The Limerick referee hasn’t agonised over the outcome of the 2024 hurling final and, despite criticism from some quarters, believes ‘the goodwill outweighs the bad’ towards match officials
Cork’s Brian Hayes speaks to referee Johnny Murphy at the final whistle of normal time in the 2024 All-Ireland hurling final at Croke Park. Photograph: James Crombie/Inphograbbed them for a quick chat on stage, and as he waited his turn, Johnny Murphy was struck by something David Gough said. For big football, Gough has been a trusted go-to-guy for over a decade, a puff of cold breath on games that could be as hot as soup. All-Ireland finals, though, were different.
In the middle, Murphy had kept control without getting in the way. His authority was not intrusive. In the normal course of events, somebody was bound to say that. “I got to my feet straight away. I gave an advantage to Clare and he put the ball over the bar. Then I put my hand to my forehead and I saw blood. Now, I’m not great with blood. Did it knock me? It did. We stopped the game, kept it calm, cleaned it up. If you look back, I went into my umpire, to check the score. The only reason I went to my umpire was to give myself 30 seconds. Just to reassess. A lot of people said, ‘He should have been taken off.’ No, I was fine – I was fine.
“I stood exactly where I should have been. Ball came in. What happened, happened. That was it. I was in position. I can only give it if I see it. And when it happened, not too many people saw it . Not too many people saw it. I couldn’t see it .” All-Ireland hurling final 2024: Cork’s Robbie O' Flynn is tackled by Conor Leen of Clare as he tries for a late point to level the game in extra time. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
For referees the scrutiny is never ending. Every intercounty team analyses the ref, searching for weaknesses and patterns. After the ball is thrown in, the feedback is hot and without value; from the assessors in the stand, it is expert and emotionless. Commentators will have their say, not always expert, not always emotionless. They must absorb all of it, one way or another. Different bins: waste, recycling.
“I was applying the rules, but everything stuck with me. Crazy stuff. You have good days and bad days. Thankfully we’ve had a lot more better ones than the other ones. But we’re human. We are human.” That conflict has many miles to travel. Do players and managers know the rules? All of them? Not even on a need-to-know basis. Since the black card was introduced, for example, ignorance of its applications is widespread. Murphy was the fourth official at one intercounty match, not long ago, when a manager got himself into a lather pleading for a black card. Murphy asked him to name the three black card offences, and the manager was dumbstruck; he didn’t know.
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