Kick the hand-pass habit, says Kerry legend

GAELIC football is in danger of becoming a bastardised version of basketball and needs an urgent and radical overhaul, according to former Kerry great Donie O’Sullivan.

A veteran of five All-Ireland finals, O’Sullivan lifted the Sam Maguire as captain in 1970 and was an All Star in 1971 and 1972. Famed for his ability to kick the ball prodigious distances - Micheal O’Hehir said he had a kick that turned defence into attack - the retired teacher believes that too much hand-passing and solo running is destroying the game.

“I am a bit saddened and worried by the absence of kicking, particularly from the defence,” O’Sullivan said yesterday.

“It was noticeable even in the International Rules games last year that the Australians were better kickers. The game is suffering through playing the easy short pass, running and soloing with the ball and playing for the free. Kicking frees from the hand has militated against good fielding as well, because the ball dropping out of the sky is harder to catch.”

O’Sullivan’s worries were piqued in recent months when a group of American tourists watching a game on TV asked if the sport was “a form of basketball”.

It’s a familiar refrain from GAA traditionalists, but it’s usually players and coaches who feel the wrath. O’Sullivan begs to differ, laying the onus firmly at the door of the game’s administrators instead.

“I wouldn’t criticise the players because the players are as good, if not better, than ever before. I don’t blame coaching either. It’s unfair to criticise players and coaches because, if I was involved in games at present, I would do the same.

“For them to speak well of the present game is to speak well of themselves. That’s understandable. If the hand-pass was altered then they would have to plan a whole new strategy. The bottom line for coaches and players is winning.

“I blame the rules as they stand. A number of years ago the former president Sean McCague spearheaded a one hand-pass rule. That had a good chance of working but the problem was they said they would try it for the League and come May, it was all over.

“How do you expect a team or a coach to say that they would try to really master their long kicking and limit their hand-passing, knowing full well that come May they would be back to the old tactics? Something has to be done.”

Speaking at his induction into the MBNA Kick Fada Hall of Fame in Dublin, O’Sullivan was backed up by last year’s inductee, Offaly’s Peter Nolan. Whatever about the proliferation of hand-passing we have today, Nolan feels we should be grateful that it isn’t worse.

“For me, a very defining time was when Kildare played Galway five years ago [in the All-Ireland final]. Kildare were on the crest of a wave and, without wanting to offend anyone here, I was very glad Kildare didn’t win. Galway beat Kildare with a nice mixture of passing and kicking and some fantastic long scores.

“Had Kildare won that day it would have been a negative day for football as it would have been copied for the next number of years. That said, football in general has improved. The fitness has improved, most of the play has improved but there are a few things that need addressing.

“I was flabbergasted a few weeks ago when Fermanagh were playing and one fella got booked for putting the foot in when another player was going down to pick it up. This is crazy. Not only was he penalised, he was booked. This is football we’re playing here.”

This isn’t the first time that concerns have been high about this issue either. Thirty years ago, the fashion of virtually throwing the ball into the net was very much in vogue until it was outlawed on the back of concerns from former GAA president Con Murphy, among others.

For all his concerns, O’Sullivan isn’t blind to the advancements made in the game since his heyday. He stresses that he doesn’t want to come across as a harbinger of doom, merely that the issue needs to be discussed.

“We’re old has-beens, but if making this point can raise some debate on what is happening, then it is some achievement. I wouldn’t be concerned about the immediate future for gaelic football because it’s on the crest of a wave at the moment.

“It has evened out with more competition as Tyrone, Armagh, Fermanagh and others have shown. It’s just the road that it seems to be going down because of the way the rules are that would worry me. I worry about 10 years hence.”

This year’s MBNA Kick Fada competition will be held at Bray Emmets on Saturday, September 11. Mark Herbert will be attempting to win his fifth title in a row to claim the first prize of €1,500.