Hurling Tactics Board: Are referees putting a spanner in Limerick's tackling machine

Are Limerick players incurring the referees' wrath for the way they set up the swarm tackle?

5 June 2021; Shane Kingston of Cork is tackled by Conor Boylan, left, and Declan Hannon of Limerick the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group A Round 4 match between Limerick and Cork at LIT Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile

In 2015, Limerick’s Paul Kinnerk wrote in the Irish Examiner an article titled “Striving for tackle consistency”.  In that piece, he spoke about the challenges of refereeing a game that was becoming possession-based and the difficulties this presented for referees during the game. 

The question he posed in the article was: How do you slow down or stop the player in possession who is in the process of using four steps and how is this going to be refereed? He felt at the time that the GAA should set clear parameters on what is considered a fair or poor tackle in hurling and to reward or punish consistently on this basis.