Striving for tackling consistency

The landscape of hurling has changed over the past decade and an emphasis on “possession” has become symbolic of most top teams’ game-plans, whereby teams will run with the ball more often.

This has brought with it challenges to the refereeing of the game with this style of play increasing the time players have on the ball to be tackled, and therefore increasing the number of tackles being made in games.

With frees scoreable within two-thirds of the field in the hurling, it brings with it added pressure to get the decision right. The inconsistency in refereeing at the moment is largely down to how a referee interprets a fair and an illegal tackle made on a player in possession of the sliotar.

The question really is how do you slow down or stop a player in possession of the sliotar who is in the process of using their four steps with the ball secure in their hand (four to eight steps in most cases)? The answer to this will vary according to the referee.

It is a supreme art of balance, strength and skill to be able to stop a player’s momentum forward in these cases. I think there are clear-cut cases of poor tackling in hurling and are correctly deemed as fouls. However, players that manage to delay attacking players forward momentum with correct “frontal” use of hands, arms and chest that doesn’t break 90 degrees are being punished inconsistently.

The “hook” and “block” are of course crucial defensive skills too but are inadequate alone, with teams running with the ball more and more.

Furthermore, “swarm tackling” (a group of players tackling one) is being inconsistently punished. “Swarm tackling” is one of the highest forms of intensity and should be rewarded when used correctly rather than punished. It signals two things: firstly, it is rewarding the risk taken by a defender to leave his opponent and tackle another opponent, and secondly it is punishing the attacking player for dwelling too long on the ball and allowing such a situation to take place. This rewards poor and clever decision-making yet referees will regularly side with the man in possession even though it is very difficult to spot what infringements a group of players who are of a numerical advantage have made.

It should be the focus of hurling refereeing to establish clear parameters for what is considered a fair and poor tackle in hurling and to reward and punish consistently on this basis. Last Sunday week we saw a high free count, which was justified in most cases. We also saw some excellent tackles which were rewarded accordingly but some that were punished. Tugging a player when turned, pulling shorts, holding onto a player after he has broken the 90 degree mark, chopping, all warranted correct frees, which neither Davy Fitzgerald or TJ Ryan could have any qualms about. However, there were many more cases of this throughout the game, which weren’t blown for, and here lies the discontentment within managers and fans.

Are Clare being coached to ‘pull and drag’ and ‘foul’, as I heard from one source? I sincerely doubt it. Did Clare foul more than Limerick? It would appear so following careful scrutiny of the game but not in the range of 14 scoreable frees to five.

Management will look at the game and highlight each free conceded and deliver a detailed report to the team and the respective individuals involved in each foul. Some lazy, some unnecessary and some clumsy will feature in the report. And they will work hard on bringing that number down for the next day.

But they will find it difficult to tell Pat O’Connor what he did wrong in the first half when conceding a free, or David Reidy and Gearoid O’Connell in the second half when they had their man surrounded.

Both teams could argue the point that they could have been awarded more frees. As the championship gathers momentum, it is crucial that consistency is applied within a game and between games. With such tight margins existent in games, these inconsistencies need to be ironed out. And this is just evidence of inconsistencies within one game.

There then lie the inconsistencies between games where we will see the same referee yet completely contrasting adjudication and tolerance of physicality between games.