More of the same, says content Cooney, as DRA demand eases

GAA president Christy Cooney has expressed satisfaction at the decline in the number of cases heading to the Disputes Resolution Authority.

And he is hoping for more of the same in 2010.

Cooney voiced concern at the trend of challenging bans and suspensions in his Congress address last April. On that occasion, he said that Croke Park would “strive to cultivate” a sense of fair play, where players would take responsibility for their actions and the “all-important” role of match officials was fully recognised and valued.

Ten months on, and the GAA chief is delighted with a changing approach from players and county boards.

“I must say I was very pleased the way players have responded. I understand there might be one appeal from what happened in Portlaoise and there have been reports of a case of mistaken identity or something like that. But, I understand the other players have decided to take no course of action and I think it’s the right thing to do.

“If a player is guilty of an offence, (he should) accept it and move on. I believe players are big enough now and understand our Association well enough to take the punishment if they commit the crime.

“Last year we saw that through the championship. Only one appeal went the whole way to the DRA and that was tremendous for our Association. The improvement was phenomenal and I would hope we will have that again this year. I think we will, because I believe our players want to go out and play the game in a proper fashion and the referees want to referee in a proper fashion.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have a wonderful season, but of course players are human and will make mistakes. And referees are human, too, and they will make mistakes. We want quality games with players playing to the best of their ability in a disciplined fashion.’’

Cooney, one of the speakers at the Vienna Woods Hotel-sponsored Glanmire & District sports awards function in Cork on Thursday night, described the launch of the GAA’s Respect initiative as one of the most important policy matters of his presidency.

“It’s particularly about respect at youth level, for our kids who play our games – giving them the respect that they deserve and getting them to respect their peers, their coaches their parents and the opposition.

“We would hope that it will change the image of sport and gain the opportunity for more people to play our games in a very welcome and open environment. There should be no pressure on young kids to achieve a win at all costs. The most important thing of all is that every day they go out, they enjoy whatever sport they are playing.’’

He insisted that the instruction to GAA referees to rigidly enforce the experimental rules in the upcoming leagues should not be interpreted as dissatisfaction with their application in the various secondary competitions.

He explained: “We did exactly the same last year for the National League, asking referees to apply the rules as they were. We did the same for the championship – and we had an outstanding championship. The rules were applied rigidly too in the O’Byrne Cup game between Kildare and Laois and unhappily seven players were sent off. We don’t want a repeat of that. We want players to respect the game, to abide by the rules and for the referees to adhere to the rules that exist. And, if a player commits an offence, that they apply the appropriate card, a warning, a yellow or red card. It’s just a renewal situation with referees – basically the same message given every year – apply the rules as they should be applied as per the rule book.’’