“Galway will be hurling in September”
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IrishExaminer
By John Fogarty
GAA Correspondent
Trevor Hogan is a Tipperary man. His background is rugby. On those two counts, some may disqualify him from commenting on the defeat of his county but they shouldn’t.
On Sunday, he saw something in John Hanbury’s penalty foul tackle on Seamus Callanan he recognised from his own sport. The former Munster and Leinster second-row didn’t make use of rugby’s often bombastic lexicon to describe it, but he couldn’t believe it when Barry Kelly issued Hanbury with a caution.
“What a game,” he tweeted, attaching a photograph of the incident. “Galway were class. But can’t believe this only got a yellow card. A clear red, even in rugby.”
In some places, the foul has been likened to a spear tackle but, technically, it’s not. A spear tackle involves a player being lifted by his opponent and dropped onto his head, back or neck. Hanbury did put Callanan on his head in a most dangerous and desperate fashion but the Tipperary forward was on his feet when he was brought down.
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It was in fact closer to what is termed a “slam tackle” in Australian Rules football parlance, a practice which was outlawed in the AFL six years ago. Having his arms pinned and his hands occupied by the hurley and ball, Callanan was unable to brace himself as his head struck the ground, leaving him dazed for minutes afterwards.
It was in the same class as that awful wrap-and-fling tackle by Danyle Pearce on Graham Geraghty in the second test of the 2006 International Rules, which hospitalised the Meath man. But it should also have stirred memories of Sean Cavanagh’s cynicism in bringing down Conor McManus two years ago. Callanan had taken Galway for 3-4 from play. A fourth goal would have likely spelt curtains. He simply had to be stopped.
Clearly, Hanbury was only too happy to concede a penalty. Given the poorer-than-expected conversion rate with the new one-on-one arrangement, there may have been some method in his madness. The new hurling penalty could be as disappointing as the black card in Gaelic football has been as a deterrent to foul play.
The taking of the penalty, not the viciousness of the tackle, was all that exercised and entertained The Sunday Game panel. “It’s a tough tackle,” said Anthony Daly, a contender for euphemism of the season. “He (Callanan) hits the ground fairly hard. He is down on the ground for approximately two minutes, I think, roughly we can say. He looks fairly rattled at this stage. Was it the right decision to let him hit the penalty? To me, it looked a very tired shot.”
Henry Shefflin agreed with Daly, saying of Callanan’s decision to take the penalty: “I don’t like that because your focus is on taking frees.”
Dónal Óg Cusack then weighed in: “Just look at Seamie’s head here and the impact on the ground. That’s a serious belt to get into the head. Bubbles (O’Dwyer) actually had the ball in his hand and I was saying ‘look, would I let Bubbles take this?’ It was a drawn game at the time. While he still got a bit of power into it, it was a very timid shot, lads.”
Callanan was extremely fortunate not to have been concussed by Hanbury’s determination to play the man and not the ball. As Hogan indicates, a dismissal and suspension would have been the end result in rugby. That’s rugby, the game that has so far failed miserably to address its concussion problem. But hurling being hurling, and hurling analysts so regularly being hurling apologists, nothing was mentioned of the tackle’s severity. In a way, it’s almost understandable after such a dismal season nobody wants to taint the best game thus far nor a Galway win sculpted by guts and graft. But there was an abdication of responsibility on the panel’s behalf not to underline just how much peril Callanan was put in. Hurling is a man’s game but such desperation should have no place in it.
Football folk will have looked on and wonder why hurling is again treated to such laissez-faire analysis when similar incidents in the bigger ball game are subject to forensic analysis and scathing criticism.
Meanwhile, Tyrone supporters’ entrenched view on RTÉ will only be copper-fastened by what they will interpret as more inequality from the national broadcasters. Only the week before, Walter Walsh attempted to buy a free. To be fair to him, he had previously been denied a stonewall free by Brian Gavin when Stephen O’Keeffe manhandled the Kilkenny forward. Yet it didn’t detract from the fact he had engaged in an act of feigning. The narrative often written by former players and managers is that hurling is beyond reproach when it quite frequently hits base levels.
It bears repeating football and hurling are no more sister sports than American football and rugby. However, there is no excuse for a lack of consistency in commentary.
The Sunday Game’s panels are indeed at polar extremities. If football analysts are hunters, their hurling colleagues, for all their tactical nous, remain gamekeepers. Neither do the respective games any favours when they take such stances
By Maroonnadwhite-
FFS SAKE, WONT SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN
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John Fogarty can FOAD
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Bullshit, Hogan was chased by that other prick, what was he meant to say.
He didn’t have to go on twitter mouthing off about GAA. Not defending Fogarty - who is a complete company man - but he didn’t lead that other ape into posting inane thoughts on twitter.
Why not? He played GAA. He’s most likely a member of a club somewhere still or was once upon a time at the very least. Should we vet what people on Twitter say about your beloved GAA now? Should only fior Gaels such as yourself get to comment on GAA on Twitter?
For a seemingly intelligent decent fella you come out with some awful fucking gobshite statements. Slap yourself aside the head and come back later will you.
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Fogarty belongs at the Indo
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What was inane about his point of view? That tackle on Callanan was disgraceful, I only realised the way he dragged him down after rewatching the game Monday night. He has a valid point.
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He belongs with Dervan
He dragged him down, i dont think hanbury, as fogarty nearly suggests, thought right ill give away a penalty here due to the low conversion rate and while im at it ill channel danyle pierce or whatever and make sure i do him. He just wasnt going to let him score a goal and dragged him down. Happens regulary. By highlighting it is fogarty trying to get hanbury banned for the final? Is this just coincidentally the time he decides to begin a cruasade against concussions in hurling? ‘the euphemism of the year’ i hope you’re reading this fogarty you whinging little bitch.
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It’s despicable, I think it’s the worst media manhunt of a player in the GAA this year. Bar none.
I take issue with the line “a clear red. Even in rugby.” Wtf has that to do with something that happened in a hurling match.
As by the current hurling rules it was a yellow card. Hanbury hauled him down. It happened so quickly I don’t think he thought “I’ll land Callanan on his head and wind him before he takes the penalty.” It looked terrible on the replay but I think most people would agree it wasn’t premeditated or intentional to tackle him head first into the ground.
Not sure why Fogarty and Hogan are getting worked up over it. Haven’t heard one other person - from Tipp or elsewhere - say it should have been a red. The strike by Donnellan on Woodlock looked more of a sending off.
If the penalty had been scored nothing would have been said about it. Callanan clearly wasn’t right when he was taking it.
Hurling, by and large, is grand the way it is and doesn’t need to ape rules from other sports because of one or two isolated incidents.
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Fogarty’s from Tipperary, isn’t he?
Hardly surprising then.
Where did Callanan comment on it?
Is Callanan getting worked up over it?
If he did he’d be entitled to be, and not have this fella have a cut off him for it.
Typo, meant Fogarty and Hogan.
Edit made.