A whole new ball game: Gaelic Football’s lost its kick

AFTER Cork’s pathetic performance against Limerick, is it not unreasonable to wonder if our game has deteriorated in the last few years?

It cannot always be blamed on young developing players — after all, the Kerry team that went on to win eight Sam Maguires had an average age of 22 years when they won their first. However, that Kerry team actually kicked the ball.

The current and recent Cork teams use the hand pass almost exclusively, and when they do kick the ball they invariably kick it to an opponent — that was patently obvious at the Gaelic Grounds (though James Masters was an exception).