Evidence mounting sweepers not so forward-thinking

Will last Sunday, for hurling, mark Swexit, asks PM O’Sullivan?

Apologies, apologies… A pun about sweepers is hard to resist, given the wild unbridled madness about Brexit across the water. Yet the pun is more than glibness. Brexit fixated on a break with tried and trusted structures, a brave old world of renewed sovereignty and control.

Sound familiar? Sweeper systems (Swexit Remain) were likewise a break with received ideas. For most observers, structures established since hurling went 15-a-side for the 1913 season have served the most beautiful game well. These observers argue the beauty is ebbing from hurling due to current defensive patterns. Do they not have a point, seeing what we have seen this summer?