BACK in 2013, when Tyrone’s behaviour was again being examined after Sean Cavanagh connected with his inner Tommy Bowe to pull Conor McManus down in the All-Ireland quarter-final, Mickey Harte got a bit Rafa Benitez about it and produced a peculiar moment of theatre to make a point.
At a media event before they played Mayo in the
All-Ireland semi-final a sheet of figures was circulated breaking down the foul count for and against Tyrone. It detailed that Tyrone had fouled 256 times in 2013 and been fouled 280 times. The point was that targeting Tyrone as the grandmasters of foul play was inaccurate, unfair and ignored a wider issue. But it still didn’t make Cavanagh’s foul right.
The same, misguided sense of grievance formed part of the backdrop to Tiernan McCann’s suspension for bringing the game into disrepute. That McCann’s suspension fuelled a long-standing collective sense of outrage in Tyrone is among the most regrettable impacts of the past fortnight. If a poorly constructed disciplinary system allows recidivist offenders, not just Tyrone, enough room to protest their decisions, how will players and teams ever begin to address the error in their own actions? The GAA’s failure to tighten their rules and order their disciplinary committees well to properly hold them to account has caused much damage.
Tyrone have been here before. In 2005 Ryan McMenamin had a yellow card for dropping knees first onto John McEntee in the Ulster final against Armagh retrospectively upgraded via video clips to red, then expunged on the basis that if McMenamin’s card was upgraded on second viewing, how many other decisions should be revisited. In 2009, McMenamin had a strange looking six-week suspension for hitting Paul Galvin in the groin in a league game against Kerry increased to eight weeks on appeal — double the standard punishment for the offence. A few weeks later Tommy McGuigan was cautioned for the same offence but later suspended for four weeks based on video evidence. The talk in Tyrone was of trial by television.
The reaction to McCann’s suspension followed the same trend. Imposing an eight-week suspension divided opinion into two camps. One crowd asked why a suspension with little chance of sticking was allowed in the first place. Another crowd saw it as a warning that the GAA wouldn’t tolerate any more professional fouling in the final stages of the season and a sign that a new, more suitable punishment was on the way. That gap, and the central hearings committee’s ultimate decision last week, allowed Tyrone to cast McCann as a victim and spared everyone any real obligation to address the offence.
Advertisement
It seemed impossible that the stuff usually filed as any other business last Wednesday night could possibly overshadow McCann’s suspension until Mayo chanced their arm appealing the straight red card shown to Kevin Keane against Donegal. It seemed a straight-up offence. Keane threw a clear punch that landed on Michael Murphy. Case closed?
No. A couple of highly capable and influential members withdrew on the night due to conflicts of association and interest. Somehow the rest concluded that Keane’s red card wasn’t proven and should be rescinded.
That kind of inexplicable lapse is one problem. Finding a proper punishment for simulation is another. A yellow card clearly isn’t a deterrent. A red card puts immense pressure on referees to get a grey area call bang on every time. The black card has never been seen as the absolute answer to rooting out cynical play. If anything, it’s a stepping stone back to trying a sin bin. That’s where the GAA should go to punish professional fouls, cynical behaviour and all sorts of problematic offences, but getting that over the line could take years.
In the meantime they still have to deal with the occasional mess. Last week was a throwback to another era producing unsatisfactory outcomes. The GAA have tidied up their game in many ways. Still plenty of clutter to work through.