Any change to hurling penalty rule unlikely in short-term

Any proposed changes to the existing penalty rule in hurling must go before next year’s GAA Congress – ruling out any revision in the short term, with any agreed changes unlikely to be implemented before next year’s championship at the earliest.

The issue continues to be debated in the aftermath of Sunday’s drawn All-Ireland hurling final, when Tipperary had two penalties saved by Kilkenny goalkeeper Eoin Murphy.

There is unlikely to be any change in the 20-metre distance from which the ball must be struck, yet there is increasing support for the idea the goalkeeper should no longer be assisted by two defenders.

However, Croke Park have clarified the issue by reiterating that the decision taken earlier this summer to strictly enforce that 20-metre distance was merely an interpretation of the rule, not a change. Any change to either a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, or with just one defender for assistance, will have to go through normal channels and require a two-thirds majority at Congress. SuchA proposal may come from Central Council, the Standing Committee on Playing Rules, or the recently formed Hurling 2020 Committee:

Interpretation

“Even though people are saying we changed the rule this year, we didn’t,” said GAA president Liam O’Neill. “We interpreted it, which was perfectly within our power to do. I heard one pundit saying that when they changed the rule, we should have changed the number of people on the line to two. That’s cheap populism, saying that we should have done something that he knows we had no power to do.

“All we did was look at the interpretation. The ball was always to be struck from the 20-metre line, so the laxity that was allowed has now been drawn back. There is also the argument, and Donal Óg Cusack said it, that the goalkeeper would prefer to be on his own. I wouldn’t think that would be a universal opinion, but people can debate it now, and after that we can have some consensus on it.”

Cork hurling manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy has also spoken out in favour of revising the rule, the initial concern over which was largely based on the way his goalkeeper Anthony Nash, lifted and then struck his penalties “It’s definitely a lot tougher now, and you’d wonder does it really reward the team that is given it,” said Barry-Murphy.

“In football they’ve increased the chance of scoring penalties, and in hurling they’ve reduced it.

“As a manager now you’d have to seriously consider just telling your player to put the ball over the bar, and getting on with the game. Because the chances of scoring a goal do look to have been reduced that greatly.”