TODAY’S KERRY SENIOR hurling championship final on TG4 featured a live referee microphone for the first time.
John O’Halloran of the Bruree club in Limerick was the man in the middle as Causeway overcame Ballyduff by five points in Austin Stack Park.
And GAA Beo viewers were able to hear the rationale and reasoning behind O’Halloran’s decisions as the action unfolded.
In a first for GAA live coverage — there have been instances in the past of referees mic’d up, but for documentary purposes rather than being broadcast in real time — TG4′s latest innovation went down a treat.
Sár jab @SportTG4 👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/0hbXsD5Mo4
— Kerry GAA (@Kerry_Official) August 7, 2022
The Irish language station shared several clips on social media, one in particular surrounding a yellow card which was awarded to Pádraig Boyle of Ballyduff catching the eye.
“You were late with the challenge,” O’Halloran explained as Boyle pleaded with him.
“Please stop talking, listen to me… you were careless with the challenge, you were late, that’s all. It is a card, I’m afraid. I’m here in front of it, I’m only three yards away from it.”
"I'm only three yards away from it"
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) August 7, 2022
Live mic ar @GAA_BEO atá ar úsáid don céad uair riamh!!#GAABEO pic.twitter.com/xKHFWekbeU
Another clip saw O’Halloran outlining the reason behind another booking clearly: “The initial foul was over there, the second one was in here, it’s a yellow card offence for over here — swiping carelessly.”
An chuala sibh an réiteoir ansin, live referee mic ar @GAA_BEO pic.twitter.com/gsWY0RYwyp
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) August 7, 2022
" It's a high challenge boys"
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) August 7, 2022
An live mic á úsáid ar @GAA_BEO #GAABEO pic.twitter.com/KlIN9PLZ6b
"He went through the back"
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) August 7, 2022
An live mic ar @GAA_BEO #GAABEO pic.twitter.com/z6FID1RxEV
There was plenty of positive reaction to the new feature online, with fans appearing to enjoy the enhanced viewing experience.
Here’s some examples of social media reaction, as the TG4′s latest offering was hailed:
Loving the #RefMic on @SportTG4 Referee explaining his decisions, something we should see more of, cut out a lot of nonsense #GAABEO
— Michael Lee (@McNeanPhysio) August 7, 2022
.@SportTG4 have been at the forefront of recent innovations in tv coverage of GAA games. Judging from the positive reaction to the latest innovation on Sunday, it's likely we will be seeing more of referees being mic'd in the future.https://t.co/fJfldLHOZR
— T.J. Galvin (@tjgalvin147) August 7, 2022
Ref mic in action for @SportTG4, fair play.. could be a standard across the board & a massive addition for fans. https://t.co/QZpO8Yn6RM
— Eoin Byrne (@EoinB93) August 7, 2022
Interesting to see how this works out.
— Darren Chambers (@dmcambrois) August 7, 2022
As always @SportTG4 leading the way with coverage and now innovation. https://t.co/EaLE2NsrVm
