Goalkeeper Nash reckons free-taking restriction would mean more frees

Cork goalkeeper Anthony Nash believes there will be more fouls in hurling if a proposed new rule to restrict the 20-metre free-taker's run is adopted. The initiative was prompted by Nash's technique of popping the ball up on the line and stepping forwards a sizeable distance before striking.

“You can be guaranteed there will be more fouls anyway,” said the Kanturk player, whose All Star trip has been spoiled by a leg infection, which has kept him on crutches and unable to play in Saturday’s exhibition match.

“If you have a fella one-on-one with you 13 yards out and you have a choice of fouling him or having a shot with three fellas on the line from 21 yards, you are automatically going to foul.

“From a goalkeeping perspective I would be all for it, but when you are taking frees you would be thinking ‘ many a free for me has gone wrong with my technique’. I know I have seen people doing it since and it has been successful, but whatever they think is best for the game of hurling we will just have to stick with and drive on.”

GAA president Liam O’Neill outlined his thinking on the proposed rule change, which has been brought forward by Croke Park’s standing committee on the playing rules.

“There are a number of things. There is a clash of rules. You have a goalkeeper (free-taker, in this case, Nash) who is to be 20 metres from goal when he hits it and the defender (on the goal line) then has to be 20 metres away from the ball and quite clearly that was not happening here.

Anticipate
"I think what is going to happen is we are going to see a rule (because) it wasn't beyond the bounds of possibility that a goalie was going to anticipate what was going to happen, the player could strike the ball and they could both meet and I think we came close enough to that.

“There is a safety concern about a ball striking a player on the chest in that way could have serious consequences and while we protect the face we can’t protect the full body and there was a worry about it.

“It wasn’t an Anthony Nash thing. I think Anthony Nash brought goalkeeping to a new level this year and showed being a goalie is not just about being a shot-stopper, and it’s not only about being a great distributor.

“What we are trying to do is bring about a situation where you can place the ball anywhere you like inside the D but you must strike it from outside 20 metres. We all love goals and the lift that Anthony Nash’s goals gave this year’s championship was something special.”

Reacting to the love of goals in mock horror, Nash protested: “The game doesn’t need more goals. That is the perception. Games need saves! It does bring excitement (the long walk from goal to take the free). I don’t see what is wrong with the rule just because I scored one or two. I missed many as well.

“It’s not as if every time you are going up you are guaranteed to score a goal. It is a skill I tried to do years ago and it worked out once or twice; more often than not it hasn’t. I wouldn’t consider it a rule changing kind of thing.”

Packed their goal-line
Nash was asked about his thoughts as he came up to take a first-half free in the All-Ireland final replay when Clare packed their goal-line and issued players with hurls the size of shovels – to no avail.

“When you are brought up that far you can’t exactly tap it over! You’re just trying to make sure you get the pick up right and hit it as hard as you can. Hopefully it will find a gap and fortunately enough on that occasion it did. Unfortunately it didn’t make a massive amount of difference at the end of the game.”

O’Neill revealed that Nash’s predecessor in goal, who is on the playing rules body, had suggested only the goalkeeper be allowed on the line for penalties and 20-metre frees.

“We had thought about and Dónal Óg Cusack – who was on that workgroup – thought that there should be only one goalie in the goal – that he thought the goalie actually has a better chance of blocking the ball by himself than with others standing around him and that was an interesting goalie’s insight into it.”

He added that there were, however, no plans to bring a proposal forward to this effect.