Indiscipline continues because it is tolerated by rule makers A year rarely passes but your columnist feels the need to devote the available space to the subject of the GAA and discipline or, more precisely, indiscipline. At least one column is used to air the old chestnuts and comment on the latest outbursts. So, here we go again, once more with feeling - I might as well attend to the early season mayhem and clear the desk for the months ahead. The recent Tyrone versus Dublin game - badness on both sides - is the perfect example of all that is wrong with our referees, players, officials, managements and supporters. I left out our rules and regulations deliberately because they are framed by our officials and thus are a function of their deliberations. And the deliberations of GAA officials in the matter of discipline and specifically lack thereof, is a science few have mastered. It is timely that I list some of the rules that are waiting a score of years and more for attention by those charged with amending the rulebook. First up is the accumulation of yellow cards from game to game. The authorities tell us this is simply not possible as the club game would not be able to keep track of them. Yet any self-respecting local soccer league is able to open a spreadsheet and enter the details of a refs report. Next is the idea of time rather than match suspensions - everybody realises the offender wins more often than he loses. Number three concerns red cards scrubbed for extra time (you can replace the offender) but yellows are carried forward (now that's a good laugh - a team can be reduced to 14 men if the wrong man gets a second yellow in this period). Now, we have written about these favourites season after season yet it appears to me that the GAA, demonstrating a perverse sense of humour, is waiting for these very situations to raise their ugly faces again and get splashed onto the back pages. Worse than that, much worse in fact, is the ambivalence that remains at EVERY level when it comes to applying rules and dealing with those that transgress (cheat?). See, truth is the citizens of this great country of ours do not take well to rules, regulations and laws. Just observe our roads, look at the carnage and the results of a recent speeding survey. What about seat belt conformity - front and back? These attitudes are reflected everywhere in our daily lives so it should come as no surprise that society is reflected in the ways of the GAA too. And when you read in the papers about the lack of enforcement of the Rules of the Road and the Road Traffic Act, be aware that it is this same lack of enforcement and thus little chance of detection that allows GAA players to firstly contemplate and then execute acts of gross indiscipline. We like controversy and after match debates. It is part of what we are. The disappointing concern is that this is sport not life and we expect a less aggressive approach. But, an organisation that still protects the hard man, and it most certainly does, can never resolve issues of indiscipline. We do not have the stomach for it - plain and simple. It was always so. The DRA/CDC/CAC have not set the world on fire and there remains an attitude that one will get away with it if you have a man who knows the rules behind you. I thought I might list the serious injuries I sustained (had inflicted on me?) during my own career: three concussions (all three deliberate); two broken legs (both accidents); dislocated jaw (deliberate); broken ankle (deliberate); broken front tooth (deliberate); broken fingers (deliberate). Only one player was brought to book and he was given a time suspension that was served during the closed season (November to January). Maybe it is human nature but that still does not make it legal, correct or acceptable. Not allowing linesmen aid the referee with judgement calls is just plain silly anyway and having a limited role for umpires only adds to the sense of annoyance players often feel. So, one ends up with the referee and his style of refereeing getting more analysis pre match than the actual rules themselves. Now there is a sad state of affairs - officials that are known to referee it like they played it, strict on technical matters but will allow a beheading without a second thought! How could such a list of injuries accumulate without sanction? And is it typical of what goes on out there? At club level, it certainly is but at county level matters are improving every year. This of course is not because the players are getting more sympathetic to the plight of the injured player, more the arrival of large crowds and especially cameras! Referees do not want to apply the rules as they are framed because they realise the indiscipline of players on the field will lead to sendings off. Like Patterson's matches, the players have heads on some of them and none on more of them and are prone to combustion at the smallest spark. Red cards are the last straw, the endgame scenario for many of our referees. They do NOT want to use the ultimate sanction and when they are forced to do so, the report is generally vague enough to keep the suspension at four weeks. And those charged with investigating and deciding on suspensions have a similar approach - there are too many vested interests on the committees. I will wait out to see how the latest affair is handled, especially in the area of what players should get when they join in a row - the famous 'last man in' - that gained prominence when Mayo and Meath did battle in the 90s. And speaking of the match report - is it not time to revert to the old way of things when referees wrote the match report on site, before people could get to them or indeed before the refs have the opportunity to tune into radio shows and hear what is occupying the minds of the supporters? Or view the highlights package that night, which will allow them write a report that reflects the footage any inquiry will have the use of? He should remain at the ground for the time required to complete his report while matters are fresh in his mind. And please have it filed before the week is out. In this era of immediate communications, laptops, Internet Cafes, memory sticks and 3G mobiles sure even the old fax could get it through to HQ by lunchtime on Monday. How often have I read a quote from Croke Park, mentioning an inability to proceed until the referees report landed? And this could be the Thursday!! The system is a human one and thus can never be perfect. But there can be excellence and this will stand out immediately because of the low standard. So, Dublin and Tyrone are only part of the malaise but what disappointed me more than surprised me was the immediate reflections of both managers. I have a lot of time for Paul Caffrey and Micky Harte - both decent GAA men. Still, dodging the question and the obvious context of the game, they both made a poor call in attempting to defend the indefensible by failing to take a portion of blame for the indefensible. No apology to date either and I suspect if the public could be privy to the dressing room talk and the debrief the week following the game, they might convulse and give up all together. Don't hold your breath … Tweet

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