on people who behave as if they've been poleaxed when nothing or little enough has befallen them? Please try to answer without reference to the perpetrator of the foul.

[No way ref]

People can't seem to get their heads around the fact that we're talking about two different subjects. Nobody is disputing the rules or the justice of sending people off for hitting other people.  As a separate issue, we're discussing the behaviour of people who feign injury. Take the foul as read. Take the red card as read and red. That's the law satisfied. The striker is in the shower. Now - what are your thoughts on people who behave as if they've been poleaxed when nothing or little enough has befallen them? Please try to answer without reference to the perpetrator of the foul.

its wrong BUT i would do what i had to to ensure that someone who deserved to be sent off was sent off

[thewobbler]

Hardy, I'll repeat a posting I made a few weeks ago on a separate thread.

A clubmate of mine got his jaw broken recently as the result of a judas punch. I've no doubt at all that the perpetrator had no intention of causing serious injury. But the point is that he did, and I'd have no qualms at all about him getting a year long ban from the GAA. Red card bans continue as normal for throwing a punch, but if a man ends up in hospital, the full ban comes in.

With that sort of punishment it might make players think twice before throwing a sucker punch.

If the perpetrator isn't obvious to the referee, I'd even suggest banning his club from all activity until they put his name forward. That would go a long way to getting rid of the GAA attitude that you have to protect your own to save face, even if they deserve a punishment.


How is this related to your comments?

Well, you've got two options as a player when you're hit off the ball. You either go to ground and hope the referee sorts the situation out, or you go swinging and hope the referee goes easy. The first option is infinitely more sensible. Players though shouldn't have to make that choice. When you play football, you should (and should want to) get involved in the physical side of things. But that doesn't include being a punchbag. And when fellas like Miskella can get off scot free for throwing punches (and more or less scot free should they break a jaw), the GAA isn't protecting its players.

[DuffleKing]

should everyone who throws a punch get a year then wobbler or only those who break a jaw?

[thewobbler]

Those that put a man in hospital Duffle King. It's a simple enough system. Throw punches by all means. If you get caught, you get a month. If you do harm, you get a year. The second one is the key deterrent, and I believe the measure would clean the game up enormously.

Let me re-iterate that I'm not talking about hard football, or players getting hurt in challenges.

I'm talking about when everyone involved in a game turns around and there's a fella lying on the floor with his jaw in two pieces.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

should everyone who throws a punch get a year then wobbler or only those who break a jaw?

Those who throw a punch should be punished as per the very clear rule in the rule book, so once again discipline has descended into farce. Having said that, I'm glad that Miskella won't miss the final, but if there was even a smidgen of consistency here I doubt very much that he would have taken that chance in the first place, his red mist notwithstanding.

[INDIANA]

People can't seem to get their heads around the fact that we're talking about two different subjects. Nobody is disputing the rules or the justice of sending people off for hitting other people.  As a separate issue, we're discussing the behaviour of people who feign injury. Take the foul as read. Take the red card as read and red. That's the law satisfied. The striker is in the shower. Now - what are your thoughts on people who behave as if they've been poleaxed when nothing or little enough has befallen them? Please try to answer without reference to the perpetrator of the foul.

How can you tell the force of the punch?

[cadhlancian]

TBH, you dont know how hard he was hit

If you are punched in the head & dont react do you think the fella that done it is going to get away with it?

I dont know how hard he was hit no, but to knock a fully grown man to the ground you have to be hit a right slap. To keep him down he'd need to be near concussed.

If someone hit me in a match (which has happened before), I prefer to get him back in a way that stays within the rules of the game, a score, a block, hard tackling, let him know I'm there.  Not f**king fall to the ground and roll around. I'm not trying to look like a tough guy here, but falling like that and holding your head would embarrass me. I would have to ask serious questions about myself if I was at that caper.

may I have an autograph please?

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Now - what are your thoughts on people who behave as if they've been poleaxed when nothing or little enough has befallen them? Please try to answer without reference to the perpetrator of the foul.

This is where a woeful referee will bring out the worst, potentially, and that's why there was the mass breakdown of discipline on Sunday last. Bannon had lost all respect from the players (at last). If a referee is as bad as Bannon was and you've been clocked and you know that unless you go down you will get nothing, because the referee is as all-seeing and all-knowing as a priest in a brothel (and as all-seeing and all-knowing as a priest in a pulpit where Cork was concerned  ), then I can understand why a player will go down since it's the only way that the muppet in the middle will seek to consult with his co-officials. That's not to condone, however, but it's not good enough that a player who commits a blatant red card offence will get off scot-free due to the ineptitude of the main official unless that referee is forced to cop on to look and consult with those that are there to help him, and up to which point he has virtually ignored.

That's not the same as a player who's not been touched going down, different situtation, and to be condemned outright.

[muppet]

People can't seem to get their heads around the fact that we're talking about two different subjects. Nobody is disputing the rules or the justice of sending people off for hitting other people.  As a separate issue, we're discussing the behaviour of people who feign injury. Take the foul as read. Take the red card as read and red. That's the law satisfied. The striker is in the shower. Now - what are your thoughts on people who behave as if they've been poleaxed when nothing or little enough has befallen them? Please try to answer without reference to the perpetrator of the foul.

How can you tell the force of the punch?

The hand and the elbow have the same status in the Gaa, use either aggressively and you (if you are caught) are off. Therefore McGuigan deserves the same attention in this as Miskella.

Bannon saw nothing, his umpire 70 yards (61 metres) away must have thought he saw something but couldn't be sure.

If you argue they both should have got red then fair enough. But some official would have to have seen it clearly for that to happen.

IMHO Miskella has benefited from getting the yellow as if he wasn't punished on the day the Gaa might have felt they had to be seen to do something and a retrospective yellow card would hardly have washed with the media.

Despite some hysterical posts here it is not clear cut whether either dig made contact and we are all better off without Frank Murphy overturning yet another poorly thought through suspension.

[No way ref]

muppet what are you on about

[muppet]

muppet what are you on about

Don't worry about it Mr. Bannon.

[muppet]

Let him play the final, I have no issue with that (in a feck it, he got away with it way). If they win, he should hand his medal back as he doesn't deserve it.*

However, this has set a precedent and next year will be interesting. Video evidence is gone after this.

*That was just a joke for Sidelinekick.

Am I correct in saying video evidence can only be used in instances where the officials took no action?