Handpass furore will dissipate, says Curley

NATIONAL Referees Committee chairman, Mick Curley, believes the controversy surrounding the change to the handpass rule will die down quickly.

Curley believes teething problems were inevitable with the introduction of the new rule and reckons that counties will soon become adjusted to the revamped regulations.

Curley reasoned: “New rules will always cause problems. I think these rules more than any other rules in the past have taken their time and have caused problems. Everybody has taken their time in getting used to them.

“But after the first few games of the National League, everybody got used to that handpass rule. I thought the players in particular made a huge effort to get used to it and they achieved it. You’ll see the same thing with this.”

Curley dismissed suggestions that this summer’s All-Ireland football championship will now be marred by the new rule.

“No I don’t it is going to overshadow it at all. I think when the first few series of championship games are over, players will have got used to these new rules.

“There’s no doubt everyone needs to be patient. We’re all getting used to it. The referees can’t halfway through the championship decide they’re going to go easy or hard on it. We’ve emphasised consistently from the start that they do this for everyone. So then we will have every team singing from the same hymn sheet.”

He admitted: “I would have rather have seen the fist pass during the league retained. But this is the rule we have and I have no doubt that when players get used to the fist pass, the thing will settle down. The referees have been notified of this change and they’re more than capable of doing it.

“The comments over the weekend I don’t think were aimed at referees, more at the rule.”

The new rule drew flak from inter-county managers like John Evans, Jack O’Connor and Mick O’Dwyer at the weekend, but Curley insists that he is at a loss as to why there was so much uncertainty about the rule and that county’s delegates to Congress should have relayed the news of its implementation.

“I cannot understand how people would have only just known it. I’m not saying what they’re saying is untrue but they should have known through their county boards. Congress was on in mid-April which is over a month ago, every county board was represented and delegates should have gone back to their counties over it. They would have known about the new handpass rule that was coming in. So I can’t understand how it didn’t get out to the counties until a couple of days ago.”

Curley also defended the amount of red and yellow cards shown in Sunday’s championship action in Munster, Leinster and Ulster. 36 yellow and five red cards were brandished during the three ties.

“While people have commented that there were so many red cards and yellow cards, no one has said that they weren’t merited. The referee can only do his job and penalise fouls.

“Somebody has made a comment that there were maybe 69 frees in the Derry and Armagh game, but maybe that was the amount of fouls that were there. The referees only rule on the fouls that were there.”