Australian refereeing to come under joint scrutiny
It follows Irish dissatisfaction with Australian referee Matthew Jones' interpretation of the rules, specifically penalising players for being tackled in possession. Michael Collins from Cork will be the Irish official in Friday night's Series decider.
Pat Daly, the GAA's Head of Games, believes the decision on the Irish side to dispense with a warm-up game may have had a negative effect and also denied the referees the opportunity of trying out the rules.
"It didn't help the players because it would have enabled them to get a lot of stuff out of their system,'' he commented. "The emphasis was on training as distinct from having a game and I'm not sure if that was the best approach. They seemed to be flat and seemed to be a bit tired for some reason. I'm not sure what that can be attributed to.
"One thing about the Australians is that they learn fairly quickly. And when they were at the tail-end of a roasting last year, they decided the same thing wasn't going to happen this year. They drafted in Kevin Sheedy, he examined the game in real detail and brought in Brian Stynes with Jim Stynes. It showed that he was prepared to learn from them. He worked on what the Irish guys' strengths were and tried to curb those. And, he introduced a number of Aboriginal players who have exceptional speed.
"The Australians, undoubtedly, were significantly better prepared. They have a significantly better team and because of that and their ability to take three-pointers, which we weren't able to do they were comprehensive winners.''
Daly explained the procedure for reviewing the performance of the two match referees, Matthew Jones and David Coldrick.
"Any decisions we feel are not right or need to be looked at will be looked at with the referees. We'll identify what elements need to be looked at, appraise the referees on those and appraise the team managers if needs be.
"In a situation like this, ideally you would have had a warm-up game and if there were any small glitches, they could be ironed out. Inevitably people will be unhappy with some decisions on either side of the fence. What we will be doing will be to ensure that whatever unsatisfactory decisions were there are identified and ironed out and that you get 100% consistency on Friday night.''
The ideal situation is that the two referees have a good working relationship and they know the rules. Thus the potential for problems is minimised.
"People are talking about the Anthony Lynch decision being tough, but probably it was technically a penalty in that he had the guy's arm caught. The Australian referee was handling his first game, while Dave Coldrick had previously refereed in the Under-17 international series.
"Basically, you are trying to ensure that both of them are operating on the same wavelength and that they are implementing the exact same set of rules. As we have seen in the past, in each tour there would have been a warm-up game, which enabled us to iron out glitches. Reference was made to the Declan Browne incident two years ago when he was injured in a warm-up game. People said we couldn't afford to have that happen again.
"The benefits that accrue from a warm-up game are far more substantial than the risks involved. He was the only player I can remember there being any controversy about.''
On the basis that there is "more in them," he expects the Irish team to "lift" their game on Friday night but that they appreciate it's "well nigh impossible" for them to win the series.
"I know they will be doing their damnedest to win the game, but it's not going to be easy. I know from experience that once the Aussies win the first game, their tails will be up.
"A lot of it will come down to the first quarter to ensuring that Australia do not get ahead. A lot will come down to taking six-pointers (goals) as well.''
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