KILDARE MIDFIELDER Dermot Earley believes the GAA can still learn from other sports when embracing the concept of fair play. Speaking at yesterday’s Gaelic Players Association (GPA) Fair Play Awards for 2009, where he picked up the football award, Earley pointed towards the apparent lack of respect towards referees as one area the GAA needs to work on.

“We probably do have a little bit more to go on that,” he said. “I think there is a rule in rugby that only allows the captain to talk to the referee. That’s something that could be looked at. Sometimes in the GAA you have a lot of different players talking to the referee at any one time. But referees are usually able to control that. Some of them will talk back to you, and some of them will ignore you. It depends on the personality of the referee.

“But sometimes in the GAA a lot of the negatives get publicised, as opposed to a lot of the positives. These awards are a positive thing, and maybe should be highlighted a little. I think fair play is what it’s all about, and if we can promote it more then it can only be of benefit to the whole GAA organisation. But if you can look to other sports and see what works there then I think there’s no harm in looking at it.”

However, Earley also believes that Gaelic games are still a lot better off than soccer when it comes to fair play, and has so far escaped the rampant diving or play-acting as exemplified recently by Thierry Henry.

“I don’t think we’re even close to that. I suppose some of it has always been there. But I don’t think we see a lot of diving or anything like that in GAA. I suppose swarming referees is the one thing that does happen, and that’s not good to see. But I certainly think the majority of players in the GAA go out to play football honestly and to the best of their ability. I think in that sense we’re still a lot more positive than soccer.”

In his 13 years playing with Kildare, and which this season saw him collect his second All Star award, following his first in 1998, Earley has never been sent off. At least not without later proving that he shouldn’t have been. In Kildare’s last league game this year, against Meath, Earley was red-carded – but cleared his name on appeal.

“The referee got it wrong on the day, and I was just glad to get the opportunity to appeal it, and show he was wrong. These things happen. Referees make mistakes, same way players make mistakes on the ball, with bad judgment calls and stuff like that. But it’s certainly never in my character to deliberately foul.”

The Fair Play Award in hurling went to Galway’s Joe Canning, who has fast become a role model for young hurlers, with the GPA yesterday praising his consistency of performance and attitude on and off the field.

The awards are based on a range of criteria, including on/off-field behaviour, attitude, respect for opponents, respect for referee and officials, card count, consistency in personal performance and outstanding gestures of fair play – and Earley and Canning received €5,000 for the honour.

As one of the long-serving supports of the GPA, Earley also made reference yesterday to the recent merger between the players’ body and the GAA, which he said could only benefit both players and associations.

“The GPA were only out there to look after the players, and it’s great the GAA now fully acknowledge that. The players still don’t ask for much, and it’s definitely better that they’re working together on this, rather than against each other. That’s the main thing here, that they both acknowledge each other, and that can only be of benefit to the GAA.”

The Fair Play Awards, sponsored by Halifax, has GPA members submit candidates for a shortlist, which is presented to an expert panel, who then select the winners.

The panel included Donal O'Grady, former Cork hurling manager; Cathal Ó Torna, GPA national secretary; Gerry McDermott, GAA statistician; Dessie Farrell, GPA chief executive; Pat McEnaney, intercounty referee; Kevin Nolan, Evening Herald journalist, and Tom Humphries of The Irish Times.