Paul Rouse: Rules and referees aren't at the root of hurling's ills

Put simply: it is not the changed rules of the game that has fundamentally shifted the patterns of play, rather it is the changes in equipment and in the medicalisation of sporting performance.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST: Craftsman Brian Gath in his workshop in Killyon, County Offaly, holding a hurley used by Brian Whelahan in the 1990s and the standard hurley used by adult players in 2021.

There is no doubt that changing rules changes a game. And so it is with hurling at the moment. The introduction of new rules and the application of those rules has impacted on the flow of the play and has led to a fairly startling number of frees being awarded.

There is nothing quite as thrilling as a good hurling match. It pains to say that the number of thrilling matches in the last number of years has been relatively few. Indeed, last year’s championship only excited on the very occasional moment and it is hard to argue that there was even one classic match. The absence of the atmosphere of crowds is surely part of the explanation — but only part. And blaming rules isn’t enough of an explanation either.