Nash not in clear yet as Central Council takes look
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to watching hurling, the Anthony Nash motion resurfaces in the form of a new interpretation of the rule at Central Council next Saturday.
While the motion to prevent penalties and 20m frees being struck after the 20m line was withdrawn from the Clár of last month’s Congress, the concern among Cork officials now is the existing wording of the playing rule 4.25 will be used to curb Nash’s style of placed ball striking from the start of this year’s championship.
As this weekend has shown, it shouldn’t be all about Nash. It’s about TJ Reid, it concerns Seamus Callanan and it affects Conor Cooney. All three fizzed fantastic 20m placed balls to the net, Reid and Cooney converting penalties and Callanan a free. In doing so, each of the trio took a liberal number of steps.
But it’s the GAA to blame for making it personal with Nash. There hadn’t been a problem with players contravening the existing rule until the Cork goalkeeper’s swashbuckling technique stole headlines last September. They themselves referred to the proposal as the “Anthony Nash motion” on the official website.
Yet, as Cork chairman Bob Ryan pointed out last month, Nash’s style was complimented by GAA director general Páraic Duffy in his annual report. Recalling the drawn All-Ireland final, Duffy wrote: “Cue the finish but no grumbling with a game that offered so much, not least the goal-scoring antics and attempts of goalkeeper Anthony Nash whose advancing dead-ball technique became the hallmark of young hurlers everywhere.”
So what gives? Safety fears? Yeah, we’ve heard that one a few times now but this proposal didn’t come from the medical, scientific and welfare committee, rather the playing rules group. The concern is more with an anomaly in the rules as opposed to the well-being of defenders.
The solution? Well, it would appear referees will be instructed to ensure the penalty/free-taker doesn’t breach the 20m line. At the same time, umpires will be asked to keep an eye on the defenders so that they don’t infringe on the 20m distance that, as per rule, should be kept between the striker and the nearest opponent.
Overseeing that is a lot easier said than done. For one, will we see umpires don helmets for such instances? Don’t laugh. They are the only ones in the line of fire not wearing faceguards. If they are to be vigilant about players remaining on the goal-line for these dead-balls, they will be the last to see the sliotar hurtling their way. That maybe an opportune time to call the union.
Secondly, the days of multiple defenders congregating in the goalmouth to prevent goals from 20m frees could also be over. Unless they are all put back to back, it’s virtually impossible to have 13 players on the goal-line and not violate the 20m zone.
Unless Central Council comes up with a piece of ingenuity on Saturday, they could be causing more trouble than it’s worth for themselves. At a time when cynicism is a relatively new buzzword in hurling because of the Eddie Keher document, the GAA could actually encourage the dark arts if they prohibit the current practice of penalties and 20m frees.
At least referees’ chief Pat McEnaney and former Cork keeper Dónal Óg Cusack, members of the playing rules committee, had supported the idea of making penalties one-on-one instead of one against three. Speaking in December, McEnaney hit the nail on the head when he said: “At the moment we are legitimising fouling.”
For a man so criticised for the stance he has taken in hurling officiating, it was an incredibly incisive remark. More still, the issue will exacerbate if the rule is to be followed to the letter of the law. As Laois freetaker Willie Hyland said last month: “It’s going to make people put the ball over the bar a lot more because the difference in a yard or two, it mightn’t seem much but it definitely is when you’re taking a 20m free.”
A form of entertainment is something hurling can live without but when teams are not being adequately punished for foul play therein lies a bigger problem.
The Nash motion, as Duffy admitted, was pulled because it was destined to fail. There is not much to indicate Central Council’s decision this weekend won’t suffer the same fate.
* Email: john.fogarty@examiner.ie
Tipperary’s mammoth goal concessions. Waterford’s shyness in front of goal. Clare picking their battles. Dublin’s refusal to buckle. Kilkenny’s quiet revolution. Galway managing without Joe.
The subplots of this year’s Division 1A are plenty, and yet for another season, the permutations going into the final round are head-scratching.
Exciting it might be we come back to our main reservation about the structure of the top flight: the line between the reward of a quarter-final spot and risk of relegation is far too thin.
There is a strong possibility four teams will finish on four points, meaning score difference would split the quartet with two going into quarter-finals and the other two facing off to avoid the drop.
What’s more clear-cut is Division 1B, where Limerick’s failure to beat Offaly at the weekend means Cork know a win against Wexford on Sunday will see them make a swift return to Division 1A.
Limerick have been dealt a bad hand in the league on more than one occasion in the last few years, but they have nobody to blame on this occasion if they fail to go up this time around.
Predictions
Quarter-finals: Clare v Laois; Kilkenny v Wexford; Galway v Limerick; Tipperary v Cork.
Relegation final: Dublin v Waterford.
Promoted: Cork.
Mount Leinster Rangers hardly did themselves a disservice in Croke Park yesterday but they didn’t help themselves playing so much on the back foot anticipating a haymaker.
As expected, Joe Canning lined out in midfield but the Carlow men set themselves up as if he was a fox in their henhouse.
Kudos to the discipline of Tommy Mullally’s men in adopting such restraint when the natural urge especially for younger players would have been to cut loose. But that’s a spark or two of what was needed to upset their fancied opposition.
They might point to the fact that Portumna hardly troubled their goal but then neither did they at the other end. If they had truly regarded themselves as equals, maybe the scoreboard would have reflected it.
Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan paid a visit to St. Josephs and Stanford hurling teams at Stanford University, California.
Former All-Ireland winning Kerry captain Jimmy Deenihan returned to his GAA roots at an unlikely venue on Sunday afternoon.
Deenihan, now Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, was amongst a huge crowd at an exciting challenge game between the world famous Stanford University and St Joseph’s Hurling club.
Stanford’s Hurling club was founded in 2008 by John Mulrow and Sam Svoboda, both Chicago born but with Irish roots.
Stanford contest a round-robin championship each year, against teams from both UC Berkeley and UC Davis, in what must surely be one of the most academically qualified hurling competitions in the sport’s history.
And the minster didn’t leave empty handed, with Stanford captain Tyler Marks presenting him with a club jersey to mark the occasion.
