Wallace calls for rethink in his native county
May 11, 2012
Former Antrim hurling manager Jerry Wallace
Wallace says frees are being awarded too easily at club level on Leeside and believes this was a contributing factor to the Rebels' heavy league final defeat to Kilkenny last weekend:
"Without being critical of anyone, one observation I've made in training teams in Kerry and at the intercounty level with Antrim, Limerick and Cork over the last ten years is that club players in other counties take more hits - the play is more physical than you see in Cork.
"I was at a junior game recently in Cork and one player hit 1-6 from frees and another 0-9 from frees, and I thought 'that can't be good for Cork hurling'.
"The Cork Board should look at issuing a directive to let the play go, say on a trial basis in the senior hurling leagues. Referees should be told to give players more leeway when it comes to physicality in the game and not to blow small or technical issues," he continues in The Examiner.
"When you look at the Examiner reports it'd be better for inter-county team if three or four fellas were getting 0-2 each from play rather than fellas getting 1-4 or 1-5 from frees.
"It's clear from last Sunday club competition in Cork is not preparing players for intercounty games against Kilkenny, in particular.
"This Kilkenny player, playing in Cork for several years, said to me: 'the referees seem to blow for everything here'. That comment is the kernel of the issue for me. The referees may say I'm having a cut off them, but I'm not; I just want to see what can be done to improve hurling in Cork." Tweet
