Cunningham sees safety risk in Anthony Nash-style frees

The GAA continues to risk serious injury by allowing the "Anthony Nash style" of free taking, according to former Cork goalkeeper and coach Ger Cunningham.

With the existing rules in place for at least the remainder of the championship, Cunningham fears there may be an accident waiting to happen.

“Someone is going to get a belt of a ball,” says Cunningham. “And you would have to have some fears for health and safety. I don’t think that is over the top.

"We see when Anthony throws it up, like he did against Tipp in the league semi-final, he goes well forward. What's to say the next fella won't throw it in even further? So I think it is an issue, and the GAA will have to look at it.

'Fairly frightening'
"I stood on the line last year, when he (Nash) was practicing, and you are just saying to yourself 'don't hit me, please'. I tell you, it is a fairly frightening place to stand, 12 or 13 yards away from an Anthony Nash penalty.

“For the moment, it doesn’t matter, because it is going to be there for the championship. But we see other teams doing it as well, other fellas trying to perfect the art of what he is doing. Like TJ Reid, is at it.

"I am sure Joe Canning will do it and other teams are seeing this works. So the other side is that if you are involved, and have it as part of your armoury, then you'd want to keep it."

The GAA were set to debate the issue at congress last February, with a motion from the Standing Committee on Playing Rules seeking to stop players from advancing the ball deliberately “from the place at which a free puck, penalty puck or sideline puck is to be struck from”. In such instances, referees would have been permitted to cancel the free, and throw the ball in between two players instead.

However that motion was withdrawn, partly of the grounds that further discussion on the matter was needed.

Cunningham suggests there is no easy solution, although his preference would be for 20-metre limit to be enforced, but, for penalties, only one opposing player, as in the goalkeeper, would be allowed stand on the goal line

“Personally I would go back to that, where you have to hit the ball at the 20-metre line, but I would have only one goalie on the line.

“In years gone by they have changed from five or six on the goal line, to just three, but I would go back to having one. Just the goalie, and that the player start outside, and then strike on the 20-metre line.

"A penalty should nearly be a guaranteed score, so that would be a challenge. But I think if you ask goalkeepers themselves I think the consensus would be they would love that challenge."

Under-21 hurling
Cunningham was speaking at Semple Stadium at the launch event of the 2014 All-Ireland under-21 hurling championship, as an ambassador for competition sponsors Bord Gáis Energy. The championship gets underway this evening with the Leinster quarter-final featuring Dublin against Laois at Parnell Park (7.30).

That’s hardly ideal timing for Laois, given their senior team are also out this Sunday in the quarter-final of the Leinster hurling championship, against Galway, having just come through four successive games in the round-robin series.

However GAA president Liam O’Neill, a native of Laois, also speaking at the under-21 event in Semple Stadium, confirmed that the game this evening had been brought forward at the request of the Laois County Board, given the original date was running close to the start of the Leaving Cert.

“Laois did request that this game be played earlier,” says O’Neill, “but perhaps not realising the implications of that now.

“And which shows that counties are usually better off sticking with the original fixture dates.”