Anthony Daly: Why is the GAA's disciplinary system hogging the headlines?

Like in anything controversial, there is always a reaction after a reaction. The disciplinary bodies need to get their houses in order but is some player going to pay a heavy price for this mess?

The coolest cut: Peter Duggan of Clare takes a sideline cut during the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Final match between Limerick and Clare at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

I was behind the counter holding court in the pub on Wednesday evening with five locals, all either knowledgeable hurling men or just fanatical Clare supporters, before the news broke that Peter Duggan and Rory Hayes had their suspensions lifted for today’s match.

The discussion before the news arrived was forensic and invasive. Was it fair? Did the boys go over the top? Can you really be that selective around two or three incidents when all hell was breaking loose around the pitch everywhere else?

I was trying to be the judge because the jury in front of me clearly had their minds made up. Of course I’m a passionate Clare man but I was trying to assess the whole situation and get my point across just as I would as an analyst with this paper and The Sunday Game.

Before we could reach a verdict or establish any clear-cut conclusion on the matter, word came through that the two lads and Galway’s Cianan Fahy were free to play.

Over the next half an hour, my phone nearly went into meltdown with texts and WhatsApp messages, along with me trying to get to the heart of the matter by scrawling through social media for evidence to provide more clarity on the suddenness of the conclusion.

Galway had made an administrative query, which was supported by the CHC, and on the same basis Clare’s penalties were dismissed. We’re all delighted with the outcome in Clare but you’d have to ask serious questions about the whole affair.

It all collapsed on a procedural technicality as the decisions to recommend bans were agreed via email without a quorum of one quarter of total members and not fewer than three of the members, and not in person, video or telephone. The whole thing sounds nuts.

I was never really up to speed on any of that kind of stuff but even when I was involved with the Covid Response team in Clare, you knew that when it came to decision making through Zoom and emails that if you hadn’t everything correct around GDPR that you wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.

The Clare and Galway officials were fully aware beforehand of the flaws in the Central Competitions Controls Committees (CCCC) processes and procedures in both cases. Duggy and Rory were cited for basically category 3 infractions which are at the lower end of the scale, offences which normally would get you a one-match ban if the referee gives you a red card.

Those category 3 offences wouldn’t normally be cited. They wouldn’t even be part of a CCCC prosecution and it’s very strange that they were in this scenario. Now that all three cases were tossed out, I just feel it casts the whole process in a very negative light, especially in how the CCCC went about their business.

Like in anything controversial, there is always a reaction after a reaction. The disciplinary bodies need to get their houses in order but is some player going to pay a heavy price down the line now for this mess?

This will surely necessitate a rule change at next year’s Congress but you can still almost be guaranteed that the next time such a case goes before the Central Hearings Committee (CRC) or the CCCC that they’ll have every box ticked.

Of course that’s the way it should be done but will it be right if some player gets nailed now as a reaction to this whole fiasco?

Every part of this process has to be analysed. Do the GAA continue to take their evidence – as they did in these cases – from retrospective TV analysis?

Time is obviously the key factor in such a tight programme but do the GAA and RTÉ decide to have a refereeing segment on ‘The Sunday Game’ like Sky do around their soccer analysis, albeit the following day during dead air-time?

I don’t want this to sound biased but anyone who reads this paper appreciates the immense clarity and insights Brian Gavin provides around controversial incidents and refereeing performances on Monday mornings.

The fact that Brian is retired from the inter-county game now gives him a licence and an authority to make hard calls on refereeing decisions, which is exactly the way it should be. At times, you’d feel sorry for referees when they get savaged after games but they can’t defend themselves out of more or less having to take a vow of silence.

I’ve often read out Brian’s comments in the bar before an audience on a Monday, which is what I did again on Wednesday as my jury were formulating their decisions before me.

Brian was able to provide us with the line recently that John Keenan was reportedly hauled up for his refereeing of the Munster final. John did let a lot go but it was the type of game that almost demanded that kind of a refereeing performance – to a certain point anyway. If it’s a foul, it’s a foul – bottom line. But we can’t have it every way either where we want the game to flow but you can’t facilitate anarchy either.

Everyone is just craving consistency but that is becoming harder to achieve, especially for referees, when the game is become near impossible to referee. If John applied the letter of the law in the Munster final, there could have been 100 frees. Who wants to see that?

Where do we go next? Do we need two referees? Do we have a couple of neutral spotters in the crowd who select certain infractions that, when backed up by video evidence, are deemed more legitimate forms of incriminating evidence than relying on the decisions of somebody on a TV studio?

I probably would not agree with that stuff but it would certainly leave less space and inclination for the feeding frenzy that has gobbled up the last week.

The hurling has nearly been forgotten about but there are two colossal matches to be decided today. Clare have the two boys back now but you’d wonder does that play even more into Wexford’s hands?

I’m sure Brian Lohan would have been building it up until Wednesday that they’d be without the lads and they just had to get on with their cause, which would have added fuel to their fire of frustration. Then all of a sudden Lohan has to twist that narrative again, which can be a tricky thing to do so close to the game.

There are questions and subplots smeared all across these two games. Cork have won their last three games while Galway were unbeaten in the round robin but you still couldn’t say for sure where both teams are really at. I’m not sure they even know themselves.

Cork have built up momentum and confidence but they need to start well to show how much actual conviction is in their heads. One of these days, Galway are actually going to convert the goal chances they are creating and, if this is the day, Cork could be in for a long afternoon.

There are doubts around Seán O’Donoghue but his availability will be massive because I wouldn’t fancy many of their other backs on Conor Whelan. Whelan was underserviced in the Leinster final but he still had two goal chances that he didn’t take and Whelan needs to start adding green flags to the white ones he’s been regularly converting.

After the Leinster final debacle, the Galway players will surely know that Henry Shefflin might not go back unless he sees something different in them now. Galway have been cut some slack over Henry’s personal tragedy during the spring but the players have to stand up and be counted here now because patience amongst the supporters has been non-existent over the last two weeks.

There is no better crowd than Galway to turn up when they’re being hammered by their own people and prove them wrong. A lot of people feel Cork will win a shootout but would they? Are Cork’s backs built to withstand that type of a game? Cork will put up a score but a team like Galway can match them on the scoreboard if they ignite up front.

Both of these teams are capable of beating almost anyone on their day but they’re also two sides that are almost impossible to trust. So this will basically come down to which team is mentally more tuned in on the day. I honestly couldn’t say with any real conviction which team will win but I’ll give a very – very - tentative nod to Galway.

Wexford were excellent against Kilkenny but it’s still hard to know where Wexford’s form is really at considering how poor Kilkenny were that evening. The big plus has been the form of their key players along with the emergence of Damien Reck as a player of real substance. Conor McDonald looks a lot freer in himself and any side with McDonald, Lee Chin and Rory O’Connor up front has to be feared.

Wexford’s biggest decision is how they’ll go about marking Tony Kelly, which should be a man-marking role handed to Reck or Diarmuid O’Keeffe.

There are some injury doubts around Tony. He apparently hasn’t really trained since the Munster final so even concerns about Tony being in full flow hands a serious advantage to Wexford.

By all accounts Aidan McCarthy is back and is reportedly going well so his presence, along with the return of Mark Rodgers, gives Clare serious strength in depth of options up front.

This is a really tricky match for Clare but the key for them all year has been starting well. Getting out of the blocks early here is more important than ever now. And if Clare do and hit their stride early, you’d fancy them to maintain that consistency they’ve shown all summer and get the job done.