Brawl was sheer hooliganism

The row in the Meath Dublin match was an absolute disgrace and I hope that the association doesn't baulk at hammering those involved because they are from Leinster's two top teams and are a huge box office draw.
Parnell Park had a sell-out crowd for the game, a sign that once again the Dublin Meath rivalry has become the big game in Leinster once more after a brief interlude where Westmeath and Laois made the running.
But for 29 players to get involved in a brawl in this day and age is totally unacceptable.
This was reminiscent of the 1996 replay of the All-Ireland final when Meath and Mayo battled it out at the start of the game leading to the current Meath manager Colm Coyle being sent off along with Mayo's then top player Liam McHale.
I hate this sort of nonsense in our game, Dublin and Tyrone did something similar two seasons ago although that looked like handbags at forty paces compared to this.
I hope the GAA examines the video evidence, from what I saw Ciaran Whelan for one was lucky to stay on the pitch long enough after the brawl to earn himself a red card, and that every player who lifted their hands gets hammered.
I doubt they will because of the two sides involved, but I would like to see county boards getting massive fines, or have to play behind closed doors for a number of games when something like this happens.
I would also love to see the first person who lands into a brawl and plays any part in extending it out beyond the original pair involved to be banned for the season. It might make players think twice.
The beauty at least about this incident is that it is on tape and there should be no hiding place.
Don't know what's happening to Ciaran Whelan, he has increasingly become involved in nonsense as his physical powers and impact on a game diminishes.
And as for Bernard Brogan, what are they feeding him and his brother? It's a big chink in any player's armour if the opposition knows that it is easy to make you bite.
As for the spectator who threw the cup of tea at Ciaran Whelan, I hope he is identified and banned from GAA activity for about five years to life. No player should be at risk from anyone at a game.
I know that there are some who will argue that worse brawls than this have happened in the GAA in the past.
I have been at some of them myself, but times have changed and more and more games are televised.
We have a responsibility to bring our young people up to play football and tell them that the so-called hard man or woman is the one who comes out of the fifty fifty with the ball.
Other codes are ruthless about this type of behaviour and have by and large stamped it out because the penalties are stern and players know they have to act in a disciplined fashion.
The GAA needs to get tough with it too and it should make clear that the hooliganism we saw today is brought to an end once and for all.