Provoking players has become too easy, I could get Diarmuid Connolly sent off if I wanted

Cian O’Sullivan is not only one of the best players in the country - he is also a gentleman on the field. I know this first-hand. In 2010 Parnells played Kilmacud Crokes in the Dublin senior championship. I was playing centre forward for Parnells and I knew Cian would be centre back for Crokes.

I was 32 at this stage and I was aware O’Sullivan was an excellent young player. In the lead up to the game I rang Alan Brogan for some advice.

“Here, have I any chance against Cian O’Sullivan?”

“No”

“Come on, seriously”

“No. he’s too fast. He’ll get out in front of you and even if you get the ball first and turn him he has the pace to catch up and take the ball off you”

“SHIT”

This was coming from a speedster like Brogan so I knew I was in bother. Speed was a big advantage of mine throughout my career. Not just running in a straight line, I was very fast on the turn.  I could collect a ball and be gone in the other direction pretty fast. However I wasn’t as fast as I used to be and according to Alan even if I got away from O’Sullivan I’d be caught.

So I had to think about how I’d handle it. Then it came to me - I’d get him on a yellow card. That might get inside his head and he wouldn’t mark me as tightly.

The ball was thrown in and I started to put my plan into action. First I gave him a few shoulders and some verbals - no response, Cian ignored me and concentrated on the game. A few more shoulders and pushes off the ball looking for a reaction and still nothing. Cian came to play football, I didn’t. This behaviour was out of character for me. Yes I enjoyed verbals on the field but I was usually the one on the receiving end of this crap, not dishing it out.

After about 15 minutes I got him in a headlock and pulled him to the ground. Cian tried to release himself from the headlock and we rolled around the ground. The referee ran down and gave us both yellow cards. "You’re on a yellow now, Cian," I said. "You may watch yourself."

My tactics didn’t work, Cian still cleaned me out, but that’s how easy it was for me to get Cian booked when I wanted to.

We’re seeing players being targeted more and more often now with the aim of getting them to react and get booked or sent off. I don’t know how Aidan O’Shea puts up with the level of provocation he receives. It’s usually players with a history of reacting that get the worst of it – O’Shea, Connolly or a Paul Galvin. It’s not right but it is happening all too often.

It’s a sad statement to make but I’m pretty sure I could get Diarmuid Connolly sent off in a match if I wanted to. I’d just need to wait for a flashpoint during the game when his guard is down. Connolly is obviously brilliant, but he is a hot head and while he has calmed down a lot, that hot head is still there.

Because of the professionalism within the game now we’re seeing a win-at-all-costs attitude develop. ‘Do what you have to do to win’ seems to be the mantra amongst players and the perpetrators of the goading and provoking are seen as a huge asset.

Tom Cribbin spoke honestly about targeting Connolly earlier this year when Westmeath played Dublin.

"Look, Diarmuid is a fabulous player. He can get a bit excited at times and probably we were looking for him to. We have to be fair, we have to be honest: We were hoping to try and get someone to entice him, sure that's what most teams do.”

Cribbin’s honesty is a breath of fresh air. Jim Gavin criticised Cribbin after that game saying, "Yeah, it’s certainly not language that we use”, despite some of his defenders being as guilty as any team for the same provocation. Philly McMahon, and to a lesser extent Johnny Cooper, have black belts in the dark arts on a football field and Jim should remember that sometimes.

So what’s the solution? Because most of these incidents happen off the ball the referee can’t be responsible for policing them. Also most umpires have no interest in getting involved. Why not have a fourth official on each end line? Nothing spooks players more than someone watching them from behind. Players up to no good can track the referee and the linesmen ahead as they follow the ball but there’s not much they can do about being watched from behind. If it’s too difficult to police, make goading and provocation a retrospective punishment and let's stamp it out altogether.

Let’s punish the aggressor, not the player that reacts. Self-defence is an accepted defence in a court of law; on a GAA field sometimes it’s the opposite.

A few years after our altercation, I met Cian outside Coppers and drunkenly apologised for acting like that on the field. I honestly felt bad about it afterwards. Cian is a gent off the field too and said no worries, no big deal, forget about it.

I’m not sure he even remembered.

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