The handpass and hurling are currently not a match made in heaven, from club level right up to inter-county, with the common phrase of ‘throw the ball’ being heard across the country.
Even at the All-Ireland semifinals a few weeks ago, we saw referees whistling for hand pass fouls at several key times.
It comes amid a new rule from two-time All-Ireland winner with Tipperary Conor O’Donovan and his club Nenagh that states that “Nenagh Éire Óg GAA Club proposes the introduction of an additional Technical Foul - Rule 4.2 (c) which will state that it is a foul to either handpass the ball or palm the ball directly from the same hand that is holding the ball.”
It will be before Congress next year, but the proposed rule has provoked some pushback.
The Nenagh man was on his high horse about handpassing in hurling yet again yesterday morning, calling out co-commentator Michael Duignan - quite pedantically - for ‘praising how well Clare is playing, saying, “they throw the ball around now “. Hurling’s technical playing Rule 4.2(a) says it’s a foul: to throw the ball.’
RTE Match co-commentator Michael Duignan here praising how well Clare are playing saying; “they throw the ball around now “. Hurling’s technical playing Rule 4.2(a) says it’s a foul: to throw the ball. pic.twitter.com/qoUhGSH9qB
— Conor O’Donovan (@ConorOd27121808) July 22, 2024
The former All-Ireland winner with Offaly, who was doing his 25th All-Ireland final with RTÉ, responded to O’Donovan late last night, telling him to calm down about being ‘fixated’ on the handpass.
"Jesus Conor I think it's time to take a day off. It's the oldest saying in hurling, meaning "passing" the ball around. Try enjoying the great games we are having instead of being fixated with one rule that is not ruining the game by the way."
Jesus Conor I think it's time to take a day off. It's the oldest saying in hurling, meaning "passing" the ball around. Try enjoying the great games we are having instead of being fixated with one rule that is not ruining the game by the way.
— Michael Duignan (@DuignanMichael) July 22, 2024
Even Donal Og Cusack believes that the skill has been mastered by players now that its hard for referees to catch on when he spoke on the Sunday Game the night of the semi-finals.
“A lot of people have been talking about it,” Cusack said.
"You would wonder, with some of the new proposals, how the ball is going to be handpassed or the proposal to be handpassed; you can see that Gillane had clear separation.
For the disallowed goal, it was a brilliant piece of skill from Connelly. What do you expect him to do there? Stop and kick it? Do we want more kicking in the game?
We saw a lot of those over the weekend, and it would make you wonder where that noise is coming from into the referee’s ears when they make decisions like this...
You would wonder, in terms of the people making these decisions, look at the way it evolved over the years. Cathal O’Neill was able to keep the flow going through the evolution of the modern handpass. Before any decision or any thought of a decision around the hand-pass, you need to get the top, top players involved. You need to acknowledge their skill set and the positive impact of the hand-passes evolution on our game."
This is a tricky debate for the GAA. Do they try to stamp down on something that could possibly and more likely have a negative effect on the game by slowing it down with the switching of hands and the crazy amount of "Brick flicks" we would see, or do they try to tackle the handpass head-on?
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