To say that players and managements make mistakes too is not a good arguement nor is it to say that the players make it hard for the refs with their antics. The ref is tasked with one main job - and that is enforcing the rules of the game. The fact that they seem to be beyond criticism does nothing to improve the standards and in fact probably makes things worse as there is no real accountability. Compare this to the officials in other sports or soccer for this particular scenario - if a ref in soccer makes mistakes they are brought to task then demoted to a lower league match - this happens on a regular enough basis in the EPL/English Leagues.

I am not saying that Referees have an easy job in the GAA as they don't (given the constant changing of rules or introducing new ones and how players go out to con them etc) and I wouldn't do it for love nor money. However, if you decide to go down the route of becoming a Referee, knowing the difficulty of the job, then in my opinion you should rightly be criticised if you are making mistakes. A referee shouldn't be the difference between a team losing and winning but unfortunately I have witnessed too many games (club and county) where they have had a direct influence on who won due to decisions taken or not taken.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 10/03/2015 12:45:41    1701237

Soma - I have to agree with you... as a former club ref some of my observations are as follows. 1. refs aren't perfect, they make mistakes like everyone else 2. some of them are in it for the money, some for the power, but some are there to try to do the best they can. (unfortunately they are in the minority). 3 GAA (football in particular) is a very difficult game to ref and it is not made easier by the constant updating of rules, like the black card etc, one of the biggest problems in the GAA is there is no clearly defined tackle and that in my opinion is the main problem.
But as they say you have to play the hand you are dealt, The refs we have are the refs we have. Do many of you out there know any referees at club level that should be refereeing intercounty. or would you take up the whistle yourself. Genuinely I never went out to 'do a team out of any game' however there has been times when the level of abuse from on and off the field does sway a decision and I wouldn't be honest if I didn't admit that.

onthemoney3 (Wexford) - Posts: 7 - 10/03/2015 13:02:02    1701245

most of the referees are bad makeing bad decisions it time they went back to referee trainning and learned the rule of the game

antoman,
It's about time YOU went back to school and learned how to write properly!

Monopoly (Wicklow) - Posts: 199 - 10/03/2015 13:25:23    1701260

and then there's the one about the guy who shouted "They shot the wrong Michael Collins!"

Miler (Mayo) - Posts: 1015 - 10/03/2015 19:36:41    1701475

top 5 refeeres in country. Never hear them during a match or after a game
1.Marty Duffy
2.Cormac Reilly
3.Rory Hickey
4.Barry Cassisdy
5.Ciaran Brannigan

HughHunt24 (Cork) - Posts: 841 - 12/03/2015 10:38:46    1701948

cavan97
County: Cavan
Posts: 163

1701168
The advantage rule needs seriously to be questioned. Against Kildare twice Ref had advantage on when Cavan were in possession 30 yards out. If there is no goal on and there is no clear shot at target then the advantage is with the defending team. On one occasion Martin Reilly took a pop shot wide to utilise the advantage rule to bring back the free but the Ref just waved wide ball. This inconsistency just gets up players backs and causes niggling for the rest of the game

yes agree. the general consensus of those around me at the game was that Cormac Reilly does not understand the advantage rule. It is so so frustrating. If you are fouled and it's within the scoring zone then the ref should put his hand in the air to indicate that he is playing advantage, if you havn't scored within 5 seconds then he should award the free. However this particular ref's interpretation seems to be if you still have possesion carry on... and that's it. someone should explain to him.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5520 - 12/03/2015 10:58:23    1701967

HughHunt24
County: Cork
Posts: 111

2.Cormac Reilly

Is that a joke? He's the worst referee in the country by a large margin. Other referees miss things, he's sees things that haven't happened and gives out cards accordingly. That and his unpredictable behaviour, not to mention that on one occasion he's had an "interactions" with a player. All in all he's a major liability with a whistle.

