“There were some clear examples of simulation there today.”
Former Limerick hurler Shane Dowling believes John Kiely’s comments regarding Galway players diving were “blown out of proportion”.
Kiely came out after Saturday’s Allianz National League game complaining about the number of frees given to Galway, referencing “simulation” in his post-match comments.
John Kiely’s post-match comments on Galway players diving.
Limerick ended up losing the game 1-17 to 0-26, with Joe Canning coming as a sub for the Tribesmen for his first outing since leaving the field of play with a suspected concussion during last year’s All-Ireland semi-final.
The All-Ireland champions conceded 26 frees compared to their opponent’s 14, something the Limerick manager was not happy with.
“When a player has the ball and they run at you and throw themselves on the ground and they are roaring and shouting, that’s embarrassing,” Kiely told reporters after the game.
“That’s not part of the game. There were some clear examples of simulation there today. A couple of them were very embarrassing.
“None of us want to see that brought in as part of our game.”
WATCH: @LimerickCLG manager John Kiely reacts to their 0-26 to 1-17 point defeat at the hands of Galway this afternoon. #SportLK https://t.co/KhVfCtZZ2N
— Sporting LK (@SportingLK) May 16, 2021
John Kiely’s apology.
However, on Tuesday, the two-time All-Ireland winner as a manager spoke to the Irish Examiner where he retracted his initial post-match comments and apologised.
“I should have paid more attention to my own performance and that of the team than to the opposition,” Kiely said.
“I wish to wholeheartedly retract those comments with regard to Galway and want to apologise for them.
“It’s important that I set the record straight now that I’m certain that what I saw was not what I believed I had seen.”
Shane Dowling on John Kiely’s diving comments.
Nevertheless, despite the apology, former Limerick hurler Dowling was surprised at the backlash the comments received, and believes they received an unfair amount of media scrutiny.
“I was at the game and a good bit back from the play,” Dowling told the RTÉ GAA Podcast.
“I’m very slow to give out about referees because when you’re so far away from it, it wouldn’t be fair to give a comment straight away.
“Sometimes with the benefit of having a television there beside you, and seeing the replay, you get to see it quicker.
“John was right down on top of the play so he’d have seen it a lot better than I did. I didn’t pay a whole lot pile of heed to [his comments] to be honest.
“I think what he really wanted to get across was his disappointment with how the games were being refereed.
“I don’t think he tried to have a pop off any of the referees, I think it was just generally about the way things were being done.
“Unfortunately, there were things that were blown out of proportion, in my opinion.
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