Referees need to use common sense, says O’Connor

ASPIRING inter-county referees need to use more ‘common sense,’ even if they are being told by officialdom to apply the rules rigidly.

That is the view of top hurling referee Pat O'Connor from Limerick, the recipient along with Brian White from Wexford, of Vodafone GAA AllStar awards from President Sean Kelly yesterday.

O'Connor, from the Ahane club, revealed that he had given up football about twelve years ago because 'there's so much whistling' in the game.

"You can't let it go as much as you can in hurling. Football is a lot more physical, hurling a lot more free-flowing that's what I found. Even though the rules are very similar, the contact is not as difficult as hurling.

"I don't know how football referees do it. It's absolutely unbelievable, it's so difficult for them."

He agrees that the League is an ideal way for younger officials to gain experience.

"You have to have a certain amount of sympathy for them, but they are going to have to learn to use a bit of common sense along the way.

"I know they have been told they must apply the rules down the line very strictly. Okay they need to, but especially looking at it from a football point of view, I think it's ridiculous to send off a player for a push in the back twice. That's what it says in the rules at the moment, but I certainly wouldn't be going along those lines myself.

"Refereeing boils down to 90% common sense and 10% of the rules. But it also helps to have played the game because it gives you a bit of a 'feel' for it as well."

White doesn't dispute that the referee's role in controlling football games is considerably more difficult.

"They are separate games completely. In hurling, you have two hands on the hurl, there's less pulling and dragging and it's less physical. I would agree that the Dublin/Tyrone game was very hard for Paddy Russell to deal with because both teams were very negative.

"In Sunday's game (between Dublin and Kerry, which he handled), both teams were positive and it makes it very easy for a referee to handle that kind of a match."

Responding to the complaints of Tyrone manager Mickey Harte on the dismissal of top forward Stephen O'Neill for the second time in three games, Sean Kelly said he appreciated that at individual level there would always be concern. Overall, he felt that the crackdown on indiscipline was 'working out reasonably well'.

"From my meeting with managers, they had no great issue with it once communication was made with them and that there's consistency going forward. Obviously it's hard looking at a great player like Stephen O'Neill going off twice because he's a very clean player. But, once you get one yellow you're walking a thin line and anything can happen.

"I told the managers that we were now in a situation where we need to try out referees the same as they have to try out players and that come the championship we will cut down our panel of referees. They understood that and they accepted it. The one disappointment they had was that it hadn't been signposted to them in advance."

Speaking on refereeing in general, Mr Kelly pleaded for everybody to show more respect for referees. Specifically, he was concerned by the 'culture of condemnation' which operated as far down as juvenile level.