Referees run risk of rules overload

After seeing through the mark last Saturday, playing rules committee chairman Jarlath Burns was quizzed about the possibility of introducing a trial to Gaelic football limiting the number of consecutive hand-passes.

“We have to be very careful in making the referee count any more than he has to count,” he said.

“Already he has to count seconds with the advantage rule – that has been a great help to our game and everyone understands it now. But we have to be very careful, consult widely with the referees.”

Ironically, the mark will add to the mountain of arithmetic a referee already has to make. Notwithstanding that he must hear the player call for the mark and deduce that it’s a clean catch, he is charged with counting the five seconds within which the marking player must use the ball and estimate the 10 metres the opposition must retreat.

Should the player wish to play on, the referee has to count the four steps he takes without being challenged.

Three-time All-Ireland final referee Brian White acknowledges the mark will aid match officials in one way. “Normally, when a player catches the ball he is surrounded in the middle of the field and he goes to ground. The referee then has to decide whether to give a free or one against him for holding onto the ball for too long.

“But by the player catching the ball and calling mark, then you have the choice of either letting the play go or giving him a free kick. It’ll probably mean less pulling and dragging from kick-outs and that would things are a little easier for the referee.”

However, he also believes it increases the workload of the man in the middle. “It’s an extra burden on the referee. He has to decide whether to give the mark, whether he’s going to allow him play on.”

The advantage rule Burns speaks of has been a relative success but remains imperfect.

When a referee has to record in their head the five-second advantage period while counting steps and hops at the same time as interpreting whether advantage has been played and if another foul or fouls have been committed, they should be cut some slack if they get it wrong.

So what can be done to make referees’ lives easier? Later this year, Sean Walsh’s referees development committee intend bringing forward the idea of a TV match official. Wexford man White, now based in Tipperary, isn’t so sure about it. “In some instances, yes it would be helpful but you wouldn’t want the person in your ear the whole times, would you?”

The debate about the proliferation of the hand-pass goes back to White’s time with the whistle but any attempt to curb it is unlikely to have the referee in mind.

“A limit of hand-passes came in for a National League years ago. I think it was three passes and you had to count every pass on top of everything else.”

Following Mick O’Dwyer’s advice and allowing players to pick the ball up from the ground would not only benefit referees by taking away a rule but improve the flow of play, says White.

“Get rid of having to put the toe under the ball. That would definitely speed up the game. It made the Compromise Rules a lot quicker doing that.”

White also backs the idea of giving a proper definition to the tackle. “The tackle is a grey area. I thought the Compromise Rules was the easiest game to referee, much more than Gaelic football.

“The player who was in possession being tackled, if he didn’t get rid of the ball he was going to be penalised. The tackle was between the shoulders and the legs and if you were tackled correctly the ball would go to the opposition whereas in Gaelic football we’re more inclined to hold onto the ball.

“The tackle comes down to interpretations and they vary from referee to referee. Even at the end of games, you might have 10 or 12 different incidents and it all depends on what he sees and it’s not a simple case of black and white.”

It’s the plan of Burns’ committee to simplify the rules of Gaelic football in time for GAA Congress 2018. Before Christmas, fellow member Seán Boylan revealed they wanted to cut down on the number. “You’ve 90 or so rules of the game and how few players understand the game. How complicated have we made it for referees? Instead of more certainty coming into the area of rules, there is more uncertainty.”

Without a relevant and recent trial, the mark has only added to that doubt.