Laois boss Brennan: ‘There’s a little simulation creeping into hurling’

Laois manager Eddie Brennan has claimed that a “worrying” level of simulation and diving is creeping into the game of hurling. The Kilkenny great stopped short of accusing Tipperary’s Padraic Maher of simulation after he was struck by Aaron Dunphy at Croke Park on Sunday, an offence that resulted in Dunphy’s dismissal.

But Brennan acknowledged that accusations of diving have “possibly been levelled at Padraic Maher” by those who witnessed the powerful Thurles man crumple in a heap on the ground. Laois were trailing by five points when Dunphy, responding to a shove from Tipp colossus Maher, swiped across the half-back’s right leg, prompting Maher to hit the deck.