McEnaney: refs will win over doubters

The GAA’s new referees committee chairman Pat McEnaney says his match officials must earn respect and not expect to be given it by players.

Claiming regard for GAA referees lags behind rugby and soccer, the Monaghan native will tell his referees to win over the doubters with their displays in this year’s championship.

“I’ve always maintained that you’ve got to gain respect and you do that by giving consistent performances on the pitch,” said McEnaney.

“It’s how you handle yourself on the pitch and that’s what I’ll be trying to get the referees to do. We’ve got to produce the results and when you do that, you gain respect.

“We’re third tier behind rugby and soccer. At inter-county level, it’s quite good, respect for referees, but it’s a constant battle and you need to be working on that all of the time. It’s another challenge we have.”

Known for taking more a common sense approach to officiating Gaelic football, McEnaney was forced to retire from inter-county refereeing last year having reached the age cap of 50. However, he insists he won’t be telling his panels to go out and take a laissez-faire approach to the rulebook.

“If you look at referees these days, experienced guys like Maurice Deegan, David Coldrick, Joe McQuillan and Michael Collins, they’re a lot more reasonable.

“Seven or eight years ago, they were a lot more pernickety maybe. But they have the experience now and they’re quite capable of letting the game develop and (I’m) comfortable with that.

“It all comes from experience. You have to play the rules but playing advantage and coming back to book a player, that’s experience and good refereeing.

“That’s not common sense, though. A referee being able to see a player getting an advantage and playing it but staying in control of the game, it’s a balancing act.

“It takes a good lad to do that but my job is to get these players to that level. It’s like preparing a team for the championship. If I have 15 referees competing for the one spot I’m in a very happy position. It’s also about developing the young lads at a fast pace as well.”

McEnaney admitted he initially turned down the chairmanship but was eventually persuaded by GAA president Liam O’Neill to take the position after the pair met.

“I was as shocked as anybody that I got asked about it. I had no interest in the job.

“If somebody asked me at mid-April I’d have said ‘Not a chance’ because I had moved away from it. I was doing club refereeing and a lot of cycling. I’m training for Race the Rás and raising a few pound for Breast Cancer and Aware and that’s where my mind was.

“When I got the call I said no initially but when the president rings you, you’ve got to give him the courtesy of meeting him.

“So that’s what happened and after about an hour and a half of hammering me around the table he convinced me this was the way to go, so here I am.”

McEnaney believes the amendment to the square ball rule this year will make referees’ lives a lot easier.

He himself fell foul of the original rule in the 2010 All-Ireland semi-final when he incorrectly judged Down’s Benny Coulter to have been outside the small rectangle when he fisted a goal against Kildare.

“From a referees’ perspective, it’s fantastic. I can tell you from my group of referees we’ve been preaching that for two years.

“Unfortunately, it came a couple of years too late for me but it makes our job easier, no question about it. I’m very confident that we will have a lot less incidents this year.”

McEnaney also acknowledged he will need assistance in hurling.

“People may see that as my weakness but I have Willie Barrett with me and if I was selecting a committee myself in the morning, he would be on it.

“We’ve Dickie Murphy with me and Kevin Walsh from Clare so we’re very solid when it comes to hurling and I’m quite conscious of that. I couldn’t pick a better team than that.”

Regarded as a straight talker, McEnaney won’t say that he will lead with an iron fist but if he has an opinion to express to or about a referee, it’s more than likely he will say it to him.

“People know me, that I don’t hide behind anybody and I think the referees will appreciate that. We’ve got a good group of lads, they know me and I know them.

“A lot of us have travelled in the same boat together. You’re going to have a few rocky days but we should have a good enough relationship.”