Hurling legends John Mullane and Anthony Daly call for rule change where penalty is given to stamp out cynical fouls
HURLING legends John Mullane and Anthony Daly are in agreement that a penalty should be awarded in cases of cynical fouls that prevent a goal-scoring chance.
Speaking on Sunday Sport, both men said they'd rather see a penalty be awarded rather than the guilty party being shown a black card.
Talk of a rule change has grown in recent times especially after the 2020 Championship was riddled with clear examples of defenders making no effort to play the ball when they were beaten in a dangerous area.
Daly said: "They're talking about a penalty and a black card, I wouldn't bother with the black card."
He added: "Something needs to be done yeah. We've seen too many cases of teams threatening a goal and just being dragged down.
"We'd like to see goals along with a big points tally as well.
"Because that's what it's all about really for supporters and followers of the game."
The Clare great's point about goals is well made given that while overall scoring is up in recent seasons, the average goals per game keeps on dropping as games have become long-range shooting contests.
KIDS PICKING IT UP
Waterford icon Mullane agreed that the spectacle of a match could be too skewed if you were to bring in a black card for these types of fouls but also wants to see a stricter punishment enforced.
He said: "The punishment has to fit the crime and from what we saw through the winter last season, it doesn't at the moment."
Most read in Sport
He continued: "We've seen episode after episode of it, it's not like it's one team that are constantly the perpetrators of cynicism.
"I think it's being coached into the game. There's an art in it now, when to foul and when not to. We need to stamp it out across the board."
He even cited seeing it become a regular occurrence at underage level when he goes to camogie matches featuring his daughter as an example of how endemic the issue has become.