Attack the rules, not the referee

Watching last Wednesday’s Munster U21 final on TG4 in the company of my better half’s father proved a useful exercise.

An avid GAA man, a Cork man living in Limerick who has obviously been looking at hurling for more years than myself, gauging his reaction to referee Shane Hourigan’s decisions provided insight into how a supporter assesses hurling officiating.

Mick, it must be said, is of the no-nonsense school of thought. A man who queried Henry Shefflin’s sending off but obviously not to the extent that he contested Pat Horgan’s red card in the Munster final, he has been frustrated with how he believes the game has become sanitised. “Frees and cards for nothing,” he bemoaned.