Proposal to re-think shoulder tackle agreed

DELEGATES at the Saturday session of annual GAA Congress in Newcastle, Co Down, were more amenable to agreeing recommended changes in hurling than football.

However, the changes were largely of a minor nature and not contentious. One of the more notable was the decision to substitute shoulder-to-shoulder tackles for side-to-side. Another redefines the hand-pass – that the ball “must be released and struck with a definite striking action of the hand”. But, just as the proposal for football was rejected on Friday night, the idea of allowing players to be in the square in hurling before the ball was struck found no favour.

Tipperary failed with a motion which sought to restrict the hand-pass in hurling.

Board vice-chairman Sean Nugent argued that there was a need to promote continuity in the game, rather than training players to be Olympic-style athletes who could run and pass. Galway chairman Gerry Larkin was one of several who spoke against, saying it would lead to over-regulation, while Wexford delegate Joe O’Shaughnessy felt the imposition of a throw-in as penalty for infringing the rule wouldn’t make sense.

Central Competitions Control Committee chairman, Seamus Woods made a case to end All-Ireland quarter-final games in the minor football championship. Not unexpectedly, the proposal met with strong opposition and was heavily defeated following contributions from Cork secretary Frank Murphy and Ulster counterpart Danny Murphy.

Frank Murphy warned of the danger of the Association becoming “elitist”, in the sense competitions had to be financially productive. And he pointed out quarter-finals had been introduced for promotion purposes in what was an important competition.

Similarly, proposals to abandon the All-Ireland championships in junior football and intermediate hurling were defeated. Seamus Woods remarked the most common complaint from clubs was the impact of the inter-county programme on domestic fixtures. He added that only nine teams competed in the intermediate hurling, five from Munster, three from Leinster and one from Connacht.

A motion from Glen Rovers to remove yellow and red cards from hurling received little support. It had been proposed by Cork chairman Jerry O’Sullivan. And, the matter of introducing video referees will remain on the agenda until the 2011 Congress, after it was agreed the proposal would be examined by the CCCC who would report back to the Central Council.

The case for making gum shields compulsory wasn’t pursued after an agreement to have the matter examined by the medical committee. As expected, Dublin’s motion to give provincial champions a second chance was rejected. GAA Director General Paraic Duffy said that he didn’t see the sense of playing extra games in an already very crowded month August.

A motion in regard to requirement to have documents as Gaeilge was agreed after a strong case from Tipp secretary Tim Floyd that the current regulation wasn’t being observed. This means fixtures notification can be carried out in Irish or English.