A desire to further his knowledge of the GAA rulebook and to view Gaelic football from a different perspective led to former Offaly minor selector Padraig Corcoran taking up the whistle last year. Having played and coached GAA for many years, the Ballinamere clubman felt it was time to try something different. “I always said I’d like to give refereeing a go,” he said.
“Last year was the first year – apart from the U7 team my young lad was on – that I wasn’t involved as a coach with a team in 15 years. I had done two years as Daingean manager and wanted to take a break from the coaching for a while. I’ve never been one to criticise a referee from the sideline as I appreciate the fact that they’re not involved with either team, and therefore look at a game from a different perspective.
“I wanted to see it from their viewpoint and I also wanted to learn more and better educate myself on the rules of the game. Anything I learn from refereeing can only help to make me a better coach.”
