As I predicted, the black card has not worked. Why?
There are rules in the game of gaelic football. Referees currently decide as they go along which rules they wish to enforce. Players and managers work around this, finding rules referees won't enforce and using this to their advantage. The black card has gone this same way. Referees chicken out and give yellows when they shouldn't- a good example may be in the last few mins of the Cork v Mayo game where several black cards should have been given but weren't.
A second issue is this black card was meant to stop cynical play. It hasn't. Players are still hauled down heading through on goal, teams still play with 14 players inside their own 45, and there are still plenty of frees in the game. Defensive, blanket defence football is alive and well.
Teams with strong squads are in a stronger position when being cynical. Because they have strong squads, Cork and Kildare were both fine with losing v important players to black cards, as they have players just as good on the line. Weak teams can't afford this. As a result, because a substitution, it is an inequitable system.
Referees have a rule book. Their job is to blow the whistle when a rule is broken. Their job isn't to worry about the game being fun to watch, keeping 15 players on the field for each team, "letting the game flow" or any of that other nonsense. Their job is to blow the whistle when a rule is broken, no matter how often they end up blowing that whistle. The responsibility for the game flowing and quality of game it is, is down to the players on each team. The rule book is fine, and was fine, so long as referees know it and blow their whistle. The GAA must stop allowing referees to decide when to blow for frees, or to "use their common sense". The rule book is the rule book- its their job. Get rid of the black card and make them referee the thing according to the rules.
Something had to be done about cynical fouling and impeding players running on to a return pass. Now if they do away with the black card and start using a yellow in its place (as some refs are doing now) then any player who picks up two yellow cards in a season must be suspended for at least one game. Now I'm not talking two yellows in one game ( which I think should lead to a one game ban also)but over the championship season. Would it help to clean up the game. Also I think we must make more use of technology to combat off the ball incidents. It's happening too often , especially with play at the other end of the pitch Also the standard of referring. Has to be looked at as there has been some poor referring to date.