Shane McEntee: Referees and media must take action against simulation in GAA

McEntee was on commentary duty for the Meath versus Mayo game earlier this year when Ronan Jones was sent off for an off-the-ball incident with Jack Coyne. At the time, GAA+ analyst Paddy Andrews was unsure if it was the correct call.

“He reacts, which you shouldn’t do, and he gives the referee a decision to make,” he said.

For McEntee, part of the issue was that it was missed live originally.

“There has definitely been a creep in this. That was part of my reaction. The camera angle made it difficult for me to come in two-footed, because I said I could look like a fool here.

This has been happening, I feel unchallenged. 

"Is it widespread? It is as bad as soccer? Perhaps not, but I don’t think it is challenged by the media or by referees; it is in the rulebook that you can be booked for it.

“I knew there was a milking, there was no contact, it is not for me to say he wasn’t hurt or anything like that, but having played and still playing, you know the type of contact. You know the severity of it. 

Too acceptable

"I’ve had a bit of a bee in my bonnet about this for a while that it hasn’t been challenged. I feel the media have a role in it, calling it out. It is not a character assassination by any stretch, it is in that instance, Jack Coyne played to the current climate and current conditions, the current levels of acceptability.

“If you asked the Meath team, would they rather Ronan stay down when he was tripped, potentially get a black card (for Mayo) that way versus what he did? If they were being truthful, I think they would say yes, but I don’t think that is an environment we should be OK with in Gaelic games. 

"Players do it currently unless media coverage changes and referees enforce the rules more, it becomes gradually accepted.” 

In 2023, several pundits and players claimed going down easy had crept into the game, including Dean Rock and Damien Comer.

McEntee, who previously captained his county, learned plenty from the incident, including what it was like to be at the centre of a social media storm when he aired his views online post-match.

“I made a silly mistake. I was sitting in gridlock traffic coming out of the media carpark in Castlebar. Someone sent me on footage that I hadn’t seen yet, so I decided in a smart manner to give me two cents… 

"We give nearly a whole podcast to this nuanced topic, I thought I could get it across in two sentences on Twitter. I put the phone down, stopped for food in Longford and the response hadn’t been great. I thought it was time to swallow my pride. There were a few lessons in that.”