Changes to penalty rule, wide of the mark, says Dublin’s Ryan

The GAA has erred in altering the penalty rule for hurling, according to Dublin’s Paul Ryan who believes there was a considerably easier and better means of solving what had become a thorny issue for the association.

It was the sight of Waterford’s Stephen O’Keeffe charging down the penalty of his Cork counterpart Anthony Nash last summer that finally convinced authorities that the rule as it stood had to change and change it duly did.

Nash’s ability to lift the ball to near the 13-metre line before striking with his oversized ‘goalie hurl’, allied to O’Keeffe’s tactic of racing off his line, gave rise to genuine fears for the health and safety of those stationed on the line.