Brian Gavin: Leadership void to blame for inconsistent hurling refereeing

Former inter-county hurling referee Brian Gavin is “worried” about the state of hurling at present. Some of the games he finds “unwatchable”

Brian Gavin reckons only 40% of the black cards shown across the opening three rounds of League fare were correct in their application. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

A lack of proper leadership from Croke Park is short-changing hurling referees and leading to inconsistency in how the game is being officiated.

That’s the view of four-time All-Ireland final referee Brian Gavin who agrees, to an extent, with the “refereeing by numbers” claim of Cork manager Ben O’Connor.