It all comes down to this really, if steps was enforced then the defender could actually defend. This would mean only the most blatant offences would be black cards like the cork one last week.
In Tipp v Clare, Tipp seemed to be fouling 30-45 yards out before a goal chance was on. None of them were penalties but definitely lucky to avoid a second yellow.
Looking forward to Donal Ogâs defence of the modern step
Would agree with that, steps is the biggest plague at all levels of the sport.
I get that itâs really hard to ref, there are so many other things that starting to count steps isnât even natural until a player starts to hesitate. And players take the absolute piss out of that.
I donât know what else can really be done other than a directive to refs to really clamp down on it and make it a focus.
Itâs shambolic that a back can defend really well for 7 or 8 steps at which point youâd expect a player to have to play the ball on the hurley but they just keep going and eventually win a free because you now have no other option.
Wasnât there a game a a few years ago when Clare were punished agin Tipp i think in Limerick with a penalty and some lad showed afterwards an aerial view highlighting the Tipp forward was nearer the Ennis road than the Clare goal 
There was. Yer man was out on the sideline. Might have been a Sean Stack job.
James Owens, I think.
Yes, right on the sideline and Jake Morris was in the process of rising the ball - he didnât even have clean possession.
It was lazy tackle and at best a soft yellow but James Owen thought otherwise.
Mark Rodgers had a very soft penalty/black card awarded against him in last years league final - thankfully Eoin Cody fluffed the penalty so nothing was made of it.
James Owens is probably why we got fucked around with that penalty Fanning saved and the penalty Reid got last year. A blight on the world. Worse again, weâd have to endure the cunt during the club championship.
Itâs bizarre decisions like that from Owens led to referees deciding to ignore the rule.
Players opting out is a huge problem. Donât see too many returning into the set up thatâs there. Waterford winning only game in the U20/21 championship since beating Galway in the 2016 All Ireland Final, and that a wooden spoon decider against Limerick in 2024, tells a tale too.
Waterford made 14 All Ireland semi finals in the 23 years between 1998-2021. Only Kilkenny made more in that period. In the 23 seasons prior to 1998, outside of beating Kerry, Waterford won just 4 championship matches in 23 seasons. They are rapidly slipping back to those levels again, with apathy all round a large part of the problem.
Well done to waterford camogie team. First ever championship win over kilkenny today in nowlan Park
That semi final statistic is amazing
John Mullane article in the independent yesterday I hope doesnt sum up the views of Waterford people
John wants the GAA to come with a calender and structure that keeps Waterford hurling into July, he is almost advocating for scrapping the provincal structure
What John is saying is âpoor us in Munster and we wish were in Leinster as it is handierâ
No where does John state that Wateford need to up their efforts around hurling in the County to get to the standard that is in Munster. If the attitude reflected in his article is reflective of the attitude in the County, well Waterford are finished as a hurling county.
Itâs true for John, if they were in Leinster theyâd be flying it.
is the " if we were in Leinster" line a bit defeatist?
Tipp werent coming out with that when things werent going great
would Waterford be flying in Leinster? they d be doing better alright but flying it is stretching it
anyways the Wateford minors won today and are into AISF which is great to see
Waterford advance to the Minor All Ireland semi final against Kilkenny with a 4 point win over Limerick.
Read what @Fagan_ODowd wrote earlier here. Thatâd be the sensible opinion of any Waterford fan.
That match should be in Wexford Park.