No doubt about it that heās getting a raw deal. I reckon heās a sound fellow whoās way over analysed. Sure he can lose the head sometimes on the pitch but thereās never any venom in it, pure athletic competitivity all heat of the moment stuff just like any other player during a game.
Then you this thing about him hitting some guy in a club a few years back. God only knows what the story is there but that vilification seems to have followed him onto the pitch. I hope they start to lay off him, heās an excellent player who is being hounded about unfairly in my opinion.
I donāt believe Connollyās dig was unprovoked. Btw. I donāt agree with brolly who is just being contrary. He deserved 12 weeks and Iām glad he is accepting the suspension.
I know what the papers reported. However i have heard from reliable sources Connolly wad provoked but completely over reacted. Accepting full culpability was part of the settlement.
I will say these reliable sources are Vincentās people but in fairness the independent story doesnāt ring true
For a barrister itās an incredibly poor argument from Brolly, full of whataboutery. Connolly is getting 12 weeks for putting his hand on the linesman. The Gooch, Spillane and the 3 Carlow players are irrelevant.
Itās insane. Connolly acts the cunt in not giving the ball to Carlow to take the free. A bit jostling ensues as the Carlow players try tyo get the ball off him.
Joe says āIt is worth noting that the conduct of the three Carlow players, who aggressively grabbed and held him, bumped and bored and scrabbed at him, was ignored, both by the officials at the time and by the media afterwards.ā
The Connolly doesnāt just remonstrate with the official he shoves his finger into his chest in a threatening manner.
Thatās not the same as simply placing a hand on an official so the rule definitely needs to be changed to include the word āin a threatening mannerā. Theyāre probably covered by the fact that the examples are simply examples and they can argue the toss on physical interference.
This is the current wording:
Category V
(i) Minor physical interference (e.g. laying a hand on, pushing, pulling or jostling) with
a Referee, Umpire, Linesman or Sideline Official.
The reality here is that the referee should have just grown a pair of balls and sent Connolly off.