Henry Shefflin: Time to put a limit on long-range free-takers

Henry Shefflin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Henry Shefflin claims hurling hasn’t lost any of its entertainment value but admits it may soon be time to consider limiting how far points can be scored from with frees.

Various commentators have complained about the dumbing down of the game in recent weeks with fussy refereeing and conservative tactics regularly cited.

Free-takers, including Shefflin’s former Shamrocks and Kilkenny colleague TJ Reid who hit 1-18 last weekend, are also regularly putting up huge tallies and converting points from inside their own half.

Shefflin, 10 times an All-Ireland winner with Kilkenny, disagreed that the overall product has been devalued but acknowledged that authorities will need to keep a close eye on the sliotar situation in the Championship.

“The sliotar is one thing I would like to keep an eye on this summer,” said Shefflin.

“I wouldn’t be drastic enough to say (change) it now. But I do think a free-taker coming back, and I’ve done this myself so I’m a bit of a hypocrite, but a free-taker coming back 100, 110 yards to strike a ball over the bar, it’s probably taking that entertainment value out of it.

“So it’s one I would keep an eye on. Whether it’s the sliotar, the composition of the sliotar, whether it’s something drastic like not letting you score from a certain range from frees, something to that effect that speeds up the game.

“Obviously a free-taker coming out from the full-forward line like Jason Forde, it’s going to slow down the whole setup of the game, and obviously he has his own routine to go through. I think that’s one to keep an eye on.”

On his native Kilkenny, Shefflin is upbeat about their strong league start, beating Dublin, Antrim, and Wexford to climb to the top of Division 1B ahead of Sunday’s tie against Laois.

The back-to-back All-Ireland club title-winning Shamrocks manager took particular heart from the Cats eventually beating a Davy Fitzgerald-managed Wexford last weekend.

“I think psychologically it was a boost that they won well,” he said. “It wasn’t a scrappy game either, I think Kilkenny had great variety in their play.

“They seem to have figured out Wexford’s sweeper system and the way they play it through the lines for the first time, where they really cracked it.

“I think there have been phases where Kilkenny have been on top previously and all these psychological doubts creep in.

“The meltdowns against Dublin last year and against Waterford in the All-Ireland semi-final are very much in the rearview mirror there. I think that was important as well.

“Those couple of things, and to get the score they did and to play the way they did, it’s a great boost for them. They can go into this weekend and then the last game against Clare very confident.”

Yet Shefflin still places Limerick at the head of the Championship pack despite failing to win a game so far in 2021, with Galway as their closest challenger.

“I’m sure John Kiely would love to have got a win under his belt so he could experiment a little bit more for the last two matches but it was interesting after their last game, I did hear him in his post-match interview saying, ‘five weeks away’ and it was the first time that I heard someone talking about the Championship. I think that’s where John Kiely and his team and his management team are focused on, peaking at that phase.

“I actually think Galway are next, after Limerick, and then I think Kilkenny, Tipp, Waterford, Wexford probably. I think Kilkenny would be just slightly below Galway. Obviously the form of TJ and the way he is playing is one of the major things for Kilkenny.

“And I think the changes they’ve made, they’ve a new backroom team in, there’s a bit of freshness to their play, I think they won’t be too far away.

“One thing I referenced is that a lot of teams try to mirror what Limerick do. Kilkenny, to a certain extent (do it), but you saw last weekend they’re well able to mix it and they have that variety in their play and can score goals. Because of that, I think they are in the race.”

• Kilkenny legend Henry Shefflin was speaking at the launch of the Allianz League Legends series. This year marks the 29th season that Allianz has sponsored the National Leagues, making it one of the longest sponsorships in Irish sport.