Time for Joe to go??

[trileacman]

You'd want to hear Brolly wallow in his own notoriety in his column today in the Irish Mail. He's happier than an pig in shite. He refers to people discussing his rant "up and down the country" and "DUP politician wading in on the issue". I'd say he expects Obama to give his two cents any minute.

Say what you like about Joe but he's an attention-seeking gobshite.

[From the Bunker]

You'd want to hear Brolly wallow in his own notoriety in his column today in the Irish Mail. He's happier than an pig in shite. He refers to people discussing his rant "up and down the country" and "DUP politician wading in on the issue". I'd say he expects Obama to give his two cents any minute.

Say what you like about Joe but he's an attention-seeking gobshite.

Noble peace prize awaits!

[Main Street]

GAA must tackle yellow card farce

By Joe Kernan

If Joe Brolly is seeking the perfect sport, then he should abandon the GAA. It has been abundantly clear that over the last 30 years in particular, cynical fouling – some indeed would call it strategic fouling – has been endemic within Gaelic football.

Strangely, too, it has persisted despite the fact that the high-profile matches in particular come under the most forensic scrutiny from commentators and pundits.

So should we really be surprised that one analyst in particular has obviously decided that enough is enough and has come down particularly hard on what he brands "a disgrace"?

The furore since Brolly's outburst – he had a justifiable point that lost some of its gravitas through his rather intemperate language – perhaps best highlights the fact that the rules in relation to tackling in particular are insufficient to deal adequately with the problems that arise on an ongoing basis.

Seldom in the colourful history of the Association has one tackle –Sean Cavanagh's rugby-style 'arrest' of Conor McManus in the Tyrone v Monaghan game last Saturday – caused so much controversy.

In an era in which virtually everyone has access to social media networking, it's no surprise that all and sundry are lobbing in their tuppence worth on this contentious issue.

Cavanagh, a triple All-Ireland winner who is currently playing some of the best football of his career, has been pilloried for a tackle that 99 out of 100 players would have made had they been faced with a similar situation.

What he did, he did for the team – that's the long and the short of it.

As a consequence, his very character has been assailed while his qualities as a man have been questioned – and let's remember, we are dealing with an amateur sport here.

Yet this is the same Sean Cavanagh who, shortly after his side had beaten Monaghan, took time out to admit that his opposite number Darren Hughes, one of the finest players in the country, should not have incurred the yellow card which he suffered for a quite legal challenge on him in the early stages of the game.

That sanction undoubtedly curtailed Hughes' subsequent contribution to the contest given his understandable apprehension in relation to what could have been a fateful second yellow.

Cavanagh's defence of his Ulster team colleague said more about the demeanour of the Moy man than the tackle which incurred the wrath of Brolly and has dominated every conversation of a sporting nature in this country since Saturday.

The fact of the matter is that the rules of the GAA in relation to tackling are framed in such a way that a player can escape censure for committing such a serious offence.

A yellow card? Do me a favour – players laugh off such a mild slap on the wrist.

Incurring a yellow card, indeed, is not even an irritant compared to the concession of a goal at a crucial stage of a high-intensity championship match in which the stakes are high.

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte has since expressed surprise and indeed bewilderment at what he views as much too heavy emphasis on one aspect of last Saturday's game.

Harte goes further and reminds us, with considerable justification, that fouling of an even more serious nature was commonplace in Gaelic football in years gone by.

He is quite right there but thankfully the GAA moved to clean up its act and while the sport is far from completely sanitised, it is certainly a much better product than it was when I was playing.

And that is just as well because nowadays the families and friends of players are certainly not going to stand idly by and see someone they love become the victim of a thuggish action out on the park.

Chances are that they would be prepared to invoke the one course of action which tends to send a shiver down the spine of the GAA – and that is litigation.

For now, though, cynicism is still prevalent within the sport and until even more firm steps are taken to root it out, the problem which besmirched Tyrone's 0-14 to 0-12 victory over Monaghan on Saturday will reoccur.

In an era in which every element of the major games is closely dissected, the pressure on players to abide by the rules and on referees to get decisions right is enormous.

But then that's how it should be – if players and officials cannot stick the heat then they should get out of the kitchen.

Efforts have been made to amend rules and various punitive measures have been put forward in recent years but these have not got the necessary backing at Congress to ensure that they can become enshrined in the Official Guide.

That is a great pity, particularly as many people within the sport including several leading administrators have been predicting that cynical fouling could have serious consequences for the image of Gaelic football.

The fact that Tyrone have booked their place in the All-Ireland semi-finals should not be allowed to disguise the fact that the sport has been brought into disrepute.

Indeed, it is disappointing that after a weekend which produced four entertaining quarter-finals, the Association should continue to be making the headlines for all the wrong reasons with one tackle an all-consuming topic.

Belfast Telegraph
Friday 9 August 2013


Incidentally Joe Brolly has had some amount of media exposure in the last week, he must be lapping it up. Off the top of my head he has been in the Irish Daily Mail, the Sunday Game, UTV live, Today FM, TV3am, BBC radio, Gaelic Life, The Irish Times. He must be laughing.

