Adrian O'Sullivan says frustration over the application of rules in camogie was a factor in his decision to step away as Dublin senior camogie manager last month.
The Limerick native stood down two years into a three-year term having steered the Dubs to the All-Ireland quarter-finals this year when they were beaten by eventual champions Kilkenny
O’Sullivan has subsequently decided to join Collie Maher’s backroom team with the Dublin minors as a coach, but speaking on RTÉ’s Game On, admitted that the wildly differing approach of camogie referees and their interpretations of the rules, was a critical factor in his decision to step away.
With a coaching philosophy that draws from Limerick and Kilkenny’s abrasive mixed with no little skill, despite making progress with the women from the capital, O’Sullivan grew more disheartened with the stop-start nature of games.
"I found myself getting very frustrated with that," he said.
"I was left at a crossroads. Do I adjust my whole coaching ethos specifically for camogie, or do I stick to my principles and where I want to develop as a coach?
"That’s what it came down to."
The decision was to exit the stage. His time with Dublin was one he "thoroughly enjoyed", but would he have stayed longer if officiating and application of the rules wasn’t such a sticking point.
"Yeah, I think so. It definitely played a huge part in it. It’s so frustrating. The quality of officiating isn’t up to standard either, or what you’d get in hurling. Even club hurling.
"Some referee took the new contact laws and really went with there. There were some savage intense games, physical, and that is what the players want.
"Then you go out another day, go out the same way, and it becomes a free-talking contest.
"We had players bench pressing 70kgs, doing 10 repos of wide arm chin ups and every county is the same, that’s the way the game has gone.
"The rules haven’t quite kept up with the change and development of players physically and a skill point of view."
