Cody blasts ‘hilarious’ rule changes, Horgan conquers ‘hurricane’: The weekend’s GAA talking points
Our writers chat through the main talking points from the weekend’s Allianz League action.
‘Hilarious’ hurling changes no laughing matter for Cody
Leave hurling alone was the clear message from the Kilkenny and Wexford managers.
Brian Cody was particularly vocal in his opposition to the motion to introduce the black card to hurling at next week's Annual Congress, describing it as "hilarious".
He said: “I certainly don’t know where it’s coming from, it’s something that’s brought into football so it has to be brought into hurling then, it seems. I have absolutely no understanding why there’s a black card being talked about even.
The rules are the rules, you are fouled you get a free, end of story. Hasn’t changed. It’s hilarious, you know. Why bring it in?
“I remember a time that they used to say it was too easy for forwards to score a goal when they could handpass the ball to the net. They were feeling sorry for the backs, so they did away with that. Now they are saying it’s too hard for the forwards to score a goal so they are doing something else.
“Look, you are put on a committee for rules or revision or whatever you want to call it in Croke Park now and you are supposed to justify your existence by saying ‘we’ll come up with a brainwave’.
“To me that’s not a brainwave. I’m saying it a long time, I wish they’d leave a very very good game alone.”
Davy Fitzgerald added: “I just want referees, please, to use common sense. Let the game flow. One of the games we played this year had a free blown every two seconds. We have a great game, let it flow, don’t touch it too much, let it off. Blow what you need to blow if it’s dangerous but let it off otherwise.”
However, Fitzgerald, who visibly questioned Fergal Horgan’s decision to play five minutes at the end, believes timekeeping should be taken out of the referee’s hands.
“All I was saying was we got two in the first half and they got five in the second, so that’s a big difference. I would have loved another two or three minutes in the first half to clip on a few points (when Wexford played with the wind).
“I’m not going to get into it but maybe it’s a bit unfair to put the referee under that pressure to decide on the time all the time. That’s all I’ll say, you can take what you want out of that.”
- Subs see Wexford extend unbeaten run against Kilkenny
‘Numb’ Horgan conquers the elements
Not for the first time, Patrick Horgan rescued the Cork hurlers Sunday afternoon at Mullingar.
His two second-half penalties were to be admired, praised, and admired some more, such were the myriad of elements working against him.
Facing into a "hurricane" at the Dunnes Stores End, to use manager Kieran Kingston's words, Horgan sent the first penalty into the top right corner of the goal, before dispatching the second to the left corner. Had he failed to convert either, it’s debatable if Cork would have snuck the win.
Horgan told Kingston after the game that he could not feel his hands when striking the first penalty.
"He said he got a sting in his hands after hitting the first one because they were numb. It was a rocket. He caught both really well."
- Two Horgan penalties and fortuitous Cooper goal get Cork over Westmeath scare
Storm Dennis sets up potential double-header of Division 1 finals
For the second year in a row, an Allianz League final double-header is on the cards due to poor weather.
The Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) will shortly reveal their rescheduling of hurling’s two postponed Division 1, Group A games. As all hurling weekends are taken until the scheduled conclusion of the competition on March 22, it’s possible the final will be pushed back to March 29 and could be played on the same bill as the football decider in Croke Park.
The Limerick-Waterford and Galway-Tipperary matches could now be refixed for March 7 and 8, which had been the original weekend for the two quarter-finals between the second- and third-placed teams in Groups A and B.
The CCCC are unlikely to go with midweek games, which would be a contentious issue with the GPA, not to mention the logistical challenges involved. It may be the case that one or two of the games are not played if they are not of any consequence to knock-out qualification or relegation, although that won’t be known until two weeks' time.
Sunday saw the three outstanding Football League Round 3 matches across Divisions 2, 3 and 4 played off and there remains wiggle room to stage any further postponed matches on the weekend of March 7 and 8.
Last year, postponements led to the CCCC staging the Division 1 hurling final between Limerick and Waterford as the curtain-raiser for the Mayo-Kerry football game in Croke Park. For similar reasons, the Division 3 final between Westmeath and Laois did not take place until April 6.
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