Can someone please explain why the sin bin wouldn’t work? The black card is not right

"It (the sin bin) has definite advantages and could work here on a pitch like Croke Park and Thurles. It was found the last time in the research that it was almost impractical to operate at club level around the country."

This was GAA president, Aogán Ó Fearghail, speaking on Wednesday at Croke Park.

Black card debates dominated so much of the championship this year and there is broad agreement that something needs to be changed. 

Why couldn’t the sin bin work at club level? What is the ‘research’ saying exactly? There is such opposition to change within the GAA and it is tiresome.

I’m in favour of keeping the black card in the game but there are two elements that need to be adjusted for it to be a success.

1. Simplify the offences that warrant a black card. They are too many and referees are confused. 

2. The punishment. Sending a player off in a huge match for, in many cases, an innocuous foul is very punitive - that’s why the sin bin is the perfect solution. A player like Lee Keegan or Johnny Cooper won’t miss out on playing in an All Ireland final, they will be benched and reintroduced 10 minutes later.

The main advantage of the sin bin is that the team is punished and not the player. It is more of a deterrent to cynical play because while a player could be a hero for ‘taking one for the team’ late in the game, it’s a different story if he is putting his team in the shit. Going down to 14 men requires much more effort and puts teams under severe pressure. If a goal is scored while you’re in the sin bin it will be seen as your fault. You’ve let your team down. Is there any bigger deterrent?

I was an awful messer in school. When a teacher threw me out of class, it didn’t cost me a thought. I’d stand outside for a while, might go for a walk or I’d hide out in the toilets if i saw the principal doing his rounds. After class I’d be congratulated for whatever disruption I caused and would be ready to go again in the next class. I was happy to take the punishment.

When a teacher punished the whole class it was a different story. Extra homework for everyone or everyone being kept behind after school meant my messing became a nuisance. The congratulations were replaced by silence. I became an outcast. I soon learned my lesson.

Hearing the president saying the sin bin wouldn’t work at club level is disappointing when it works at all levels of Rugby without any problem. It also works at all levels of ladies football without a problem. Why would there be a problem with Gaelic football?

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I’m sorry, Aogán but it would be very easy to work. A player receives a black card, the referee notes the time in his book and the player leaves the field. After ten minutes during a break in play the player re-enters the field. How difficult is that?

There is no chance the referee will ‘forget’ as the respective sidelines will have him well reminded when the ten minutes are up. And that is using the worst case scenario when a referee is alone with no help. For club championship matches there are umpires and linesmen in attendance.

So players will be less likely to offend because their team is punished and if they do offend, or the referee makes a bad call, the punishment will not be so severe that the incident will dominate the analysis for days to some.

But in true GAA tradition, our president finds fault with the simplest solution.

The Championship Draw

Talking about tired GAA traditions, is there anything worse than having the draw for the following years' championship in mid October. There is no appetite whatsoever for it so soon after the All-Ireland finals. Everyone is in club mode, the winning All-Ireland champions are celebrating and we’re waiting for the All-Stars to put closure on the season.

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If the draws are made in October to facilitate county boards' fixture scheduling, that clearly doesn’t work. We know inter-county managers dictate the club fixtures in most counties now so what's the point in having the draw so early? Wouldn’t there be more excitement next January when we have been without inter-county action for over three months?

To make a bad situation worse, RTÉ dragged the draw out for 90 minutes on Thursday night. I couldn’t bare the boredom. What is a pundit supposed to say about next year's championship when they have absolutely nothing to go on?

It’s a difficult job for pundits so what did RTÉ do? They paid about 20 pundits, including their regular pundits, players and journalists to say absolutely nothing. Johnny Cooper said Wexford or Carlow will be a tough one for God's sake. I’m not blaming Johnny, what’s he supposed to say? I’m not blaming Joanne Cantwell either who always does a good job.

The production team on The Sunday Game need a wake-up call. Right now, they seem as tired as a GAA tradition.

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