Burning Issue: Is the black card in Gaelic Football a good idea?

Is the GAA's latest disciplinary idea for Gaelic Football, the black card, a good idea or not. Two JOE writers argue both sides.

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Conor Heneghan says... Every few seasons, at the beginning the season, a sheet of paper or a document will be handed around my own club dressing room, detailing the rule changes that have been sent down from on high and are set to apply for the weeks and months ahead.

My teammates and I will glance through it, pay it a bit of heed and do our best to adapt, at least for a little while.

It won’t be long, however, until the vast majority of what’s contained within is forgotten about, whether it’s a case of ignorance on our part because we’re stubbornly set in our ways or because we know it won’t be long until referees have stopped bothering to apply the new rules and gone back to what they know and we know best.

And there’s a good reason for that; barring a few minor flaws, Gaelic Football is just fine the way it is.

Now don’t me wrong, there have been some good rules introduced over the years.

Before the handpass rule was defined, players could virtually throw the ball to another teammate and not be punished. The square ball rule was such a bone of contention that it needed a far clearer definition than what previously existed. The amendments to those rules, however, were relatively straightforward; the black card rule, on the face of it, seems a little more complicated.

The reasons behind the black card proposal are obvious. Cynical fouling has been part of the game for a few years now and it famously reached a nadir last season during the clash between Dublin and (ironically given their historically soft reputation) Mayo.

It was a followed by a Joe Brolly diatribe on the cynical Mayo tactics which, if his comments earlier this week are anything to go by, didn’t impress James Horan in the slightest. As such, like the blanket defence or the third man tackle in other years, it became the most talked about topic of conversation amongst GAA followers.

While it would be wrong of me to deny the prevalence of cynical fouling and that it is consciously used as a tactic by many teams, it is with how the black card rule will be applied that I have a few problems.

The FRC’s attempt to define what necessitates a black card is an admirable one (click here for more details), but it will only add to the amount of cards at a referee’s disposal and I can envisage confusion about whether to apply a yellow or a black card in different cases and anger from players and referees after important matches with issues about how their side was affected.

Another issue I would have with the proposals is that the one-match ban arising from three black cards doesn’t apply to the All-Ireland Final.

Yes, it’s always a shame that a great player is denied the chance to play on the biggest stage of all; we’ve seen it in World Cup and Champions League Finals in the past.

But you either apply the rules or you don’t and a player in an All-Ireland semi-final with two black cards already to his name who commits an offence worthy of another one has only himself to blame if he misses out. What of the team who lose their star player for a crucial semi-final clash because he had picked up his third black card in the quarter-final and go onto lose the game by a point?

That’s life and that’s sport, you take the rough with the smooth and should be prepared for the fact that it’s not always fair.

Just because the game is fine the way it is doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be constantly looking for ways to make it better and the Football Review Committee should be applauded for their thorough review of Gaelic Football and suggestions as to how it can improved.

Fundamentally, however, there have been very few drastic changes over the last two decades and we seem to like it just fine. With that in mind, I can's see Congree deciding that black is indeed the colour when they make up their minds on the issue later this year.

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Sean Nolan says... as the GAA pulls an AC/DC and plans to go ‘Back in Black’ I have to say it sounds like a great idea to me.

In the dark, short days of January it is hard to recall the sun-splashed days of summer and the GAA Championship. But before we know it we will be getting stuck into the League and then the headlong rush to Championship 2013 will begin.

And while we know we will spend many hours this year discussing Donegal’s system, or Jim Gavin’s first term as Dubs boss or the return of Andy Moran, we also know we will spend a lot more time discussing discipline, cynical fouling and how the modern game is in danger of being ruined by over-physicality.

Part of that may be the media’s fault for focussing on the issue so much but there is no doubt that the topic of yellows, reds and how the game is officiated is usually top of the list on the drive home from games and in the pub the night after.

The initial proposal from the Football Review Committee around yellow cards and ‘accidental’ or ‘deliberate’ fouls scared managers and some players alike so those ideas have been tweaked, giving us the black card idea.

In short, it is very similar to the previous version. Any deliberate attempt to stop an opponent progressing, or any abusive or confrontational language to players or officials warrants the black card under this plan.

The black card sends you to the line but the manager can replace you. After three of these black cards, no more replacements can be sent on and standard yellow, and red cards, still remain.

In effect, it is an extra tool in the referee’s arsenal to cut out the sort of foul we see with depressing regularity in modern Gaelic Football. While some teams like Donegal and Dublin may be clever enough to only ‘cynically’ foul outside the scoring zone of 45 metres, they still do it to break up play and regroup.

You can’t blame Jim McGuinness, Pat Gilroy or whoever for adopting these tactics up to now. It was a loophole and they are in put in charge to exploit loopholes and win. The black card should close that loophole and let the game flow far more.

Will there be some chaotic scenes if it is introduced? Absolutely. Will there outraged managers post-game after O’Byrne Cup and the like? Definitely. Should the GAA persevere, despite calls for change? Absolutely.

Gaelic football is not ‘broken’. The game, even with the fouling trend, is as good to watch as it has ever been and the FRC proposals are modest tweaks that should make it even better. Eliminating the nasty foul, the cynical trip or the late elbow will only further enhance what is a great - apologies for this but it is the best word – product.

And the cumulative nature of the cards means that persistent foulers in the Championship will be punished with a one-game ban after three black cards are issued. Once again, it makes perfect sense.

These proposals still have to navigate the choppy waters of Congress but if there is any sense in the GAA top brass, which I believe there is, then 2014 has the making of the best year ever in Gaelic Football. Who wouldn’t want to see that?