GAA PRESIDENT LIAM O’Neill has poured cold water on the idea of using the All-Ireland hurling final replay money to finance a nationwide roll out of HawkEye’s score detection system.
The Association made €1.2m in profit from last year’s replayed final between Clare and Cork and can expect a similar windfall later this month presuming the rematch of Kilkenny and Tipperary is a sell out.
The success of HawkEye in confirming that Sunday’s game ended in a draw has prompted speculation that the money could be used to roll out the costly apparatus at various provincial venues.
HawkEye showed that Tipperary free-taker John O’Dwyer’s injury-time point effort missed the upright by a matter of inches, ensuring the replay.
But O’Neill indicated that there are no plans to install HawkEye at other venues such as Thurles’ Semple Stadium in the near future.
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“We want to bring it to other grounds but it is not as simple as doing that,” said O’Neill. “You need a number of fixed cameras. You can’t just put a HawkEye camera on a pole because if there is even a fraction of waiver then it doesn’t work.
“That’s why it is fixed rigidly to the stands here at Croke Park. I think there’s only a couple of venues around the country where it could be done at the moment.
“It’s very sensitive technology. To get it working on the Hill 16 End they actually had to put a darkened screen on because the light was interfering with it so they had to tweak it to do that.
GAA President Liam O'Neill James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“That probably would exist even more so in other places. We asked more of HawkEye than any other game. Cricket is a crease of 22 yards, isn’t it? And a tennis court is around the same and it is perfect for that.
“But to do it over 145m by 90m and with the height difference the hurling ball goes, we asked questions of it and it took a long time to get it right. And if you remember, we said we wouldn’t do it unless it was right.”
Cost
O’Neill insisted that his lukewarm reaction to any HawkEye roll out had nothing to do with the cost element which would be substantial.
“We have never shirked from spending money on something that is worthwhile,” he continued.
O’Neill pointed out how things might have panned out had HawkEye not been in place to confirm that John O’Dwyer’s late point effort for Tipperary went wide.
“Had HawkEye not been there, there would forever be people saying, ‘I saw the ball go over the bar’,” he suggested.
John O'Dwyer gestures after HawkEye is brought in to play.
Don't expect hurling replay money to mean HawkEye is coming outside Croke Park
GAA PRESIDENT LIAM O’Neill has poured cold water on the idea of using the All-Ireland hurling final replay money to finance a nationwide roll out of HawkEye’s score detection system.
The Association made €1.2m in profit from last year’s replayed final between Clare and Cork and can expect a similar windfall later this month presuming the rematch of Kilkenny and Tipperary is a sell out.
The success of HawkEye in confirming that Sunday’s game ended in a draw has prompted speculation that the money could be used to roll out the costly apparatus at various provincial venues.
HawkEye showed that Tipperary free-taker John O’Dwyer’s injury-time point effort missed the upright by a matter of inches, ensuring the replay.
But O’Neill indicated that there are no plans to install HawkEye at other venues such as Thurles’ Semple Stadium in the near future.
“We want to bring it to other grounds but it is not as simple as doing that,” said O’Neill. “You need a number of fixed cameras. You can’t just put a HawkEye camera on a pole because if there is even a fraction of waiver then it doesn’t work.
“That’s why it is fixed rigidly to the stands here at Croke Park. I think there’s only a couple of venues around the country where it could be done at the moment.
“It’s very sensitive technology. To get it working on the Hill 16 End they actually had to put a darkened screen on because the light was interfering with it so they had to tweak it to do that.
“That probably would exist even more so in other places. We asked more of HawkEye than any other game. Cricket is a crease of 22 yards, isn’t it? And a tennis court is around the same and it is perfect for that.
“But to do it over 145m by 90m and with the height difference the hurling ball goes, we asked questions of it and it took a long time to get it right. And if you remember, we said we wouldn’t do it unless it was right.”
Cost
O’Neill insisted that his lukewarm reaction to any HawkEye roll out had nothing to do with the cost element which would be substantial.
“We have never shirked from spending money on something that is worthwhile,” he continued.
O’Neill pointed out how things might have panned out had HawkEye not been in place to confirm that John O’Dwyer’s late point effort for Tipperary went wide.
“Had HawkEye not been there, there would forever be people saying, ‘I saw the ball go over the bar’,” he suggested.
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Calls grow to bring in Hawkeye system outside of Croke Park after Sunday’s drama
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Croke Park GAA Hawkeye Hurling John O'Dwyer Liam O'Neill Technology