Time for Joe to go??

[Rossfan]

their is no place for personalised attacks on players and manager's who are amateurs by paid analysts. His excuse that its Brollys northern heritage is at the heart of his direct talking style is laughable. If anything Joes origins

Apostrophe and grammar carnage 

[ONeill]

What did Joe say? Missed all this.

[armaghniac]

Joe praised this morning in Belfast Telegraph by the paper's religious correspendent who describes himself as a "Protestant who enjoys watching top class Gaelic football". You'd wonder why he watches Tyrone then?

The Belfast Telegraph publishes some odd stuff, was this in the letters column?

[T Fearon]

No.In Alf Mc Creary's (religious correspondent) normal Saturday column.

I wonder does Joe's moral indignation and resolve to do the right and honest thing at all times extend to his legal clients that he knows are as guilty as hell but try every trick in the book to get off the hook?

[orangeman]

Joe said on Monday past there that he had found a new sense of spirituality recently after the kidney donation.

But I suppose once he goes though the doors of the studio or the courthouse, business is business.


Joe will be having that broad smile and tittering to himself that we're now well over 40 pages talking about him.

[ONeill]

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.

[orangeman]

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.

Don't forget the hundreds of phoencalls to the house and the parents who called him as well.

[ONeill]

and the mystery GAA officials who congratulated him.

[Captain Obvious]

New to the board but here goes anyway.  Firstly I don't think for one minute that Brollys rant was a spontaneous reaction to the cavanagh foul. I think his attack was premeditated and a cynical attempt to maximise his own publicity.  Had Joe's motivation been truly a concern for the highlighting of cynical play in the GAA then RTE could have compiled a Montague of footage from a wide spread of game's and player's to emphasis his point.  Instead he goes for the most high profile player and managee in the game and like all good journalists he makes it personal to ensure that the story has legs and will therefore maximise his publicity.  Joes motivation has to be questioned in these circumstances.  Is it designed to maximise his own profile to either help support his own personal goals for his charitable work or is it even more cynical in that it is for his own financial gain possibly protecting his own position as a paid analyst and jornalist work. As Joe Kernan has already pointed out he has gained a maximisation in the publicity stakes from his out burst. This is not the first time Joe has had a go. In the 00's he was Tyrones chief cheerleader not because he held its players or manager in any high regard but it made good TV to have spats with Spillane and O'Rourke. Last year in the lead up to the All Ireland final he labelled Mayo as the most cynical team in the country yet a year later the same team of players and manager are now the saviour of traditional football. I can't take him seriously if everything he does and say appears to be designed to court publicity especially when it's at the expense of amateurs like cavanagh harte horan and the whole Tyrone and Mayo teams. He may be kidding the masses but he doesn't kid me.

I agree. In fairness to Joe he's a clever guy and he knows how to get people talking about him and he doesn't care how so long as it's all about Joe.

[SLIGONIAN]

New to the board but here goes anyway.  Firstly I don't think for one minute that Brollys rant was a spontaneous reaction to the cavanagh foul. I think his attack was premeditated and a cynical attempt to maximise his own publicity.  Had Joe's motivation been truly a concern for the highlighting of cynical play in the GAA then RTE could have compiled a Montague of footage from a wide spread of game's and player's to emphasis his point.  Instead he goes for the most high profile player and managee in the game and like all good journalists he makes it personal to ensure that the story has legs and will therefore maximise his publicity.  Joes motivation has to be questioned in these circumstances.  Is it designed to maximise his own profile to either help support his own personal goals for his charitable work or is it even more cynical in that it is for his own financial gain possibly protecting his own position as a paid analyst and jornalist work. As Joe Kernan has already pointed out he has gained a maximisation in the publicity stakes from his out burst. This is not the first time Joe has had a go. In the 00's he was Tyrones chief cheerleader not because he held its players or manager in any high regard but it made good TV to have spats with Spillane and O'Rourke. Last year in the lead up to the All Ireland final he labelled Mayo as the most cynical team in the country yet a year later the same team of players and manager are now the saviour of traditional football. I can't take him seriously if everything he does and say appears to be designed to court publicity especially when it's at the expense of amateurs like cavanagh harte horan and the whole Tyrone and Mayo teams. He may be kidding the masses but he doesn't kid me.

I agree. In fairness to Joe he's a clever guy and he knows how to get people talking about him and he doesn't care how so long as it's all about Joe.

But tyrone and cavanaghs tackle weren't Joes Fault and they couldn't try and give him more ammunition if they tried. I think the personal stuff he comes out with is wrong but i think his point is correct although cavanagh did nothing wrong imo. You can't say he wasn't genuinely angry and it was some sort of act, he's a barrister not an oscar winner. For me he was genuinely angry, that would go against your argument that it was premeditated. We all get carried away sometimes and lose the run of ourselves, i know i have on here. There is some truth in that joes likes the publicity for sure but i don't think this was premeditated, how could it be. it makes me laugh when people call managers in gaa amateurs, really do people still buy into that.

[phpearse]

Why was it called a rugby tackle? It looked more like a Compromise Rules tackle. Cavanagh was just getting his shout in for early inclusion to that squad later this year!

[SkillfulBill]

Absolutely his attack was premeditated.  He set it up the week before and knew Tyrone would allow him the chance to let rip the following weekend as like any high level game you will find examples of cynical fouling.  Granted Cavanaghs foul played into his hands. Your argument that he is a barrister and not a Oscar winning actor holds no water there is very little difference between the two professions.  Both require the skills to make fiction believable.  Joe is a very clever and calculated individual and his attack was designed to court maximum publicity for his own purposes.  If you know the guy or know people who know him personally ask them if it was premeditated or not.

[seafoid]

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.

[muppet]

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.

+1

[Crete Boom]

Absolutely his attack was premeditated.  He set it up the week before and knew Tyrone would allow him the chance to let rip the following weekend as like any high level game you will find examples of cynical fouling.  Granted Cavanaghs foul played into his hands. Your argument that he is a barrister and not a Oscar winning actor holds no water there is very little difference between the two professions.  Both require the skills to make fiction believable.  Joe is a very clever and calculated individual and his attack was designed to court maximum publicity for his own purposes.  If you know the guy or know people who know him personally ask them if it was premeditated or not.

Exactly I am glad to hear people say this and that even more people are finally copping on to his agenda.The irony is Joe Brolly is more cynical in his outbursts than Mickey Harte or Tyrone will ever be in their play.