MICK FOLEY WASN’T too pleased with his black card during this year’s league match with Dublin — but it won’t stop him from hitting hard!
The Kildare full-back says he’s not happy with the terminology or the consistency of application with the new rule.
“It says in the rules that you have to deliberately foul your man. Now, the only person that knows if they deliberately fouled a man is the actual person that committed that foul – so it’s very hard for referees.
“How can they be sure if I deliberately pulled down a man unless they ask me the question. I can tell you now that I didn’t deliberately pull down the man that night. It was a clumsy tackle, sure enough, but not deliberate.
“It’s just one of those things. It doesn’t change how I approach the game. It doesn’t change the intensity with which I tackle my man. It’s up to the referee to deem whether it’s a black card or a yellow card.”
“I got a black card against the Dubs, but listen – I’ve no problem with them introducing rules. The GAA have set out their stall in the way they want to market the game now and obviously they want a high-scoring game, big scores. We just have to adapt to that.”
While Foley did appeal the black card picked up against Dublin, the decision was upheld by the CHC. The 30-year-old isn’t necessarily targeting his frustration at the referees on this one though.
“The black card is a tough rule, and it’s toughest for the referee. I’ve no problem with them introducing rules, but the problem is, if they’re introducing rules and there’s inconsistency between different calls, then that causes frustration in everyone’s situation.”
“You’re always told to draw a foul if you can. I’m not a forward. I don’t know what they do in order to get that. But obviously there’s a level of frustration there. It’s like anybody.
“When the tackle was made I realised; ‘I could be gone here.’ I was told ‘that’s it, that’s the end of your night. Black card.’ I walked straight off the field. It’s quite frustrating. There’s nothing you can do. Obviously you can bring in a replacement and that’s why the panel is a key thing for championship this year for any team that wants to go far.”
An All Star in 2011, Foley is now into his 10th year with the Kildare senior team. His opponents in this weekend’s Leinster semi-final clash provided him with one of his fondest memories over that period.
In 2011, Kildare edged past Meath in the All-Ireland qualifiers; 2-11 to 0-14 in Navan.
“I’ll never forget, what was the best atmosphere I probably ever experienced, down in Navan in the qualifiers in 2011. That was just one of those games where you just forgot about everything else.
“You were just doing your best, your tongue was hanging out for the whole lot of it, they threw everything they had at us and we threw everything we had at them and luckily enough we came out with a few points at the end.”
“I just remember being saturated and physically drained at the end from the actual battle that was involved. Because the crowd was in on top of us and it was just a real rip-roaring championship match and one that really stood out for me. Sitting in the dressing room afterwards I was just on a high, and I could imagine the feeling in the opposite dressing room.”
“It was a great battle, ourselves and Meath have always had great battles up from underage, with very little given on either side.”
