Modern hurling is lovely but it would break your heart, says Pete Finnerty

The Galway great says the lack of man-on-man tackling is symptomatic of a sport that has changed since his playing days

Pete Finnerty agrees with the likes of Babs Keating, Eddie Keher, John Mullane, and Henry Shefflin who have all highlighted to varying degrees that the modern sliotar is too light.

Galway legend Pete Finnerty claims marking has been driven out of the game of hurling and it has lost much of its physical nature.

Commenting on Sunday’s Division 1, Group A game where his county posted 32 scores to Waterford’s 26, the two-time All-Ireland winner says the lack of man-on-man tackling is symptomatic of a sport that has changed since his playing days.

“It was a great spectacle and lovely to watch but if you were somebody who grew up watching or playing the old game it would break your heart. Some of the efforts to tackle were awful. A corner-back at one stage ran around a corner-forward and the corner-forward just stood off and gave up. He threw in the towel without hunting him and that’s how free the game has gone. Some people like that, there are plenty of scores, but it’s different.”

How a defender is now analysed contrasts with Finnerty’s playing days. “You were assessed as a defender on what your man did or didn’t than what you did and your main objective was to limit the team’s ability to score. You had no desire to get your name on a scoresheet but you see half-backs doing it regularly now and occasionally scoring more than the half-forwards.

“You’re seeing forwards being converted into backs now but it wouldn’t happen in our time. They wouldn’t be dogged enough, tight enough but because they are scorers that’s where they are being put.

“We would stand on a certain side of a man and always turn him on to his weak side and get him to the sideline. I say that now and some people would probably think I’m from The Stone Age because now you have to have the ability to travel from one end of the field to another and be more comfortable with the ball than without it.

“You’d see ratings now and one fella might get an eight and his man might get a nine. That would never have happened back in the day. If I was marking Tony O’Sullivan or John Leahy, if either of them got a nine I was getting a four.”

Finnerty agrees with the likes of Babs Keating, Eddie Keher, John Mullane, and Henry Shefflin who have all highlighted to varying degrees that the modern sliotar is too light. “The distance they’re able to score now is frightening. It’s not unusual for Joe (Canning) or any of the great freetakers to easily convert a free from inside their own half-back line. Scores are too cheap now. It’s really down to the size of the bas of the hurley, nearly double what we played, and the weight of the ball.

“The modern players don’t want either to change and that’s understandable because it’s what they’re used to. If you flick a ball with a hurley now, you can hit it 40 yards. Limerick are brilliant at it and it’s a skill they have developed. If we flicked it, the ball wouldn’t go 20 yards because it was much heavier.

“There is no disadvantage to putting more weight in the ball because both teams will have to play with it. It will increase the value of a score by reducing the number of them. It might make things more exciting too.

“Hurling is all about great scores but it’s rare we see a great physical battle anymore because the ball is gone so quickly and the man-on-man isn’t there. Croke Park will be happy to keep it that way. Kilkenny and Tipperary provided the last great physical games and the ferocity of the hits, they transferred to the stands. You can’t hit somebody anymore because there are so many bloody bodies around the ball.”

Meanwhile, Conor Whelan says Galway are not worried about those who claim they don't score enough goals.

After going two games without finding the net, the Tribesmen put four past Waterford on Sunday. "There are people who will criticise stuff like that but if we score 33 points and get the two points we're happy either way," said the Kinvara man who contributed six points in the victory.

“We’re not getting too carried away. We were delighted to get the win and we will push on against Cork next week and obviously Dublin or Antrim in four weeks’ time.” 

Like his manager Shane O'Neill who expects Cork to field a stronger team against Galway than they did in the defeat to Limerick, Whelan insisted this weekend's final round game against Cork will be strongly contested. Should Galway win in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Tipperary fail to win in Walsh Park, they will top Division 1, Group A and at least share the title.

"I don't think any team can afford to hold back. After the Cork game, it will be three weeks (to Galway's Leinster semi-final) so we're just trying to build towards Championship."