Players seek compromise in handpassing furore

THE third weekend of the football championship is just around the corner but the chief topic of conversation hasn’t changed from that first Sunday when three games were overshadowed by talk of one bothersome rule.

One of those fixtures was Kerry against Tipperary.

Declan O’Sullivan gave a weary ‘not again’ shake of the head when the conversation yesterday turned to the handpass controversy but he accepts it is one that refuses to go away.

“It is going to be generating (comment) next weekend as well,” he said. “It is farcical, really. It would be fine if it was an improvement on a problem that was there before but I don’t see any improvement.

“The most worrying thing for players is that we are hearing officials and referees’ bosses coming out and saying it hasn’t been an issue when everyone else can see it has been a problem.

“It is slowing games down and it is silly and cumbersome. That is the most worrying thing about it, that they can’t see it themselves. It can’t continue, as far as the players are concerned.”

For talents like O’Sullivan, who have become so adept at playing what was termed the ‘pop pass’ to players overlapping on their shoulder, the new rule has been nothing but a blight.

“You would try to disguise that before but now it has become predictable because you have to exaggerate it to make sure it isn’t pulled, which is a farce from a forwards’ point of view.

“There are enough bodies, as we know, from fellas filtering back already that you want to keep the thing moving and fast-flowing but this has really slowed it down. I can’t see any benefit so I would hope that they rethink it.”

Unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen.

The GAA are hamstrung by their own regulations which only allow rule changes every five years which leaves players, managers and supporters alike hoping that common sense will instead be allowed to save the day.

Pat McEnaney showed plenty of such a commodity during the Ulster SFC game between Tyrone and Antrim but even that can result in frustration for teams operating under the eye of more regimented officials.

Last Sunday was a case in point with players being pinged by Derek Fahy for handpasses in the Offaly-Meath game that were deemed perfectly acceptable by McEnaney in Casement Park.

“I think we’re putting referees under massive pressure,” said Sean Cavanagh, who featured in Belfast.

“Whenever you’re under pressure you’re going to make mistakes as well.

“I think Pat almost, I don’t know whether he got flak on it, but he was sensible. He refereed the game the way the players... it wasn’t much different the way we’ve been playing the past number of years.

“Whenever players are used to handpassing the ball for eight, nine, 10 years and are told overnight, ‘Oh no, you can’t do it like that any more’, you have to apply a bit of common sense. You’re always going to have one or two instances that slip through the net.

“But certainly in the Meath/Offaly game there didn’t seem to be much consistency. It’s disappointing but it’s something outside our control. You just hope to God it doesn’t cost someone a place in the championship or a place in the provincial championship.”

Croke Park has said consistently the rule is a simple one and, on paper, it is but the reality is that players remains confused when it comes to putting what they are told into practice.

Cavanagh said as much yesterday and both the Tyrone man and O’Sullivan expressed amazement that such a fundamental alteration could be made to the game four weeks prior to the championship.

In such circumstances, the only answer is to try and reduce the risks.

“The safest thing to do is just keep the fist closed,” said Dublin’s David Henry who has yet to be subjected to the vagaries of the new strictures.

“Obviously you have to try and do that in training as much as you can. Now sometimes, in the heat of battle, in a championship game, because you are not used to doing it all your life, maybe you might forget to do it.

“But you have to just trust that when you go out to play.”