No issues envisaged for hurling hand-pass

GAELIC GAMES/NEW RULES:THE GAA has further clarified the hand-pass rule as it applies to hurling ahead of this weekend's start to the senior championship proper.

Unlike in football, the hand-pass rule in hurling is exactly the same as was applied throughout the leagues and that, says GAA head of games Pat Daly, should avoid any of the hyped controversy that surrounded last weekend’s opening to the football championship.

“The ball must be released and struck with a definite striking action of the hand,” declared Daly – as if to say simple as that. “So the pop, or the sling, or the throw, or whatever way you want to describe it, is not allowed. It must be released and then struck, so there should be clear daylight between the ball and the hand, so that you see it being struck.

“A lot of the time it was done with one continuous movement. Like swinging a ball out of a sling. Okay, some players may be upset that they’ll be blown for things that they might have got away with last year. But maybe what was happening was that throwing was becoming a facet of the game.

“But the rule that is there now was approved at congress, and there is no change from what was used in the league. And that’s the same for anybody. Alternatively, you legislate for throwing the ball. But I don’t think that was the way to go. There is absolutely no skill in throwing the ball.

“Unless RTÉ goes into overdrive I can’t see how this will cause any problems or issues. It wasn’t a problem during the league. It didn’t raise any issues of any description. So, unless someone decides to wind it up again I can’t imagine why it should be an issue. We certainly don’t anticipate any problems anyway. It’s been there since the start of February.”

Daly hardly concealed the feeling that media coverage of the hand-pass issue in football was greatly exaggerated, and actually produced some statistics to prove it.

In the Armagh-Derry game in the Ulster football championship last Sunday, just six of the 196 hand-passes delivered in the game were judged to have been illegal.

“The better example would be the Kerry-Tipperary game,” explained Daly. “There were 270 hand-passes in that game – 166 to Kerry, and 104 to Tipperary. Tipperary were blown up twice, for frees, and they were throws. Kerry were blown four times.

“Two definitely were throws, and one of the others was definitely questionable, depending on how you saw it. The Bryan Sheehan pass, for example, and in fairness to Darragh Maloney on RTÉ said it, that they were looking at it the third time, and still they weren’t sure. The referee has to get it right the first time. But four frees out of 166 passes is hardly an issue.

“So I’m not exactly sure what the real agenda this weekend was. But generally these things do settle down. The fundamental issue here is one of consistent application of the rules. That’s what everybody wants. Speak to anyone at any level.

“There were a lot of people canvassed when the strategic plan was put together, but the one thing that came through from all quarters was consistent application of the rules. Players wanted it. Team managers wanted it. The public wanted it. This is an effort to try and get consistency insofar as we can.”

On Tuesday, Dublin hurling manager Anthony Daly said that he “would have concerns after seeing what happened last Sunday” as to how the hand-pass rule would apply to hurling. Given the GAA’s clarification there can be no complaints, or no excuses.

“If it’s there since the start of the league, and you played seven games with it, I think you should really know what is going on at that stage. I wouldn’t want to be critical of Anthony Daly because I think he’s a sound manager. But Clare were one of the counties in the Ger Loughnane era that would have majored in throwing the ball.”

There were only three specific rule changes applied to hurling after congress, one of which refers to the penalty, where both attackers and defenders must remain outside the 20-metre line and the arc until the ball is struck, and the three defenders on the line must not move off the line until the ball is struck.

This change in wording essentially clears up a potential anomaly.

“There’s a slight tweaking there,” explained Daly, “in that the players on the line can’t move until the ball is struck. In the past it was before the puck was taken. It’s a semantic thing rather than anything else.

“It’s a bit clearer though, in that you’re saying there can’t be any movement on the goal line until the ball is struck. Technically, in the past, you could say the shot was taken once the player touched the ball.”

The penalty for taking a puck-out from outside the small rectangle is also changed from the award of a 65-metre free to the opposition to a throw in the ball on the defenders’ 20-metre line.

With amendments to GAA playing rules allowed only every five years, it will at least be 2015 before the playing rules can next be addressed in any way – and by then for sure all the fuss will have died down.

Hurling Rule Changes

1 Puck Outs— The penalty for taking a puck-out from outside the small rectangle is changed from the award of a 65-metre free to the opposition to a throw-in on the defenders' 20-metre line.

2 Hand-Pass— The ball must be released and struck with a definite striking action of the hand.

3 Penalties— Both attackers and defenders must remain outside the 20-metre line and the arc until the ball is struck from a penalty and the three defenders on the line must not move off the line until the ball is struck.