Joe Brolly has defended his comments made on Saturday in the wake of Tyrone’s two-point All-Ireland SFC quarter-final win over Ulster champions Monaghan.

In his role as RTÉ analyst, the former Derry footballer was deeply critical of Seán Cavanagh’s cynical challenge on Conor McManus that saw the latter hauled to the Croke Park turf by the Tyrone man when closing in on goal late in the game.

There is no rule in Gaelic games for any punishment other than a booking for dragging the man to ground, regardless of where he is on the pitch.

Brolly reacted angrily afterwards when asked his opinion on the game by host Michael Lyster, insisting he wanted “nothing to do with that” and branding the actions of Cavanagh at “total disgrace”.

He added: “You can forget about Seán Cavanagh as far as he’s a man.”

The tactics employed by Tyrone, he said, were being used nationwide as a template for underage sides on how to play the game.

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte dismissed Brolly’s “tirade” as “unbalanced reporting of the game from a tired and rather boring analyst”, while Cavanagh himself said he “did what 99 per cent of players, if they are honest with themselves, would do”.

Brolly, however, was unrepentant this morning, when speaking to BBC Radio Ulster. He reiterated his claim that “cynical fouling” was “poisoning the game”, though he did strike a conciliatory tone with regards to man-of-the-match Cavanagh, who produced an otherwise outstanding performance.

“Seán Cavanagh was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said. “We need to stop this. We are the only sport in the world that tolerates cynical fouling.

“He (Cavanagh) is probably the best footballer of the modern generation, but this is poisoning the game... To be fair, he gave a post-match interview where he said: ‘I don’t like this... but we are just exploiting the system as it stands.’”

He added that the GAA now had the impetus to amend the rulebook and stamp out the “win-at-all-costs” mentality.