That’s a new one to me.
I’m an ideas man.
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To be fair, I do think that most teams are actually handpassing the ball. When it is slowed down and looked at, it is a handpass rather than a throw. Now, there definitely are a few throws in there too.
But I do think it’s a fair question to ask, do we want the handpass in its current guise in the game? I think teams will adapt to the rules but I don’t think it’s suddenly going to bring us back to 90s hurling either (which is what some people are pining for - 50/50 contests all over the pitch). Possession is king now and will remain so regardless of what rules are brought in.
And I don’t see this as being related to Limerick at all. I think Cork use the handpass more than Limerick, Clare use it very similarly to Limerick, every team uses it when they have to. I think the skill levels of the Limerick players are higher than most of their competitors at the moment and are best-equipped to adapt to any rule changes.
Give it a trial and see how it goes.
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I agree – but here is the moot point. If this refereeing regime got installed, there would quickly follow a slew of outraged articles, mainly in the Irish Independent, and the GAA authorities would cave in to populism.
Same as ‘real life’ politics.
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The Irish Independent shouldn’t be the reason we keep looking at this.
The rule says it must be a clear striking action which is not currently what is happening especially with Cork, Limerick & Clare.
It won’t bring back 1990s hurling but it could bring it nearer to the halycon days of 2009-14.
If Limerick in their current guise resorted to the old hip it and whip it they would still win the All Ireland given the fitness, skill and athletic advantages they have. Maybe after the 5 in a row it would be worth a try
Right, and the status quo mediocrity persists.
Well, every sort of amen to that statement.
To my mind, yes – alas.
The handpass isn’t enforced as the ref is consistently so far of the pace he can’t see it clearly enough to call it. So, as I’ve suggested for years, let the linesmen who provide no real value as is ref inside the 40 on either end and the ref do the middle, scores, subs timekeeping etc.
Watched the Harriers vs the Anne’s last night. Hurling’s biggest problem from what I can see currently is the ruck that occurs when there’s a throw in. That of course is the referee’s fault, in this case John Carton. 2 players should only be allowed to compete, the other 13 should stay at least 5 metres away.
Smaller bas a factor?
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Johnny Murphy was doing the line for our game against Ballylanders last year. He is from Ballylanders and wasn’t doing it in an official capacity just a pleb with a flag. He got one of our lads sent off. Outrageous stuff.
The game is now a possession based game supported by players allowed to break tackles illegally using 7-12 steps and 75+ throws off the ball.
Terrible shit really but the PJ McManus supplemented media machine are afraid to call it out or clowns like Donal Og who support handball type hurling.
It was aply summed up by Westside this week: “
The referee penalised five hand-passes during the game, three against Tipperary. This is part of the great pretence among hurling referees. Here we have the match officials trying to convince us that they’re enforcing an unenforceable rule. It’s a con job and Croke Park needs to man-up and tackle this issue rather than off-loading it to others.
Gaelic Stats recently completed an analysis of the experimental rules that were trialled in the third level Freshers’ league and their findings are interesting. Critics of the Conor O’Donovan proposal claimed that it was unworkable, but the trial of the rule tells an entirely different story. Players, with very limited preparation, adapted remarkably well to the new strictures; there was no chaos, as some predicted.
Over nine games the study found 190 hand passes were performed correctly according to the new rule and in 88% of cases possession was retained. That retention rate is only slightly less than the 95% retention rate for last year’s inter-county season when throwing featured strongly.
Another interesting finding was that the new rule improved significantly the ratio of stick passes to hand passes. In last year’s inter-county championship, the ratio was 1.5 stick passes to every hand pass. In the freshers’ league it was 8 to 1 in favour of the stick.
Surely that’s something to be welcomed. After all, it is a stick and ball game; if it’s handball you’re after, go to the alley.”
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Would anyone disagree with this? I presume there is two passionate camps on tfk but seems a no brainer to me
The upper echelon of hurling coaches and pundits like Derek, Donal Og, Dalo etc etc carry huge weight and they think the game is fine. Some of their comments on the matter have been so condescending to those who raise the issue.
Many then use it as a stick to beat the current limerick team with which is simply not true. Limerick would win in any form of the game.
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Cork in the mid 2000s started the short hand passing game.
Once hurling turned into a possession based game it fundamentally changed forever.