FORMER SLIGO FOOTBALLER Eamonn O’Hara believes the introduction of the ‘mark’ will fail to make any serious change to Gaelic football and has blasted ‘pathetic’ refereeing as the major problem for high fielding.
The mark motion was passed in Congress in February and the rule, which will give players the option of taking a free kick after catching a clean kick-out that has crossed their own 45m line, will come into effect from 1 January 2017.
The hope is that the introduction of the mark will encourage longer kick-outs and greater reward the skill of fielding.
But O’Hara, a pundit and co-commentator with RTÉ, has blamed “inconsistent refereeing” for the demise of the skill.
“I don’t think the mark will have an impact at all,” O’Hara told The42.
“There will be a time when a kick-out will be taken and a guy will make a great catch and he is afforded an opportunity.
“It will be great for that, if a guy does catch it. But when you kick it forward and a guy is crowded out by three or four guys it’s then classed as over-carrying.
“I think the way it has been refereed over the past few years has been absolutely pathetic.
“They punish a guy for doing great things (fielding a ball) and other referees will give him credit and afford him a free, a little bit of free play or a little bit of extra time.
“The mark will improve just that small bit of skill a little bit. But in terms of encouraging kick-outs, it’s not going to happen. It is all about possession, people have to realise the game has gone about possession.”
After spending a season as manager of Mayo club Ballaghaderreen, O’Hara, along with former club and county team-mate Gerry McGowan, this year took on a role as joint manager of his home side Tourlestrane.
These days, the 2002 Allstar finds himself looking at the game from a different angle. Short kick-outs are here to stay and that is due to the way the game has evolved, the 40-year-old explained.
“If you’re going to kick it up the middle and hope for a 50/50, you’re splitting your chances and that’s what you have to look at.
“It’s what you do after the kick-out that’s important. Are you going to build from the back like Donegal, like Dublin?
“It’s the way the game has gone, people have to accept it. That’s the evolution of the game.
“If you want to look at a rule that teams have to have two or three forwards inside the opposition’s 45 at all times, wherever the ball may be. That, maybe, is something that could be looked at.”
O’Hara is unequivocal when asked about the current state of play in Gaelic football and where the leading sides stand.
He insists there are two teams streets ahead while he has grave concerns for a couple of members of the chasing pack.
“Dublin and Kerry are miles ahead. Tyrone are building.
I think the likes of Donegal are falling away. I’ve looked at Donegal and people have asked a lot of questions about why they’re playing the way they do.
“People ask why Michael Murphy isn’t playing on the edge of the square. He’s not on the edge of the square because the guys don’t have the ability to kick the ball into him.
“They’re not like Kerry with Kieran Donaghy, they don’t have those types of players. That’s why they’re playing that way.
“It’s the same as Mayo with Aidan O’Shea. Mayo don’t have those types of players that can kick the ball in. Well, definitely not in terms of on the field. Andy Moran could do it and Alan Dillon could do it but they’re not getting first-team football.
“Teams are just playing to their strengths and I think Dublin are just all-round very strong. They’ve got inside forwards, great tenacious defenders. They lost Jack McCaffrey and the thing just seems to be seamless; another guy comes in and does the job.
“And in fairness to Kerry, they’ve really found themselves and Gooch (Colm Cooper) has really found his form. And if Gooch plays well, Kerry play well.”
O’Hara’s love for football burns brightly and Sligo are understandably closest to his heart.
In his role with RTÉ that raw emotion has surfaced on a number of occasions, most notably in 2013 when he called for then Sligo boss Kevin Walsh’s resignation following a shock Connacht quarter-final loss to London.
It takes a special sort of character, not just a gifted footballer, to play 19 years at inter-county level, particularly when most years end in bitter disappointment. Someone possessed by a desire to win, who refuses to lie down and accept second best.
Some may have been satisfied that Sligo secured Division 3 status for next season following three wins, a draw and three defeats, including an impressive away win in Kildare. But O’Hara longs for Sligo, under current boss Niall Carew, to move up the football food chain to regularly mix it with the top dogs.
“The league campaign was a bit indifferent. They put in a massive performance against Kildare. They were very inconsistent; the previous week they were absolutely brutal against Longford. And it’s that inconsistency that cost them a chance to be promoted to Division 2.
