Aidan O'Mahony = Pathetic

[6th sam]

I have just had a terrible thought-by suggesting the involvement of the GPA on this ,could we be opening a can of worms-Dessie Farrell will probably propose a special extra grant for every county player who doesn't feign injury.I think I see a strike coming!

[AZOffaly]

It would be nice to see the DRA taking a hard stance on this. After all it is a player 'welfare' issue. Donnacha O'Connor, Dan Gordan and others have missed, will miss, or almost missed, huge games because of the cheating actions of fellow players.

[RadioGAAGAA]

The sensible approach was to send off the Cork man and to tell O'Mahoney to stop making a fool out of himself and get on with it.

Muppet indeed.

The sensible approach would have been to tell O'Mahoney to get up, then get on with the game. No bookings or nothing.

The dangerous issue for the Gaa here is what happens when you demonise players for 'diving' in Gaa.

What will quickly happen is that every time a player goes down injured, and there is a risk of a card as a result

How many serious injuries do you know of that occurred as a result of a wee slap to the face?


Most (read: virtually all) occur when playing the ball, and that is a different kettle of fish all together.


Taking a dive (like O'Mahoney did) and going down too easily are two different problems. When a player goes down to win a free - they do not usually roll around pretending to be injured.

the usual heroes will rush in trying to lift the 'injured player' to his feet to show he is not injured. This already happens occasionally.

Rule number one: if there is a risk of serous injury you never move the player.
Rule number two: if there is any doubt about the injury assume it is serious.

I am not for one second trying to condone what O'Mahoney did but the Gaa need to carefully think about what is the real problem. A player falling down pretending he was shot is merely pathetic, but is hardly the end of the world.

Lifting a seriously injured player to try prevent a yellow/red card is the real risk.

Scaremongering bullshit.



You wanna watch ponces leap around and drop at the slightest "contact" - go watch soccer and quit trying to ruin Gaelic.

[RadioGAAGAA]

O'Mahoney should be suspended for 2 months IMO.


I don't give a f**k what rule they suspend him under - just punish him by denying him any chance of playing in the AIF.

[AZOffaly]

Calm down man. No need to go ballistic at someone who has a different opinion.

I think the retrospective review panel would be the ideal solution. Referee's don't make any judgements on the spot, unless they are 100% sure, regarding a players injury following an incident. That deals with the chance of a lad being pulled around the place if he is hurt.

The panel then deals with the miscreants afterwards, if necessary, and if the offence is obvious.

That should serve the dual purpose of a) protecting players on the field, and b) punishing people who seek to get opponents in trouble by playacting.

Hopefully that would address the issue at source. If I go down and roll around like a landed trout for no reason, chances are I'll get a ban.

[ríochtciarraí]

One other huge problem for the GAA is the fact that as they have been pathetic in dealing mith this sly behaviour in the past there would be a huge outcry now if they were to suddenly start implementing it. What they need to do is release a statement making it loud and clear that this kind of behaviour will not be tolorated in future and clearly set out the punishment for such an offence. In my opinion (which usually isn't great), this is quite possibly the worst and sneakiest thing a player can do on the field of play. I would even see it as being worse than two lads squaring up to each other and throwing a few slaps.

[AZOffaly]

O'Mahoney should be suspended for 2 months IMO.


I don't give a f**k what rule they suspend him under - just punish him by denying him any chance of playing in the AIF.

Let's leave the O'Mahony incident aside for a moment. He's deservedly gotten criticised for what he did, but he's far from an isolated incident, despite what Dooher might think. I'd say every county has a share of lads who do this, it is becoming widespread.

So deal with the issue at large, rather than aiming any more vitriol at O'Mahony because he is the latest exponent of this dark art.

What county are you from yourself? Are any of your players fond of over-reacting? I can think of a couple of Offaly lads off the top of my head, so I'm not going to focus on Tyrone/Kerry or anybody else, not to mind an individual case. It's a common problem, and getting worse.

[AZOffaly]

One other huge problem for the GAA is the fact that as they have been pathetic in dealing mith this sly behaviour in the past there would be a huge outcry now if they were to suddenly start implementing it. What they need to do is release a statement making it loud and clear that this kind of behaviour will not be tolorated in future and clearly set out the punishment for such an offence. In my opinion (which usually isn't great), this is quite possibly the worst and sneakiest thing a player can do on the field of play. I would even see it as being worse than two lads squaring up to each other and throwing a few slaps.

I think it's certainly worse than two lads beating each other. (Despite what the media would say). This is cheating. Throwing slaps in a row is just stupidity or temper. I agree, and have said this a while ago, that they simply can't punish O'Mahony now, after watching incident after incident all year.

What they need to do is have a public directive that the rule Hardy quoted will start being applied, and also that a review panel will look at incidents from the prior weekend. Obviously this is not ideal because some games are not televised. Hopefully be dealing with it at the highest level, it will change perception and behaviour all the way down.

The DRA should also be joint partners in this announcement, which should take place before the National Leagues next spring.

