Keep up with Armagh i

‘Why have rules’ – Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney blasts refereeing decisions

Following Armagh’s narrow two-point defeat to Tyrone on Sunday, manager Kieran McGeeney has hit out saying the game would be better off without rules.

Albeit a tongue-in-cheek remark, McGeeney was less than impressed with some of the decisions at the Athletic Grounds on Sunday afternoon.

He suggested if rules were not going to be implemented correctly, then why have them.

“That is still going to haunt the GAA. We have black cards, yellow cards, orange and pink ones. We will look at the symptoms the whole time and try and get them every week,” he told the Belfast Telegraph.

“Until someone looks at the actual cause of it – which is our tackling – then nothing is going to change.

“Referees are going to have a hard job. They are always going on what they believe and they are trying to be objective about it. But I thought rules were there to be implemented. They tell us if the rules were to be implemented, there would be a free every ten seconds.

“So why have rules? Why not go out and if you like a physical game, then let’s have it.

“For years there, Tyrone perfected getting in around the ball and putting in loads of tackles. And now it’s a free kick. There is no such free for having loads of men around even though there’s no such rule when men are tackling the ball with an open hand. It’s a legitimate tackle.

“If you surround a man now with three or four players, it’s a free. Even though it doesn’t exist.”

Read more on Sunday’s game:

Armagh v Tyrone: Five things we learnt

Indisciplined Armagh lose out to Tyrone in Dr McKenna Cup opener

Sign Up To Our Newsletter

Most read today

NEWRY – SHOP LOCAL

More in GAA