Much has been made of Stephen Bennett not being sent off against Cork for pulling the faceguard of Michael Cahalane.
As per the rules, the action should have warranted a straight red card.
Stephen Bennett pulling Cahalane's helmet. He's lucky to get away with that. Now a goal for Waterford. Big moments. Live on @rteone pic.twitter.com/S1PoLsoRSZ
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 18, 2017
Another look at that from a different angle. pic.twitter.com/MCRMS1FBGC
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 18, 2017
In the GAA rulebook, it states clearly what the infringement is,
“Behaving in any way which is dangerous to an opponent, including deliberately pulling on or taking hold of a faceguard or any part of an opponent’s helmet (in hurling).”
It also should have meant a one-match suspension too but fortunately for Shane Bennett, the incident went unnoticed and he was kept on the pitch.
Rules are rules and whether you agree with them if you do the crime you should do the time but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be abolished.
One man to disagree with the notion that Bennett should have walked the line is J.J. Delaney, a man who knows a thing or two about hurling with just the seven All-Stars to his name.
Delaney spoke on the latest episode of the GAA Hour and didn’t hold back his opinions the Stephen Bennett rule and the faceguard in general.
“I don’t think it’s a red card, to be honest with you. You could give a lad a dig and break his ribs and no issue he might get a yellow. If you touch a lads face guard it’s a red card.
“It came in a few years ago and it just came in, I don’t know what incident happened to be honest with you that they made this rule come in.
“It’s something that I didn’t think was actually too bad within the game because I can’t think of too many occasions where it did happen.
“Fair enough if a lad came in on a row and he pulled the face guard off and they box away, fair enough that’s a red card no problem at all.
“Just to touch a lad’s face, now the guy yesterday he did lose his head, he pulled him away look I think the Cork defender made the most of it, to be honest with you.
“Maybe it looks worse than maybe it actually is to be fair, if someone pulls your faceguard you wouldn’t get too many injuries. Maybe in and around your eyes you might get hurt that way.”
Consistency is key in a rule like this, is it a case where it ruled with an iron fist? Should any sort of infringement of the rule mean a straight red card even if there is no malice in touching the faceguard or should it instead be amended to rule with common sense?
A rule whereby touching the faceguard doesn’t necessarily mean you are causing harm to the opponent and a free and possibly yellow card in many instances would suffice.
After all, if a seven-time All-Star can’t make sense of a rule who can?
You can listen to the debate below from 8’00”
