Contact law; Being in possession is not a great advantage anymore, especially against Kilkenny
[font=Verdana][size=3]Eamon De Valera was at a function for Rockwell College Old Boys when he famously said that hurling and rugby were the games best suited to the Irish temperament. It was a dinner table comment not intended for general consumption but it reached the pages of The Irish Times and generated quite a fuss at the time. In the days of the GAAâs ban on foreign games it was a niche opinion for an Irish statesman to hold but liberal nonetheless. By comparison, Barack Obama has enjoyed a handy week.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]All such inhibitions dissolved over time. GAA teams have been importing ideas and influences from other sports for years to the point where an element of cross-pollination became the norm. It was reported as a novelty when Clareâs hurlers concocted training drills with rugby tackling bags in the mid-90s but nothing you might hear about the conduct of inter-county training would surprise you now.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Hurling and rugby have always shared some common ground: both have always promoted the warrior mentality and placed a high premium on physical courage. It used be said that there was a place on a rugby field for players of all shapes and sizes and that used to be true of hurling too, even at inter-county level. Now? That is a quaint notion.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]In rugbyâs professional era the terms of engagement have been determined by physical power above all and in the Brian Cody era that is where Kilkenny have taken inter-county hurling. If hurling was a non-contact sport Kilkenny would still be the greatest team of all time but given that the opposite applies Kilkenny have colonised the contact zone as the source of their power. From that dominance everything else flows.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]It presents a huge challenge for every team regards themselves as rivals. If you march into a tackle against Kilkenny youâre putting the ball at immediate risk. It doesnât matter that the ball is in your hand: in the modern inter-county game, and particularly against Kilkenny, possession is not nine- tenths of the law. Itâs like walking into a stadium turnstile; it looks like you should flick through but if nobody steps on the pedal youâre trapped.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]In their execution of swarm tackling Kilkenny have reached Tyroneâs level of deadly virtuosity. There was a perfect example early in last Sundayâs League final when Eoin Cadogan ran into an ambush 30 metres from the Cork goal. Given his footballerâs instincts he was happy to take on the tackle but couldnât burst through.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]He was fouled first by TJ Reid and then by Paddy Hogan; no whistle. Carry on. Was the referee playing an advantage? What advantage precisely? Cadogan turned back, harassed, and offloaded to Stephen McDonnell; by now, having the ball was no longer an asset but as McDonnell tried to dispose of the negative equity he was hooked.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Cadogan picked up the break and tried to make ground again. Fouled again. Reid, again. Carry on. Eventually he made a successful handpass and the ball was cleared but not before he was put to his witâs end. At no time in that sequence, though, was it certain that the ball would be cleared.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Why was no free given? Because the contact zone in Kilkenny matches is now like the breakdown in rugby. You expect that there will be infringements but you donât necessarily expect a whistle and itâs not necessarily an advantage to have the ball going in. Against Kilkennyâs swarm tackling hurling referees have adopted the rugby directive of âuse it or lose itâ.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]James McGrathâs performance last Sunday undermines, yet again, Codyâs assertion that the âphysicalityâ is being taken out of hurling. Nothing could be more at odds with the plain reality. Last Sunday McGrath chose not to whistle for in excess of 30 fouls on a ratio of about 2:1 in Kilkennyâs favour. If referees were living in dread of the assessor in the stand, as Cody has suggested, then McGrath skilfully masked his anxiety.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]McGrathâs performance was typical of inter-county hurling referees at the moment: protection for the player in possession is minimal, application of the rules is selective beyond reason. On both counts Kilkenny donât mind: they donât play for frees and they donât need them.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Former GAA president Christy Cooney appointed Brian Cody to a standing committee on playing rules which has met on a handful of occasions without bringing forward any recommendations so far. Why would Cody want any changes? With rare exception Kilkenny games are being policed in the laissez faire tone that Cody wants. On that front he has been unchallenged.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Kilkennyâs movement and use of the ball was devastating in spells last Sunday but what really defines them is how they behave when they donât have the ball. Going back to the 2006 All-Ireland final, when Kilkenny slaughtered Cork on turnovers, Kilkennyâs facility to take the ball off their opponents has been peerless.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Cork took the ball into contact far too much last Sunday, much like Dublin in the Leinster final last summer. At this stage of their development Dublin have more players with serious upper body strength but youâre simply not going to beat Kilkenny for power. You need that facility in order to compete but it is not a place to take the battle and hope to win.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]There was an extraordinary scene late in the game last Sunday when Richie Hogan pinned Cadogan to the ground in a wrestling manoeuvre, right in front of Cody, animated at ringside. When Hogan came on to the panel as a teenager he had the classic profile of a sniping finisher: neither tall nor bulky but gifted and quick. Now? Heâs just like the other marines in black and amber, fighting with all his might for Cody and county. Still brilliant but not just brilliant any longer.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Cork were outclassed and overpowered and, to a certain extent, Kilkenny paid them the compliment of approaching the game on a quasi-championship footing. When these teams met in the group stage of the League two months ago Kilkenny didnât flood the landing areas under puck-outs nearly as much as they did in the final. Last Sunday, normal service resumed. In the opening four minutes three of Corkâs puck-outs were picked off by Kilkenny wing-forwards on screening duty inside their own 65. Cork targeted an astonishing 23 puck-outs at Pa Cronin but Brian Hogan, his direct opponent, only contested one of those puck-outs in the opening half an hour and less than a handful altogether. In their system the half-back line is protected at all costs and the contracted area between the full-back line and half-back line is like the air space above the Pentagon: a no-fly zone.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]When Cronin moved out of the centre for puck-outs he became somebody elseâs responsibility and when he drifted onto a lot of loose ball around centre field in the final quarter neither Hogan nor Kilkenny were concerned; John Mullane did something similar in the All-Ireland semi-final last August when he picked off a succession of late points as a deep-lying centre forward when the contest was over.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Contrast that with Conor Lehaneâs experience in the closing minutes when he had a goal on his mind. He won a hard ball in the corner but as soon as he gathered possession he was tackled by Kieran Joyce, Paul Murphy, Hogan and Tommy Walsh in quick succession. When Lehane finally cracked he coughed up possession to Richie Doyle by which time all his progress had been lateral and difficult.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]There were only two minutes left and the game had been over for nearly an hour but Kilkennyâs ruthlessness in these matters is not a slave to the clock or the calendar. Cork will learn and get better. Kilkenny? The usual.[/size][/font]