There were several points of complaint within the Dublin GAA annual report released by Dublin county CEO John Costello today. One of the main sore points for Costello, it would seem, is what he perceives to be the unfair treatment that is meted out to Dublin star Diarmuid Connolly throughout the course of games.
Here is just a flavour of what Costello was saying about what Connolly has to deal with:
In one of our championship games this summer one of our players – (no prizes for guessing who!) - Diarmuid Connolly, was struck about six times before the ball was even thrown in to commence the game. Okay, they were not Mike Tyson haymakers he was hit with but, never-the-less, each blow was an infraction of the rules and worse still happened right under the gaze of one of the referee’s linesmen.
And Connolly himself has responded, talking to Darren Cleary of 98FM. While Costello seemed fairly enraged, Connolly himself seems relatively unmoved by the whole scenario.
I don’t even know what game in question he’s talking about to be honest, it could’ve been a number. All we’re looking for is the rules to be applied by the referee, that’s it.
I’m not here to be giving out about a guy who’s trying his best to win the game for his team, I’d do the exact same. Not in every situation, but I’ll do my best I can to win for my team.
Sometimes you step over the laws or the boundaries but that happens in every sport, I have no issue with that. That’s John Costello’s report, that’s not mine.
Interesting that Connolly didn't weigh into the debate, though one would have to question if he would get involved even if he felt he was being wronged.
You can listen to Connolly's full 98FM interview here.