Last year, out of all the four divisions, Sligo were the highest-scoring team. But we also conceded a lot as well so it was very attack-minded.
“Unfortunately this year, with David Kelly and Adrian Marren not there, one with injury and one pulling out, (Marren returned from injury for Sligo’s final league game against Tipperary), you lose two big scoring threats. And this year we weren’t scoring as much but we were still conceding big numbers.
“Niall has worked on a few different things. But staying in Division 3, is that good enough?
“Maybe it is for some people but I would love for us to be regularly competing with the top teams, to be fighting to stay in higher divisions, because you learn a lot more when you’re fighting and trying to adopt things. It’s not about entertaining, it’s about going out to get the results.”
Sligo football has gone quite Jekyll and Hyde in recent times; and these polarised results have clearly got under O’Hara’s skin.
Less than 10 months ago, Sligo had stunned Roscommon, who many were talking up as dark horses for the All-Ireland title, in a Connacht semi-final — to the joy of the Markievicz Park faithful.
A provincial final awaited, their first since 2012, and with Marren in flying form the Yeats County looked they wouldn’t just be making up the numbers against a powerful Mayo side chasing their fifth successive Connacht crown.
But Sligo left Dr Hyde Park with their tails firmly between their legs, after being on the receiving end of a 6-25 to 2-11 drubbing, which left their confidence in tatters.
Their campaign finished with a seven-point qualifier defeat to Tyrone at GAA HQ, leaving Sligo to despair over thoughts of what might have been.
“Last year, I guess we were set up lovely with the way the talk was about Roscommon winning All-Irelands and everything else,” O’Hara recalls.
“And they walked into an ambush and the guys put in a massive performance.
“They learned an awful lot in the defeat to Tyrone, I felt. But did they bring it forward? I don’t know that they did.”
A 12 June Connacht semi-final is now the focus for Carew’s charges, with a likely return to Hyde Park to face Roscommon on the cards. That, of course, is assuming that the troops of Fergal O’Donnell and Kevin McStay overcome the challenges of New York and Leitrim first.
The Rossies brought the top tier of the league to life this year with wins against Cork, Kerry and Donegal. Their attacking football won them plenty of fans, O’Hara included.
“This year Sligo are coming back into it and it’s looking like Roscommon again, so we’re in a difficult position,” O’Hara said.
“Roscommon have been outstanding. You have to tip your hat to them.
“They’ve got a great management setup there now and they’ve got the players there, so everything is going right for them.
“I think they’re looking at a Connacht final, there’s no doubt about it. They might not say that out loud, they’ll have no respect for Sligo or Leitrim or Galway, or possibly Mayo.”
O’Hara’s spell at Ballaghaderreen, the club of current Mayo senior Andy Moran and AFL success story Pearce Hanley, has given the former midfielder a closer look at Mayo football behind enemy lines.
He believes that Mayo have the weapons to end their All-Ireland drought but they need to figure out how to use them to greatest effect. And following the player heave that brought about a change in management for this season, O’Hara insists they had better figure it out quickly.
“I think Mayo have got good footballers, I just think they need to start performing. I think their level of performance has really dipped over the last couple of years.
“The boys (former managers Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes) that came in for the one year and then leaving again, I just think players didn’t perform.
“I still think that this year they just haven’t performed. I don’t think we’ve seen enough from the likes of Aidan O’Shea. We need to see a lot more from a lot of guys, not just him.
Right now they’re at a crossroads. They put their heads on the block. They got change, they wanted a new management setup in there and the pressure is on them.
“I think they’re probably a year or two ahead of Roscommon right now and I could see them possibly getting a sixth Connacht title in a row.
“I think they’ll be very hard beaten. It’s not just the physicality and everything else. But Mayo are probably looking at bigger things than Connacht titles. They’re looking at an All-Ireland title and anything less will ultimately be a failure for this bunch of guys again.”
Former GAA star Eamonn O‘Hara has signed up for the An Post Yeats Tour of Sligo on 1 May. Five events will be held across the country, between May and September, starting with the An Post Yeats Tour of Sligo. Clickherefor details.
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