Kerry boss Jack O’Connor irritated by 'ridiculous' mark interference rule
Kerry manager Jack O'Connor. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
THE look of exasperation afterwards on Jack O’Connor’s face had little to do with the underwhelming first half effort from his Kerry players, or even the yellow card the manager picked up after half time.
His frustration, along with that of his Cork counterpart John Cleary, centred on the new clean catch or 'mark' interference rule, which had a considerable influence on Kerry’s eleven point victory over Cork.
Referee Derek O’Mahoney pinged both sides - though mainly Cork after the break – for the transgression of not allowing the fielder his four steps, and Kerry made hay with two point frees in the wind-assisted second period.
Not that O’Connor was in much mood to show gratitude for same.
“This was never what the rule was brought in for,” he said, scratching his head. “They are going to have to tidy this up. Half the time the referee blows the whistle and neither team knows who the free is for. How are you supposed to get out of the way if you think the free is for you? This is something that will have to be addressed. It has gone to ridiculous proportions, the ball must have been moved forward by the referee over ten times today.
“In one instance, Briain O Beaglaoich was in the process of giving the ball back and he was penalised 50m! It has gone to a ridiculous stage, and I am not really blaming the referees. I felt all along this was going to cause problems and it certainly has. A fella contesting the ball at midfield can’t just disappear. You’re battling for the ball, and it’s not like you can be cool, calm and collected inside in the middle of a gang of men, then you’re supposed to have a clear enough head to decide which was the free is going and then you are meant to disappear. That rule has to be tidied up, it’s ridiculous.”
Cork boss Cleary was equally frustrated, not least because Kerry punished a number of such Cork indiscretions after the break with two point frees.
“They are going for the ball initially and next thing they land down in front of the player and next thing it is 50 metres up the field. What are they supposed to do? Not go for it?”, wonder Cleary.
“It was on both sides, but I thought we were hit particularly hard on it after half-time. The ball going out the wing, Kerry guy caught it, fella came down, just stood there because his momentum took him into the player, completely unintentional. It's not an excuse, it is just a general comment that the rule has to be looked at. Surely it has to be intentional. If the player is going for the ball with the intent of trying to win it, and his momentum takes him there, surely the referee can see if it is intentional.”
Despite their eleven-point success, the Kingdom’s management travelled home with a number of concerns, not least injuries suffered by Barry Dan O’Sullivan (knee), Paul Geaney (shoulder) and worryingly, Paudie Clifford (quad or hamstring). This on top of starting without Diarmuid O’Connor, who missed out with a groin problem that his manager reckons will also rule the Na Gaeil man out of their final group game against Meath in a fortnight.
“Visits to Pairc Uí Chaoimh this season have been troublesome enough with players getting injured, and it was another tough battle there, especially in the first half. Hopefully those games will stand to us, the first half was very physical.
“Cork were playing with the right type of aggression, and we were kind of waiting around to see what would we do. We had to change in the second half and thankfully we did.
“We had three subs on by half time, Mark O’Shea gave us a great platform, the way he grew after coming in, which is great for morale of the panel. Killian came in and kicked two great scores, Tony kicked a two pointer, Dylan showed his class, we needed them all.”
The bust up before half time sent both sides down the tunnel high on adrenaline but Kerry boss O’Connor said their dressing room was less about calming lads down and more about waking them up.
“Cork were the more aggressive team – and I don’t mean in a bad sense – the team that wanted it more. We challenged our fellas at half time – were they going to up their game and their energy levels. We were quite lethargic at times in the first half, glad we got a response in the second half.”
O’Connor knows Shane Ryan’s penalty saving prowess all the way back to the Rathmore man’s minor days over a decade ago. But it was his first half one on one saves that kept Kerry’s interval deficit manageable.
“Shane Ryan bailed us out at a time when we were struggling – Cork could have been eight or nine up at the break, and then you have a big mountain to climb. Cork came out fighting, as we expected, they picked a team with big men and the middle, fairly obvious they were going after our kickouts. It was all hands to the pump to midfield with Barry Dan gone and Joe O’Connor’s black card. Cork were spirited, aggressive, had they got one of those goals we could have been in big trouble.”
It's not that penalising a player for obstructing an opponent taking a Mark is new - it's the 50m penalty that has caught everyone's attention. However the interpretation of what constitutes an infringement does appear to have changed. Players taking a Mark are taking advantage of the proximity of an opponent when they begin their four metres allowance.
Playing on immediately - the kick out Mark (i) A player who makes a kickout mark may play on immediately and, in this circumstance, the player may not be challenged within four metres of the position from where the kickout Mark is made.
(ii) If the player is illegally challenged, within four metres of the position from where the kickout Mark is made, a free kick shall be awarded 50m more advantageous than the place of the original mark - up to the opponents' 13m line. The player taking the free may choose to take the free from outside the 40m arc though the application of this rule would otherwise result in a free kick from inside the 40m arc.
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