So, is this the end of hurling as we know it? Not quite...
THE evolution and revolution in the game of hurling continues to grab a lot of the headlines. After the pick-me-up of Offaly winning well against Kerry, I came home last Sunday to pick up on the rest of the day’s events in the National League. I sat down to watch the highlights package which was dominated by John Kiely’s outspoken interview and Jackie Tyrrell’s analysis about hurling going the way of a non-contact game.
Maybe I’m getting too old but a part of me thought: I’ve seen all this before – the early-season crackdown by referees and people being up in arms as a result.
Indeed, there are other reasons to take a little step back. We are just two games back into League action. We have endured an unprecedented 15 months in terms of disruption and fans are still not allowed at our games. It’s truly a bit weird.
I’m a bit surprised at how the conversation has developed so quickly.
Especially with the way the season is structured. The League runs straight into Championship, so counties are trying a lot of things out all at once.
The style of play between Cork and Tipperary also generated a lot of heat. Cork hit one long puck-out in the second half and Patrick Horgan scored a brilliant goal as a result. Since when did keeping possession and losing possession become an indicator of how hurling should be played?
I didn’t particularly enjoy the game as a spectacle with all the short puck-outs and Cork running the ball. But was I overly surprised? No. Cork have that sort of player – mobile, fast, free-running. Are they going to keep pucking the ball down on players who can’t win a puck-out? No.
So they are embracing a running game, not dissimilar to the one Donal O’Grady oversaw to great effect when Cork last won an All-Ireland in 2005. They are entitled to play any which way they feel suits them best. That doesn’t mean it’s to everyone’s tastes or that they shouldn’t mix it up a bit.
I thought the simulation comment by Limerick manager Kiely about the Galway players was over the top but his apology was laudable. We all can say things in the heat of the moment and not always get it right. I wouldn’t be great at apologising, so fair play to him for being the bigger man.
As for his comments on the fouling aspect of the game and too many soft frees being awarded? It was a reminder of what Brian Cody has done in the past, Kiely is trying to lay down a marker. Go back to the All-Ireland final and Limerick’s foul count was way more than Waterford’s. They have been the best team in the country but there is something of a pattern there.
So I wouldn’t necessarily agree with the school of thought that it is the end of hurling as we know it.
The game has been changing for years now. The players are stronger, the sliotars are travelling so much further, the hurls are way better. You’d be killed if you thought of going out with a 32 or 33-inch hurley in my day – you’d need a 36-inch stick to protect yourself for a start!
Brian Gath of Drumcullen makes hurls in Offaly and he keeps one of Brian Whelahan’s as a template.
When my lads saw it, they wondered how you could possibly hurl with it – the bás was so small. What Whelahan could do on the field was incredible. So imagine what he would do now.
If there’s one thing that does need to be highlighted it’s the change to the advantage rule. It makes no sense. I’m a county chairman yet I didn’t know anything about this.
The players and managers also seem to be the last to know. Why did the GAA interfere with something working so well?
PEOPLE talk about throwing the ball and cracking down on that but the tackling is so ferocious now with players swarming, the only way to keep the ball moving is to throw it or move it lightning-fast with the fingers – with so little time on the ball, otherwise a player is going to lose it and you end up with countless rucks.
I got a chance to watch Galway versus Limerick and it was great to see a team taking on the champions physically, going at them, rather than over-doing the build-up play like some other teams.
You need to have confidence in your ability. Shane O’Neill deserves to be complimented for his approach. Galway went close last year but if you want to sit back and play with a sweeper, Limerick will hit you for 30 points.
This time they were willing to go toe-to-toe and trust their defenders and there were some great battles. Aaron Gillane came on and showed his class.
Joe Canning also excelled, showing hunger and desire.
He landed a huge free, then went on a run to set up Cathal Mannion for a big score and then registered one himself.
Galway have plenty of physicality and there was an edge to the game that went against some of the talk about diluting the contact in hurling.
Teams are protecting possession so there are not as many individual contests. That has been going on a good while now.
I heard an old Galway warrior Sylvie Linnane say that camogie is now more physical so he’s another one worried about the direction the game is taking.
But the game has changed – just look at the disappearance of ground hurling and overhead striking – and it’s hard to see it going back.
It’s still a bit early to be making too many snap judgments.
‘I’M SURPRISED AT HOW THE CONVERSATION HAS DEVELOPED SO QUICKLY’