THERE’S ALWAYS ONE issue around the rules that rears its head during the GAA championship season.
And this year it is what coaches term as – screening.
Borrowed from basketball, it involves players using their body to block off a tackle from a member of the opposition while their teammate gets off a shot.
It was particularly prevalent in the recent meeting of Clare and Kerry in the Munster championship.
Clare had Ikem Ugwueru named at number 11, but anyone familiar with the Banner footballers recognise he is one of their key taggers.
Everybody wants the job of marking David Clifford and nobody wants the job at the same time. The variety of ways the Fossa man can score is exhaustive.
He can throw shimmies at a pace few can keep their footing. He has a way of bouncing the ball low, or toe-tapping that leaves a potential tackler with just inches to reach to dispossess.
And he’s a big unit too – a big man with a great leap, who can also drop it down a cog and blast past with pure power.
Everyone with an interest in Gaelic football admires the grace and effectiveness of Clifford, but that doesn’t mean you cannot acknowledge the ever-expanding toolkit he has developed to buy space or even, at times, frees.
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This was something the then-Mayo manager Kevin McStay referenced after the league final of 2025.
“If you see the camera angles I will look at Monday and Tuesday from behind, he is so clever at making sure the picture the referee sees is an excellent picture for him,” McStay said.
Black cards should be awarded for deliberate collisions. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
This year, the issue of basketball style screening has become a hot topic.
In truth, it has been going on for a decade. With Jason Sherlock’s basketball experience, the Dublin team he coached were excellent at taking players out of the picture.
As we say, this was particularly prominent in the Clare game.
Without an exhaustive review of the entire game, we only have to look at the RTÉ highlights from the game.
For Kerry’s fourth point, Paul Geaney brings the ball infield with Clifford coming towards him on the edge of the day. Geaney lays the ball off to Clifford. Geaney continues his run and gets the merest of touches on Ugwueru, but it was enough to set Clifford in the clear to knock over.
Ikem Ugwueru and David Clifford. Natasha Barton / INPHO
Natasha Barton / INPHO / INPHO
For the ninth point, it was the turn of Mike Breen to carry the ball to Clifford, then obstruct Ugwueru’s attempt to track Clifford’s run.
In the second half, Ugwueru was left frustrated and could be seen appealing to a linesman after Clifford had a shot dropping short that still found the net.
This time it was Tony Brosnan who had a fairly blatant contact on the Clare defender, with referee Thomas Murphy of Galway seemingly uninterested.
In the meantime, former Kerry coach, and renowned coaching expert Mike Quirke, has defended the practice online. As another with considerable basketball experience and one-time Tralee Tigers player, he is in tune with the current trends of the game.
However, in discussion with a top intercounty referee, he told The 42 that this is being looked at by referees right now.
There are two sanctions for two separate offences.
For blocking of opposition players, for the purpose of giving an advantage to your team mate, that is covered in Rule 5.7c.
The punishment in this case is a free for a foul, and is a ‘noting offence’, where the offending player will be issued a warning.
The other offence is classified as a deliberate body collide. The punishment for that is a textbook black card offence, covered in Rule 5.12.
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Referees on high alert for 'screening' offences in Gaelic football
THERE’S ALWAYS ONE issue around the rules that rears its head during the GAA championship season.
And this year it is what coaches term as – screening.
Borrowed from basketball, it involves players using their body to block off a tackle from a member of the opposition while their teammate gets off a shot.
It was particularly prevalent in the recent meeting of Clare and Kerry in the Munster championship.
Clare had Ikem Ugwueru named at number 11, but anyone familiar with the Banner footballers recognise he is one of their key taggers.
Everybody wants the job of marking David Clifford and nobody wants the job at the same time. The variety of ways the Fossa man can score is exhaustive.
He can throw shimmies at a pace few can keep their footing. He has a way of bouncing the ball low, or toe-tapping that leaves a potential tackler with just inches to reach to dispossess.
And he’s a big unit too – a big man with a great leap, who can also drop it down a cog and blast past with pure power.
Everyone with an interest in Gaelic football admires the grace and effectiveness of Clifford, but that doesn’t mean you cannot acknowledge the ever-expanding toolkit he has developed to buy space or even, at times, frees.
This was something the then-Mayo manager Kevin McStay referenced after the league final of 2025.
“If you see the camera angles I will look at Monday and Tuesday from behind, he is so clever at making sure the picture the referee sees is an excellent picture for him,” McStay said.
This year, the issue of basketball style screening has become a hot topic.
In truth, it has been going on for a decade. With Jason Sherlock’s basketball experience, the Dublin team he coached were excellent at taking players out of the picture.
As we say, this was particularly prominent in the Clare game.
Without an exhaustive review of the entire game, we only have to look at the RTÉ highlights from the game.
For Kerry’s fourth point, Paul Geaney brings the ball infield with Clifford coming towards him on the edge of the day. Geaney lays the ball off to Clifford. Geaney continues his run and gets the merest of touches on Ugwueru, but it was enough to set Clifford in the clear to knock over.
For the ninth point, it was the turn of Mike Breen to carry the ball to Clifford, then obstruct Ugwueru’s attempt to track Clifford’s run.
In the second half, Ugwueru was left frustrated and could be seen appealing to a linesman after Clifford had a shot dropping short that still found the net.
This time it was Tony Brosnan who had a fairly blatant contact on the Clare defender, with referee Thomas Murphy of Galway seemingly uninterested.
In the meantime, former Kerry coach, and renowned coaching expert Mike Quirke, has defended the practice online. As another with considerable basketball experience and one-time Tralee Tigers player, he is in tune with the current trends of the game.
However, in discussion with a top intercounty referee, he told The 42 that this is being looked at by referees right now.
There are two sanctions for two separate offences.
For blocking of opposition players, for the purpose of giving an advantage to your team mate, that is covered in Rule 5.7c.
The punishment in this case is a free for a foul, and is a ‘noting offence’, where the offending player will be issued a warning.
The other offence is classified as a deliberate body collide. The punishment for that is a textbook black card offence, covered in Rule 5.12.
One to keep an eye on, as the season progresses.
*****
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