'There are too many loopholes': Micheál Donoghue calls for changes to black card rule

Speaking at Galway’s All-Ireland final media event on Monday morning, Donoghue was adamant that Croke Park have to review the black card.

FINAL COUNTDOWN: Micheál Donoghue poses for a portrait during a Galway GAA hurling Pre-All-Ireland senior final media conference at Galway GAA COE in Claregalway. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.

Galway hurling manager Micheál Donoghue has said there are “too many loopholes” in the black card rule.

While not wanting to comment on Clare forward Peter Duggan being tripped by Nickie Quaid in the final quarter of Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final, for which the Limerick goalkeeper received yellow not black, the Galway boss said the issue with the black card rule is the inconsistency of its application.

On the Saturday night of Galway’s Leinster final victory at the beginning of June, Donoghue questioned the black card shown to Conor Whelan. His view was that the penalty award and 10-minute sinbinning of Whelan was a “big punishment for the crime where there are bodies back, it's a big call”.

Speaking at Galway’s All-Ireland final media event on Monday morning at the county's centre of excellence in Loughgeorge, Donoghue was adamant that Croke Park have to review the black card.

“I think it is just the consistency of application and probably clarity, without going into any of the incidents. It is more clarity and consistency of it,” he said.

“I am not going to comment on [the Duggan-Quaid altercation]. In general, it has to be consistent. I think there are too many loopholes. The game has gone to a 100-mile-an-hour, it is getting faster and faster. I know it is split-second decisions, but I think the powers-that-be have to look at a few different things.”

On the injury front, full-back Daithí Burke was no worse coming out of Saturday’s semi-final than he was going into it. The 33-year-old five-time All-Star is understood to be dealing with an ankle issue, as well as the knee injury picked up in the Leinster final which led to him being heavily strapped for the clash with Cork.

Leading goalscorer Rory Burke, who was not part of Saturday’s matchday panel or among the four standby players, is a significant doubt for the July 19 decider against Limerick. The Oranmore-Maree forward damaged his hamstring early on in the Leinster final.

“We have nothing out of the game,” Donoghue said of avoiding fresh injuries. “It was good that Daithí got the 70 minutes into him. Rory is probably the only other big one, but he is working very hard with the medics, so we will just see how the next few weeks go for him.”