GAA set to bin the has-been sin bin

Experimental rules: In a dramatic reversal of conviction the GAA are set to abandon the controversial sin bin experiment before…

Experimental rules: In a dramatic reversal of conviction the GAA are set to abandon the controversial sin bin experiment before the start of next month's national football and hurling leagues.

The football rules task force, which met on Monday night to discuss the initial impact of the sin bin, are now expected to recommend to management committee not to pursue its use beyond the current run of certain provincial competitions.

No details of their decision will be disclosed until the necessary consultation is made with the hurling rules task force.

It was confirmed, however, that GAA president Seán Kelly will make a formal announcement on the matter next Monday after the All Star football exhibition match in Hong Kong.

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In the meantime, though, word has emerged that the football task force have been left with little option regarding the sin bin after meeting in Croke Park on Monday night to assess the first three weekends of the experimental rules.

Although the seven-man task force agreed that no comment would be made until the process of consultation with the other relevant parties was complete, the essential nature of their discussions has become clear.

While acknowledging the sin bin was worthy of a trial in the fight against cynical, deliberate fouling, the task force also found an unacceptably high level of dissatisfaction with its current format.

Laois manager Mick O'Dwyer, a member of the task force, had publicly questioned the viability of its current use after last Sunday's O'Byrne Cup semi-final against Kildare, and took that opinion into the meeting on Monday night.

Yet, according to task force chairman Tommy Moran - who is also the current chairman of the Connacht council - the full course of their discussions has still to be completed.

"We discussed the sin bin and the other rule changes on the basis of what happened during the games to date," said Moran. "We are not in a position to make any comment until such a time as the hurling task force meet to discuss the issues also."

Joining Moran on the task force are intercounty managers Brian McEniff of Donegal and O'Dwyer, along with players Paul Durkan (Sligo), Brian Dooher (Tyrone), Dessie Farrell (Dublin), and intercounty referee Pat McEneaney.

None of those were in a position to expand on the exact level of acceptance or rejection regarding the sin bin, but the problems, to a large extent, spoke for themselves.

Eight players were sin-binned during the Laois-Kildare semi-final last Sunday, which meant the game turned into a 13-a-side shortly after half-time - despite no major problems of indiscipline.

Both O'Dwyer and Kildare manager Padraig Nolan afterwards made it clear that something about the sin bin just wasn't right.

"There has to be some change in the current format, no doubt about it," said O'Dwyer, while Nolan agreed it wasn't quite serving its purpose. "I don't think Croke Park or anyone wants to see eight players sin-binned in every game," he said, "and that certainly wasn't a dirty game".

The main problem for the task force is how to address the problems at this late stage, just over two weeks before the start of the NFL on February 6th. Drawing up a new set of guidelines, such as redefining the list of yellow card offences or even reducing the length of the sin-binning from 10 to five minutes, would clearly lead to even more confusion.

In the end they could either press on with the sin bin in its current format, or abandon it altogether.

But that is the issue which still has to be cleared with the hurling rules task force, who have yet to witness the sin bin properly tried out in their code. Crucially, however, Leinster Council chairman Nicky Brennan - who chaired their hurling task force - agreed that there is no way that Management Committee can approve one set of disciplinary rules for hurling, and another for football.

"Obviously, we'll be getting clarification from the football task of what they decided on," said Brennan. "But, of course, there'll have to be consistency between the football and the hurling. If they don't have the sin bin in the football then there's no way we can have it in the hurling. That would just make a mockery of the whole thing.

"I would have to say, though, that I would be a little surprised that the sin bin didn't last. I know the league is an important competition, but I think we would have had a better idea of how the thing would work if it was used in that. So I would have liked to have seen it in the league, with modification, although I do accept there were some anomalies in the present format."

The hurling task force, however, had no formal plans to meet this week, with the Walsh and Kehoe cup hurling tournaments in Leinster only due to start this weekend.

The sin bin rule will still apply for the remainder of the provincial football tournaments, including this Sunday's O'Byrne Cup final between Laois and Westmeath.

There was also some confusion over whether or not Central Council had in fact approved the experimental rules for the leagues, which, according to a Croke Park spokesperson, they had.

And it is expected that the other two main rule changes in football - the pick-up off the ground and the use of the tee in kick-outs - will still be backed by Management Committee when they meet on Friday week. By then, however, the sin bin, in its current form, will probably be resigned to history.