Hurling is an incredibly entertaining game to watch when it is in full flow, but the fast paced nature of the sport does make it difficult to referee at times.
Spectators want to see matches flow as much possible, something that can often lead to officials turning somewhat of a blind eye towards infringements such as borderline tackles and players taking slightly too many steps.
One part of the game that is becoming an issue is the handpass. For quite some time, the art of the handpass has been dying out, with many players seemingly just throwing the ball to their teammates. Despite this, it is rarely pulled up by referees.
It something that has been a point of contention for hurling purists for a number of years, with many believing action should now be taken.
Barry Kelly calls on GAA referees to intervene on hurling handpass
Barry Kelly was one of the top hurling officials in the country over the last couple of decades and he believes that the handpass issue has now gone too far.
Speaking on the RTÉ GAA podcast, he said that referees must come together to clamp down on the problem after witnessing first hand during Westmeath's loss to Wexford at the weekend.
I would say yesterday in Mullingar, if there was 100 handpasses, there were 10 done properly.
Sean Cleere (referee) could easily have blown 30 yesterday. It’s meant to be a release and a strike. It’s meant to be like handball really.
You look at warm-ups before a game and none of them are being done properly. It is being thrown...
There’s three rounds of the league left to get some kind of clamp on it. I’m more and more inclined with the Conor O’Donovan type flick it off the hurley because it has become endemic in the game now. It’s now basically just fouling the whole time.
I know the referees are meeting this Wednesday in Dublin and I think they are going to get it hard and fast from Croke Park.
Moves have been made over the last few years to cut down on questionable handpass technique, although such movements often quickly die out after a couple of weeks of stricter implementation of the laws.
It will be interesting to see if anything is different on this occasion.
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