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The sin bin in ladies’ football isn’t deterring fouls – so what’s the point?

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by Adam Moynihan

From Kerry’s perspective, the most frustrating thing about last Sunday’s All-Ireland final is that they didn’t put forward their best version of themselves. They have been electrifying at times this season but, for whatever reason, they looked a bit out of sorts against Dublin.

During the opening exchanges they really struggled to pin down the excellent Hannah Tyrrell, who kicked eight of the Dubs’ 11 first-half points. Contrary to some viral tweets, Tyrrell didn’t give birth to the seven-week-old baby she cradled in her arms at full-time – the credit there goes to her wife – but her performance was still incredible.

Going the other way, Kerry never got rolling offensively. They prefer to move the ball at pace, and they have the speed and skills to get from one end of the field to the other with real efficiency, but Dublin never allowed that to happen.

Mick Bohan’s side were clearly well drilled and they frequently engaged in tactical fouling to slow Kerry down. Stopping their opponents’ momentum gave them the opportunity to retreat and get their shape. When Kerry did attack, they invariably ran into a brick wall and wound up turning the ball over far too often.

Some of this was simply down to bad decision-making – either by not avoiding contact or by attempting passes that weren’t on – and the players will take ownership for those errors.

But it would be remiss of any reporter to overlook Dublin’s foul count in this game and also in the games preceding it. The eventual champions had 26 fouls to Kerry’s 14 in the final. In the semi-final they had 35 fouls to Cork’s 13. And in the quarter-final they had 30 fouls to Donegal’s 13 (stats via @GaelicStatsman on Twitter).

Over a three-match period, Dublin committed 91 fouls – over 30 fouls per game – while their opponents committed just 40 fouls between them (13.3 fouls per game). That’s a massive discrepancy.

For further context, teams in the men’s All-Ireland series committed an average of 14.4 fouls per game. Armagh v Monaghan was the match with the most fouls (38 in total, 19 per team). And that match went to extra time. A foul count of 30-plus for one team in one match isn’t at all common anywhere.

You might expect Dublin’s abnormal foul count to be reflected, at least to some extent, in their card count, but that wasn’t the case. Just one of their 91 fouls resulted in a yellow card. Eilísh O’Dowd was booked – and sin-binned – for pulling back an opponent with 11 minutes to go against Cork. The referee indicated that it was her third such infraction.

The official LGFA guide states that “repetition” of fouls like pushing or holding “shall constitute a yellow card offence”. It doesn’t state that three fouls equals a yellow. By definition, repetition means doing something again. But refs, players and coaches operate under the assumption that three is the magic number. Incidentally, the GAA rule book is less ambiguous. It says that offenders should be cautioned for committing this kind of foul a second time.

Whatever the official wording, it’s clear that men’s and women’s referees treat yellow cards very differently – even beyond the two/three-foul distinction. In the men’s All-Ireland series, a yellow card was issued once every 4.7 fouls. Meanwhile, in the women’s series, a yellow card was issued once every 72.8 fouls.

Obviously, the major difference between a yellow in men’s football and a yellow in women’s football is what happens next. Men can stay on the pitch. Women go to the sin bin for ten minutes. Do we see fewer yellow cards in ladies’ football because referees are less inclined to effectively send a player off – even temporarily – for minor infringements like holding or pushing?

When it comes down to it, cards are there to discourage players from fouling again. Therefore, it stands to reason that reluctance to issue cards leads to more fouls, which perhaps explains why a team like Dublin can effectively get away with committing over 30 fouls per game.

The sin bin rule, which was brought in as a deterrent to prevent foul play, may actually be deterring referees from punishing foul play. You have to wonder if ladies’ football would be better off without it.

With regards to this year’s final, Kerry can have no major complaints about the result. Dublin were the better side on the day and they deserved to win.

But if a team can consistently commit such a high number of fouls, go largely unpunished, and wind up as All-Ireland champions, it sets a negative precedent - and it also suggests that there might be something wrong with the laws of the game.

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Kerry’s All-Ireland heroes launch new football camp for girls

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Legendary Kerry ladies’ player Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh will be inspiring the next generation of superstars at the new Laochra football camp, which takes place in Killarney in August.

Aimed at girls aged 12 to 16, the camp is being run by three leaders who were central to Kerry’s magnificent All-Ireland triumph in 2024: Darragh Long (joint manager), Declan Quill (joint manager) and Anna Maria O’Donoghue (selector).

Camp ambassador Louise will be on hand to offer guidance in a coaching capacity, as will some members of the current Kerry team.

“We want you to train with your heroes so you can be the next hero,” explains Darragh Long.

“We feel very strongly about ladies’ football. It has been brilliant to myself and Declan over the last five or six years, and it has been brilliant to Anna Maria and Louise over their full careers, so we just see it as an opportunity to give something back to a sport that gave an awful lot to us.

“We’re aiming at an age group of 12 to 16, girls who will hopefully be starting on their intercounty journey. We will be able to give them a skillset they will be able to use as their steps to success. To try and be the next Louise or the next Síofra O’Shea.

“We have three workshops planned. One with Eric McDonnell, who was our strength and conditioning coach when we won the All-Ireland. One with Michelle O’Connor, an All-Ireland winning performance coach. And one with Claire O’Sullivan, our nutritionist when we won the All-Ireland.

“It’s all about giving the girls the skills and the bits and pieces they’ll need if they want to make it to the top. We really think we can give them a good grounding. We’ll also be providing a huge amount of coaching throughout the week.”

Many teenage girls give up on sport around the ages of 15 or 16. Long and his fellow camp founders are hopeful that attending Laochra might encourage girls to stick with it that bit longer.

“We would see it as a huge success if 10, 15, or 20 of the girls who come to the camp continue to play football after the camp because they got a bit of a buzz or a bit of energy from us during the week.”

The Laochra camp will run from August 12-15 at Dr Crokes GAA grounds in Killarney. You can register here.

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St Paul’s sign 6ft American guard Burnham

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Having really found their feet in the Women’s Super League in the second half of the season, culminating in a drive to the final, Utility Trust St Paul’s have signalled their intent to push on for the 2025/26 season by announcing the signing of American guard Maisie Burnham.

Burnham (24) comes to Killarney following an honour-laden time in the Liberty High School where she also excelled at volleyball. She went to the Eastern Washington University where she led the team in scoring in the 2020/21 season with over 14 points per game – the highest PPG ever for an EWU freshman.

She moved onto the University of Portland where she really found her feet with the team and as her time progressed with the Pilots her stats went north, peaking in the 2024/2025 season when she averaged 16.3 points per game.

Maisie, a guard and standing at 6ft, is a native of Spangle City in Washington and the club will welcome her to the Kingdom in plenty of time ahead of the new season.

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