Thought the ref at the Dublin / Tyrone game on Saturday evening did well for what was a relatively high profile game, might see more of him during the year. But then the first time I saw Reilly I thought he was OK and look what happened.

rcarragh (Dublin) - Posts: 305 - 12/03/2015 11:42:48    1701984

I would think that referee's are genuinely doing the best that they can (granted sometimes that is not good enough) with the hand they were dealt. The problem as I would see it is with the policy makers or those that sit on needless committees (those that crave the prestige of former glory days). They have created so many "grey areas" regarding refereeing that it is almost impossible for a referee not to make mistakes, especially around the black card.
The issue arose from professional fouling. A professional foul that prevents a clear goal scoring opportunity should result in a red card, like in the soccer. Out the field a yellow. And. There should also be a limit to the number of yellows allowed per team per game (say 5) before red cards are issued there after.
Makes it a bit easier for referees and teams could no longer use cynical play as a tactic to gain unfair advantage

mhunicean_abu (Monaghan) - Posts: 1053 - 12/03/2015 11:47:46    1701986

Looked like a penalty for Slaughtneil there that wasn't given. In last year's championship any time Tyrone committed a tackle like that it was a penalty and a black card.

tyroneed (Tyrone) - Posts: 753 - 17/03/2015 16:42:09    1703781

Shocking decision early on in that club final , why not have a word with umpires ?

TheRightStuff (Donegal) - Posts: 1688 - 17/03/2015 17:13:59    1703792

Goldrick gives penalty.exact same happen on first minutes and he bottles it

HughHunt24 (Cork) - Posts: 841 - 17/03/2015 17:22:47    1703797

Penalty in last minute should not have been awarded. Replay shows he got it right not to award penalty early on

Miler (Mayo) - Posts: 1015 - 17/03/2015 17:32:31    1703802

tyroneed

Agree with you a blatant penalty and probably a black card to boot, made no difference, but to miss out on a penalty so early certainly gave them no chance at all. I just think referees are bringing their own interpretations of rules and some have this notion that the game should flow. Given the level of contact and the intensity of the game letting it flow is a recipe for disaster.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4942 - 17/03/2015 17:38:02    1703807

The referees at the top just ignore the rules. I thought Sean Hurson one of the lesser known referees had a great game in the monaghan Derry match. It seems if you get to the top you can ignore the rules which is very frustrating for players and supporters.

shaggylegend (Monaghan) - Posts: 1941 - 17/03/2015 17:50:03    1703818

The people I have been talking to, and even on this board, were split 50:50 on whether the early incident was a penalty after seeing numerous replays - I felt the Corofin man got a clear hand to the ball and it was an excellent tackle. Yet some posters call the referee a disgrace for the decision he made without any replays, it just shows you what a thankless job it is. One thing it definitely didn't merit was a black card, anyone calling for that is really showing an ignorance of the rules - a problem which is probably much bigger than 'bad' referees.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 17/03/2015 19:48:18    1703864

Was recently reffed by Alan Coyne from Westmeath,----.

CavanBlue2 (Cavan) - Posts: 4 - 17/03/2015 19:55:51    1703869

It was a footblock and dangerous play at that, red card was mentioned or should I say carta dearg in the commentary, bottled big time by ref as he had a clear view and was not far away. Lundy for Galway the man of the match but also the disgrace of the match with his on field antics and efforts to con the ref.

giveballaghback (Roscommon) - Posts: 296 - 17/03/2015 20:08:09    1703880

Though Corofin deserved their win in the end the decision to deny Slaughtneil a stick on penalty in the first few minutes was shocking, a total disgrace. It was the most blatant penalty and black card you will ever see yet the referee didn't give it and he will have to explain why; it seemed a very easy and non controversial decision to make. If Slaughtneil had converted that the game could have turned out differently as Corofin seemed to take heart and confidence after that. The black card has ruined football and many of us predicted that it would. Some officials are very, very reluctant to give black cards to high profile teams especially at home.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9785 - 17/03/2015 20:16:42    1703885

Indeed Corofin are a fine footballing side but their antics were shocking. Feigning injury, throwing themselves to the ground, playacting and waving cards to get players booked is not the behaviour of a classy side. I wonder will we see pages of comment from football pundits about this or maybe some rule changes to stop it? The silence will be deafening.....as usual.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9785 - 17/03/2015 20:27:37    1703892

I am not calling the penalty incident a black card am on about an incident about 40 seconds prior to that when a corofin player passes the ball and then takes the slaughtneil Man out with a deliberate body collide. Goldrick 5 metres away choose to ignore it as he would have had to black card a player after less than 3 minutes.

shaggylegend (Monaghan) - Posts: 1941 - 17/03/2015 20:28:24    1703893