When there are challenge games in GAA, the referee is not appointed by Croke Park. The referee is appointed by one of the two counties involved and it's like a private deal with the referee.
We heard James Horan say on the show last night that you can often play three 30s, play six 15s, whatever you want to do and make 15 subs. It's not real life and it's not the real rules of the GAA.
Sometimes a manager can go to the referee in charge that they've privately booked and say, "I want you to blow up every time there's a pick-up off the ground, because I'm trying to teach them not to do that".
So the referee's actually bending the rules to suit what the two managers on the day want.
I don't think it's fair enough because when an incident happens, it's almost like "this is our referee for the day, we don't want anyone suspended. We don't want anything to come out of any incident".
I've been on a field plenty of times in challenges games when there have been Laois lads sent off, manager goes to him after the game - manager might have talked to him before the game - and I've heard referees shouting "lads, he's just gone for the game. Don't worry about it, he's not gone for the championship".
Now, that's a big issue for referees because managers obviously have a lot to lose by making this public, for their teams. The referee has nothing to lose. A referee should be following the rules by the law and should be reporting what happened in that game to Croke Park, just like you would a league game and just like you would a championship game.
I think the right thing should be done there and I think a referee has no vested interest in either team and how they go in the championship. He has nothing to protect.
I think that county teams shouldn't be allowed go get a referee on their own. They should put a request into Croke Park and say "we're having a challenge game, can you send us a referee?"
Wooly was speaking on Off The Ball tonight.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
