O’Rourke: New rules unfair to defenders

Louth manager Aidan O’Rourke has slammed the GAA’s PR spin heralding the success of the black card.

The scoring statistics drawn from the Allianz Football League this spring were at an unprecedented high, largely stemming from the introduction of the black card, but O’Rourke said tallies increased solely because defenders had been “handicapped” by the new rules.

Moreover, O’Rourke believes the black card contributed to basketball-style Gaelic football “where it goes up and down the court to see who scores the most”. “It’s been portrayed as a fantastic success and that is the perception. I’m not quite sure how that is judged,” he argued.