Yep shortly after the game, not shortly after the incident 

Big Joe is just as much a part of rent a gob with that effort.
"Anyone else would have done it" is a very poor argument.
I have not seen a decent defence of the tackle.

Afaiu, Joe Kernan is not making an argument in defence of the tackle, he made an argument that Cavanagh should not be singled out for making such a cynical tackle that 99% of players would have made and willingly taken the yellow card under the current rules.
It was a no brainer tackle.
Sad that a brilliant forward like McManus, after skinning passed two Tyrone defenders as if they were carthorses, was felled in such a crude manner but perhaps it was just the last straw in the accumulation of cynical Tyrone football that made it stand out. Truly sad that Tyrone have to resort to such tactics to keep ahead of Div 3 plodders, in the game. Once upon a time they could play football.

Actually it was the 2nd half in the game against Kildare that Cavanagh was guilty of the darker side of cynical play when he acted as if he was brutally felled, in shooting range for a crucial free kick, the ref didn't fall for it, as Cavanagh wailed to the heavens at the injustice of it all.

[From the Bunker]

Salt in the wound stuff from last year.

[Wildweasel74]

Just got round to watching the Tyrone v Kildare game (Sky+ is great) Sean Cavanagh got booked for the excate same type of rugby tackle on Daryl Flynn in the 66th minute, grabbing hold of his waist and dragging him to the ground. so to say this type of tackle frpm sean  is a one off would be a tad of the mark!

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Joe Brolly‏@JoeBrolly199318h
Bumped into this fellow on the street today. Thankfully he didn't perform his famous ball flick on me.

[Fuzzman]

I've watched the rant several times and read sections of this thread but not all of it.
Here is my points of view

Brolly seemed calm and balanced before the game & at half time. He even joked about the incident where he dragged down Hughes and got him sent off and said we've all done that, laughing to the other two pundits.

The Cavanagh incident didn't happen right at the end of the game and actually Peter Harte did a similar pull down back in Monaghan's own half much closer to the end but Brolly never mentioned that.
Brolly should have calmed down by the time the game was over but it seems he was more put out that he had been given the man of the match award that really pushed him over the edge according to his article in the Gaelic Life.

There is no doubt Brolly has a point and most of us would rather not watch these cheating incidents and whilst most other teams do do it, Tyrone have been on live tv for 3 weekends on the trot and each time it seemed to be an actual tactic rather than a rash spur of the moment decision. Both big Sean and Petey seem to use it quite a bit which looks bad in my eyes. No doubt both have suffered enough at being pulled down themselves but this doesn't make it any better.

There is no doubt Brolly loves the limelight and he has really upped the ante now with this rant causing him to make national news and beyond. The bit that really grinds my gears is that his lack of respect for others around him. I am no fan of Spillane but week in week out he sits next to those other lads and shouts them down, uses his hands to push and cajole them, talk over them when they make their points and uses the "HOWL ON" comment to stop them interrupting them. I can only imagine his wife and family don't watch him on live as they must be mortified.

His own self importance now will be greatly boosted as many will take the attitude that he made a good point on live tv with a lot of passion and that with the new black card rules coming in next year he will no doubt be taking a lot of credit for highlighting the "professional foul" problem that has really raised it's head over the last few years. You would imagine now there will be motions in place to somehow award a penalty or something for such incidents that stops a one on one goal chance.

[BluestackBoy]

He does go over the top at times & the way he personalises things is more than a little annoying, but if you want to make an impression & get things done then that is what you have to do in the world of today.
Everyone is talking about these "pull down" tackles now because of what Brolly said & the chances of something being done is much higher than if he had done the "reasoned criticism" thing. He would just need to be careful & not overdo it otherwise the effect will be diluted.

[Fuzzman]

Brolly's real view of Tyrone from yesteryear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJGqGBHACPc

He's just tweeted
I hadn't realised giving Dessie Mone a clip was an offence

[ONeill]

I remember him saying at half time "Dessie deserved it"

[All of a Sludden]

"Tyrone Bar Stewards", its the thick Derry brogue that has people confused.

[Cold tea]

What surprised me about Joe this week was his need to tell people how much others support him. I'm always wary of people who retweet their own praise.

From a man who laughs at his own jokes under different usernames!!!

[BennyHarp]

Brolly's real view of Tyrone from yesteryear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJGqGBHACPc

He's just tweeted
I hadn't realised giving Dessie Mone a clip was an offence

I know his brother doesn't work at the academy any more but I'm sure he's delighted that Joe expressed his opinions on the people he taught and worked with on camera for him. This could be his big Ron moment. (Minus the racism obviously)

[Any craic]

RTE have just blocked the video on youtube

[EC Unique]

Not before a lot of people viewed it. It is all over facebook/twitter etc. I think it is great that he and RTE have been exposed. Brilliant..