Stick with it — but sort out bully boys

TO KEEP it or to scrap it (pardon the choice of words), that is the question. Another battle-scarred International Series ends, but the debate continues, intensifies even.

My own opinion? Short answer, keep it. Long answer, keep it, but make the following alterations.

The officiating: Just as there are poor players, there are poor referees, and just as you have substitutes for those poor players, there should be substitutes for the poor referees. Have an official neutral tribunal at every game, monitoring the refereeing. If a referee isn’t doing his job, isn’t making the hard calls — whether against his own or the opposition team — take him out of there. On Sunday in Croke Park, in the opening quarter, the referee — or referees — were |blatantly negligent in their appointed duties. When they didn’t issue at least four red cards for those incidents, they themselves should have been issued with the red card, immediately. With the knowledge that they too are being refereed, that may have helped to focus the mind a little more.