Managers lament the sin bin

GAA/Experimental Rules: A number of prominent football managers have expressed their support for the experimental disciplinary rules, which will be introduced when the Allianz National League starts this weekend. Seán Moran reports.

Of the four managers present at yesterday's competition launch by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, in the sponsors' headquarters in Dublin, only Dublin's Paul Caffrey was in any way ambivalent about the now discarded sin bin trial.

Laois manager Mick O'Dwyer, a member of the task force which devised the rules experiment, Mayo's John Maughan and Carlow's Liam Hayes all said they were disappointed the sin bin hadn't been persevered with.

The comments were made during a media briefing, which also heard Allianz Ireland chief executive Brendan Murphy confirm the company's plans to extend their sponsorship by a further three years, until 2007, by which stage it will have run for 15 seasons, which he described as "one of the best, or at least the longest-running, sponsorships in Irish sport".

O'Dwyer refused to disclose how he'd voted in relation to amending the experiment with the proposal - adopted by Central Council on Saturday - that a player receiving a yellow card would leave the field for the rest of the match but would be allowed to be replaced. But he was sorry to see the sin bin go.

"I don't think it got a fair trial. In the north they didn't try it at all. This isn't about killing fellas. Football should be about playing the ball all the time. There was a lot of off-the-ball stuff going on that people wouldn't agree with. That's what we were asked to look at, but generally it's good to try things. I don't believe it will last when it comes to Congress, but I do think it's worth trying.

"When the two cards were introduced there was uproar all over the country, but that died down. We'd be hoping for a good trial run throughout the league, but I'd have been in favour of continuing with what we had."

O'Dwyer had support from Hayes who, although his Carlow team withdrew from the O'Byrne Cup and didn't play under the rules, is an enthusiast.

"I thought the original (experimental) rules were excellent. I didn't experience them walking the line, but I thought they were a superb innovation. I would fear that the revised rules simply aren't workable.

"They'll cause a lot of concern and grief for managers, and also for supporters, who'll see some of the best players taken out of games far too quickly by being forced to leave the field."

Maughan felt the experiment had already begun to show results but that the refusal of the Ulster Council to implement the experiment had deprived the GAA of valuable data.

"I think it was unfortunate that Ulster didn't embrace the changes. I'm in favour of experimentation; I think it's good. Statistics tell us that were 60 fouls a game last year and that's too much.

"The new rules had an impact. In the two games that I was involved in, there appeared to be a huge reduction in fouling off the ball. It's a shame that we didn't see them up north. It would have given us a better idea."

Caffrey dissented from the consensus on the grounds that the task force had cited: the difficulty in applying the sin bin at all levels of the game.

"It was well worth trying but it has to be achievable at local level, club level, colleges and schools, and I don't think the sin bin was achievable at club and under-age. The emphasis has to be on foul play off the ball."

Hayes responded to Caffrey's reservations about the sin bin's applicability.

"I don't agree with Paul, in that hurling and football at the top level are a showcase and we must do everything we can to make those games as attractive as possible.

"If the sin bin worked at senior level, worked in our showcase games, it wouldn't necessarily have to apply right down the line to club level.

"I think the work group did a superb job and it's a shame that it was knocked on the head."

The amended experiment comes into force on Friday evening when Cork and holders Kerry get this year's NFL under way in Páirc Uí Rinn at 8 p.m.

COLLEGES FIXTURES: Today - Munster Senior Football A Quarter-final, Colaiste Chriost Ri v Limerick City Colleges, Ballyhaunis, 2.0. Munster Voc Schools Junior Hurling A Final, St Brogan's, Bandon v Nenagh CC, New Inn, 12.30