Allstar referees call for return of the sin-bin

TOP GAA whistle blowers Dave Coldrick and Diarmuid Kirwan favour an overhaul of the “ticking” system in hurling and football and would be keen on a reintroduction of sin-binning.

Kirwan refereed the weekend Vodafone All-stars exhibition game in Gaelic Park and, with Coldrick also invited on the tour, were honoured yesterday by Vodafone as respective referees of the year.

Coldrick feels that while there “is a place” for ticking in the system, it needs to be re-examined.

“The way it is at the moment the referee has very little discretion. It’d like to see a bit more balance and a bit more common sense involved.

“It can be very difficult to administer, especially in tough championship matches, where the majority of time players are going out to do their best.

“They are not going out to foul all the time. A lot of fouls are messy fouls, they are not “ticking” fouls — or they shouldn’t be. What the ticking came for was to try and get rid of persistent fouling, but I think it took off on a world of its own. It has gone way too far.”

Coldrick sat on the Disciplinary Task Force set up by Nickey Brennan and he agrees that they should take “a serious look” at introducing the sin-bin — where a player would be sent off for 10 minutes after receiving a second yellow card.

“Maybe that’s the way we can tidy up our games. People have to be open-minded in terms of trying to sort out some of the indiscipline that’s in the game.’’

Kirwan, following in his father Gerry’s footsteps by refereeing an All-Ireland final and going on an All stars tour to the US, is open to the suggestion of the sin-bin.

“I don’t think there is a need for this ticking system at all, I’d much rather work without it,’’ he said.

“You’re stopping the game and telling players they are being ticked. Half of them know and half don’t, so it leads to a lot of misunderstandings during games. It’s a lot easier to have a straight yellow and red card system.

“The sin-bin is worth considering. It would probably ease up a lot of pressure on referees. But the rules that are there are going to have to be applied. That’s the bottom line, sin-bin or no sin-bin.’’

Kirwan came to live in Cork, in Ovens in 1988 (the year that his father refereed his only All-Ireland final) and took up refereeing himself seven years later. “It’s amazing the way things worked out for both of us. This has really been the highlight of my career, to be here with the class of players on tour is brilliant. It’s what I always say about refereeing and the GAA — it’s about the friendships you make. For a referee it’s a chance to meet the players and the media.”