Brolly: Time to crack down

Joe Brolly claims the GAA have been handed the initiative to go further in their fight against cynicism than the black card that will be introduced to Gaelic football from January 1 next.

Defending his attack on Seán Cavanagh and expanding it to criticise the Tyrone midfielder as a “serial offender”, the RTÉ pundit said the county’s actions over the last two weekends have provided the GAA with the upper hand to implement the Football Review Committee’s (FRC) successful proposals and more.

Brolly spoke with GAA officials in Croke Park on Sunday and says he was assured the association will be taking more steps to cut cynicism out of the game.

A number of the FRC’s recommendations to combat cynicism were either toned down or ruled out, but Brolly believes they may be revisited in the near future.

“The black card means that if Seán Cavanagh did that again he’d be sent off but he’d be replaced immediately by another player on the Tyrone team, so that’s no real sanction in the last 10 minutes.

“The important thing was that it established the principle. Now what is happening is that after the last few weeks everybody sees it for what it is and even the Tyrone ones are saying [it] and, in fairness, Seán Cavanagh gave a very good interview after the game about it, very honest interview, and he said, ‘I don’t like this. I support the black card. I know that measures have to be taken to deal with this. We’re just exploiting the system as it stands’.

“There’s now widespread recognition, there’s no hiding place for this anymore. I didn’t appreciate it [his remarks on RTÉ] was going to have such a big impact but I’m delighted that it has and what’s going to happen now is the rule makers have the wind at their back. Nobody is going to be standing up and saying ‘we don’t need these rules’.

“What’s going to happen now is that all of the proposals that were suggested by the rules committee [FRC]... what’s going to happen at the next review, I have no doubt, those are going to be introduced now because the public is now ready for it.”

FRC chairman Eugene McGee said Cavanagh’s 49th-minute rugby-like foul on Conor McManus was “a brilliant example” of cynicism and couldn’t have “asked for a better one even if it was stage-managed”.

He also said the black card would have been a sufficient punishment in such a case.

“Cavanagh would have gone, Tyrone would have collapsed because [Martin] Penrose was sent off and they’d nobody left of any substance. Some argue there is no penalty but it depends on the guy who’s going off.”

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster yesterday, Brolly added to his criticism of Cavanagh and Tyrone and said he has spoken to the player about the subject of cynical play in the past.

“There’s Conor McManus through on goal, his whole sporting life in a way was based on that moment, he’s trained since he was a kid. He’s a tremendous Gaelic footballer, I know his family, and he was through for the goal and he had created adventurously to get his goal chance and this is the big moment, he is going to put Monaghan through to the All-Ireland semi-final [although there were over 20 minutes left in the game] and Seán Cavanagh just cold-bloodedly rugby-tackled him from behind, closed him down, shrugged his shoulders and says afterwards, ‘Well, I don’t like doing it. It’s hateful, I agree with that, but the current rules we’re just exploiting them. That’s the way we play’.

“I’m calling Seán out on this because he’s a serial offender and it’s not good enough. He’s a 30-year-old and he is responsible for his own behaviour.

“He’s suggesting he’s the victim of a system Tyrone employ. It’s just not good enough.

“It is personal, it was personal when he dragged him down. The more important point is that there are other teams who do it”

Brolly, whose mother is from Tyrone and says he will be supporting them against Mayo on August 25 — “but boy are they making it difficult at the moment” — says the behaviour of some of Tyrone’s players in making cynical tackles is simply objectionable.

“They support their own and that’s absolutely the way it ought to be but the reality is the pictures speaks for itself.

“We can see for ourselves what is happening and it’s beginning to poison the ethos of the game.

“It’s poisoning relationships and it’s making things very, very unpalatable and unpleasant.”

Tyrone chairman Ciarán McLaughlin said his county were not prepared to get into a ward of words with Brolly. “We’re not getting involved. We’re just focusing on the next game.”

As much as former Tyrone defender Philip Jordan fears the spotlight on Tyrone will impact on how the referee views them in their All-Ireland semi-final, current back Conor Gormley insisted they’re not worried by the extra attention.

When Brolly was mentioned, he laughed: “Who? Who are you talking about?

“Those people up there are getting paid for saying that stuff, it doesn’t matter to us. We’re worried about our own circle.”

Gormley may yet face a retrospective proposed ban following an incident at half-time against Monaghan.

For the second time this year, Tyrone were booed off the Croke Park pitch by some opposition supporters.

“Maybe we were a bit, but who cares about that?” said Gormley.