“IT’S SOMETHING THAT’S been rumbling on, every time I sit down to do an interview. If I had an easy solution I’d come up with it.”
You get the impression that Anthony Nash has had his fill of discussing the penalty rule, which has been one of hurling’s hot topics for the past 18 months.
The Cork goalkeeper addressed the issue again at yesterday’s launch of the Allianz Hurling League, as he prepares to lead his county into the 2015 season as captain for the first time.
A one-on-one penalty rule, as proposed by the Hurling 2020 Committee, was trialled during the pre-season competitions, but the one-on-three rule which was used for the majority of last year’s championship will return for the league.
Nash says he’s open-minded about the Hurling 2020 Committee’s suggestion, but the Kanturk man believes a one-on-three rule would function well — if a new 18-metre line were to be introduced, outside of which the ball would have to be struck.
An 18-metre penalty was one of several options tested at a session organised by the committee in Thurles last October, which was attended by several inter-country players including Nash, Joe Canning and Shane Dowling.
“I know Liam Sheedy and the 2020 Committee put a lot of effort into it and I had first-hand contact with it; we tried a few things. Look, if it works – brilliant; if not, I’m still a believer in the one-on-three with about maybe an 18-metre line that most fellas were doing beforehand,” said Nash.
“There are options. If the one-on-one works, excellent; whatever’s better for hurling. If you look at one-on-one it probably favours an attacker a bit more and is that what they’re looking for? Maybe rightly so.
“A penalty’s a penalty, but why didn’t they go for the 18-metre line? Maybe it’s more administration in having to organise a line and make sure you don’t pass that line. But you still can’t pass the line at the 21 from a one-on-one so I just hope it works, whatever they decide.”
Nash was under the impression that the trial period for the new one-on-one proposal was being extended to the league when he spoke to the media at Croke Park yesterday, but appeared disappointed when he learned that won’t be the case.
“I think they should have prolonged it,” he said. “Sure, how many were given, really? We didn’t face one with Cork in the Waterford Crystal. I faced one in the Canon O’Brien [pre-season game against UCC] and it was scored.
“I still think the 18-yard line is a good idea because if you look at what most fellas are doing, if any of them are hitting a ball from 18 yards hard it’s a goal, so it’s still benefiting the team. That’s what I would have liked but I didn’t realise it [the trial] wasn’t going to the league.”
Nash added that the current three-on-one rule, which was introduced by Central Council last June, is an unlikely long-term solution.
“It was proven last year that rule didn’t work. If they go back to it in the championship we’re going to be back discussing it again next year, so they better come up with a solution sooner rather than later.”
First published at 6.30am
Forget Spieth. He does spieth too much!