Ger Loughnane was talking to former GAA president Nickey Brennan who was the president when Croke Park opened it’s gates to ‘foreign games’ the two were speaking on Community Radio Kilkenny City and Loughnane backs the introduction of the black card despite many apposing it including Loughnane’s former goalkeeper Davy Fitzgerald wanting the rules to stay the way they are.
“Any change in the GAA, particularly in hurling, brings great controversy and great discussion.
You remember the Anthony Nash penalty, and we all thought the solution was very simple and the GAA came with the proper solution at the end of the day.
Tactics are such a huge part of hurling nowadays, and with tactics comes the exploitation of every rule if you can. We see people are exploiting the rules that are there – and rightly so, why wouldn’t they? – and pushing them to the very, very limit. That was always part of hurling.
But the cynical tackle, this bringing down the player when a goal threatens, I think everybody realises now that has to be stopped because goals are drying up, number one, and hurling is associated with goals and great goals that energise the crowd.
I think the solution is very, very simple: if it’s inside the 21 (yard line) they’re going to give a penalty and give the person a black card. I’m in favour of the black card rather than the sin bin… inside the 21 or within the semi-circle, if a goal threatens within that area it should be a penalty and give the person a black card.
I don’t think it needs much more beyond that.”