[6th sam]

One other huge problem for the GAA is the fact that as they have been pathetic in dealing mith this sly behaviour in the past there would be a huge outcry now if they were to suddenly start implementing it. What they need to do is release a statement making it loud and clear that this kind of behaviour will not be tolorated in future and clearly set out the punishment for such an offence. In my opinion (which usually isn't great), this is quite possibly the worst and sneakiest thing a player can do on the field of play. I would even see it as being worse than two lads squaring up to each other and throwing a few slaps.

Agree,ridiculous and all as O'Mahoney's actions were it would be unfair to single him out ,given that other incidents went unpunished.The GPA  needs to recognise this as a player issue and the GAA need to make it clear future incidents will be punished.

[Minder]

I think it will be a problem until people accept diving/play acting/theatrics did not begin and end with O'Mahony on Sunday. We have had supporters from certain counties standing up for their own players when they have also been taking a dive, until supporters see fault in their own players we will continue to see this behaviour.

[stpauls]

I think it will be a problem until people accept diving/play acting/theatrics did not begin and end with O'Mahony on Sunday. We have had supporters from certain counties standing up for their own players when they have also been taking a dive, until supporters see fault in their own players we will continue to see this behaviour.

everyone is blinkered when they come to supporting their own counties, but to say it is the supporters fault that players are diving is a bit stupid!!

[Minder]

I think it will be a problem until people accept diving/play acting/theatrics did not begin and end with O'Mahony on Sunday. We have had supporters from certain counties standing up for their own players when they have also been taking a dive, until supporters see fault in their own players we will continue to see this behaviour.

everyone is blinkered when they come to supporting their own counties, but to say it is the supporters fault that players are diving is a bit stupid!!

Perhaps you should read my post again, if it is accepted and not seen as an issue that needs eradicated it will continue to happen.

[stpauls]

I think it will be a problem until people accept diving/play acting/theatrics did not begin and end with O'Mahony on Sunday. We have had supporters from certain counties standing up for their own players when they have also been taking a dive, until supporters see fault in their own players we will continue to see this behaviour.

everyone is blinkered when they come to supporting their own counties, but to say it is the supporters fault that players are diving is a bit stupid!!

Perhaps you should read my post again, if it is accepted and not seen as an issue that needs eradicated it will continue to happen.

i have read it 3 times and i still cannot understand your point!! how can the supporter have any influence over an IC player, especially on the pitch? if a player is going to take a dive, that is their choice!! none of us want to see it, but there is nothing that we can do about it!! the only people that can stop this from happening are the top brass, whether it is by issuing a statement to say that incidents like these will not be tolerated, or by creating a new rule to punish these players that are caught in the act!!

[Billys Boots]

they have been pathetic in dealing mith this sly behaviour in the past

Maybe I'm mad for getting involved in this, but I'll say my bit.

There was a lot of reprehensible behaviour in the lead-up to what folk here are blaming O'Mahony for - starting with the targetting of Darragh O'Sé by O'Neill and his cohorts.  Now I don't know (or didn't see) what went on in the lead-up to O'Sé's dismissal, but striking is striking and he had to go.  Question 1: Was O'Neill's sledging/taunting (in whatever form it took) a 'manly' or acceptable tactic?  Question 2: Following on from your first answer, do folk here feel that Kerry deserved to be a man down at that point in the game?  Question 3: Following on again, is it likely that the referee felt that (from his observation of the Cork tactic) Kerry had been short-changed?

I'd have answered No, No and Yes, and I feel that what ensued was related to these factors.

Cue shenanigans on the sideline - O'Mahony gives gip to O'Connor resulting in O'Connor striking (no matter what anyone calls it, it was a strike) O'Mahony.  O'Mahony does his Béal na mBláth and O'Connor gets the road.  Question 4: Is there really a difference, from a rules perspective, to the first incident?  Question 5: In light of the first incident, did the referee have any other option but to dismiss O'Connor?  Question 6: In view of the fact that Donaghy didn't get a stonewall penalty because he didn't stay down, allied with the circumstances of O'Sé's dismissal, is it futile to blame O'Mahony for acting as he did?

I'm with No, No and Yes here.

And lastly, Question 7: Is the problem confined to cheating in relation to diving (compared to the broader question of sportsmanship in general)?  Big No here from me.

[muppet]

I think it's certainly worse than two lads beating each other. (Despite what the media would say). This is cheating. Throwing slaps in a row is just stupidity or temper.

AZ you normally speak sense but this is where we disagree.

I cannot accept feigning injury is worse than trying to cause injury.

The thing is that it is assumed by some here that throwing a punch is instinctive or a reflex action and therefore, while no one is arguing against sanction, it is an action understood to be in 'hot blood'. The  argument against O'Mahoney is that he somehow planned this.

I would guess that when O'Mahoney got his slap the first thing on his mind was to knock the Cork lad's block off, but he hesitated and before he knew what had happened he found himself diving.

This happened in the 2001 Connacht Final. Ray Connelly and Frankie Dolan squared up before Dolan went down clutching his head. The ref arrived taking out his book but Dolan copped himself on, jumped to his feet and admitted to the ref nothing had happened. The still ref sent off Connelly.

Most people felt Dolan had redeemed himself by trying to prevent the sending off despite his stupid reaction.