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Who Is The Best Current Hurling Referee?

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I have read lots of different posts from people in different counties criticising different referees in hurling and it begs the question, who is the best hurling referee currently on the Inter county hurling referees panel? LimerickandProud (Limerick) - Posts: 60 - 03/04/2024 17:00:54 2535412 Link
Limerickandproud,that's a very good question..I'm racking my little brain to see what names I come up with..I rate Tomas Walsh in Munster and malone from Clare..I also thought John o halloran from limerick but not sure is he on national list..another one is Kennedy from tipp..in Leinster best man had to retire,John Keenan..I thought stack from Dublin was good but don't know where he is gone..I've seen cunning from Antrim and again he seemed to be a decent one..you notice I havnt named to many of the well known fellas..always liked Cleere doing games to.. CTGAA10 (Limerick) - Posts: 2242 - 03/04/2024 17:37:09 2535418 Link
Replying To LimerickandProud: "I have read lots of different posts from people in different counties criticising different referees in hurling and it begs the question, who is the best hurling referee currently on the Inter county hurling referees panel?" Depends what you're looking for. It's impossible to referee a game without getting several calls wrong throughout, albeit it's still frustrating when the calls go against your team. Anyone who lets the game flow and tries to keep the whistle in his pocket as much as he can is a good ref imo. Galway9801 (Galway) - Posts: 1751 - 03/04/2024 22:53:55 2535474 Link
Liam Gordon at the moment. I won't name the bad and dodgy ones I'd be here all day. 2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 31 - 04/04/2024 13:44:10 2535606 Link
The good ones I don't notice, so no idea!!! Kinvara (Galway) - Posts: 140 - 04/04/2024 15:14:48 2535631 Link
Replying To Kinvara: "The good ones I don't notice, so no idea!!!" Lyons of CORK Oldtourman (Limerick) - Posts: 4350 - 04/04/2024 18:34:15 2535686 Link
Scrap WHAT IS yet another of Croke Park's mindless rules (AGE50) and bring back John Keenan. in 2023 Limerick were within no more than a score of a difference in all games except for AI final when we beat Kilkenny by 9 points. This ,IMO, was an accurate reflection in the difference in actual hurling ability of Limerick v all the rest. 9 point difference due to up to standard and unbiased refereeing. Bring back John Keenan!!. PatOLogical (Limerick) - Posts: 1361 - 04/04/2024 19:53:47 2535694 Link
Replying To LimerickandProud: "I have read lots of different posts from people in different counties criticising different referees in hurling and it begs the question, who is the best hurling referee currently on the Inter county hurling referees panel?" Rumor of Fergal Horgan coming back... if so, #1 John Keenen (change the rules ) #2 Fergal Horgan -if he makes a comeback. #3 Johnny Murphy --Only teams that need fear him are the egregious offenders and flaunters of the rules. PatOLogical (Limerick) - Posts: 1361 - 04/04/2024 20:17:30 2535696 Link
Replying To Galway9801: "Depends what you're looking for. It's impossible to referee a game without getting several calls wrong throughout, albeit it's still frustrating when the calls go against your team. Anyone who lets the game flow and tries to keep the whistle in his pocket as much as he can is a good ref imo." A ref should never have a wgistle in theor pocket.... unless its a spare one! Yes i agree its impossible for officials to go through a game without a mistake. When you say let a game flow what do you want ref to actually do? KillingFields (Limerick) - Posts: 3524 - 04/04/2024 20:28:52 2535703 Link
Replying To Galway9801: "Depends what you're looking for. It's impossible to referee a game without getting several calls wrong throughout, albeit it's still frustrating when the calls go against your team. Anyone who lets the game flow and tries to keep the whistle in his pocket as much as he can is a good ref imo." In the old traditional game of 15 on 15 with all players stayed in their allotted positions, a referee who "let the game flow" was generally a good referee. But in the modern game of fluid positions and tactics, a referee who "let's the game flow" is generally a poor referee. It translates into a referee who turns a blind eye to blatant fouling e,g. the so-called "handpass" which mostly is nothing more than a throw nowadays and which is an awful blight on the game. To be honest, I cannot think of any current top class hurling referees. Sean Stack and Colm Lyons are probably 2 of the better ones but I'd put Fergal Horgan ahead of them if he was still on the panel. PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1908 - 04/04/2024 22:53:59 2535721 Link
Replying To PatOLogical: "Scrap WHAT IS yet another of Croke Park's mindless rules (AGE50) and bring back John Keenan. in 2023 Limerick were within no more than a score of a difference in all games except for AI final when we beat Kilkenny by 9 points. This ,IMO, was an accurate reflection in the difference in actual hurling ability of Limerick v all the rest. 9 point difference due to up to standard and unbiased refereeing. Bring back John Keenan!!." I thought they beat Galway by nine points in 23. Oldtourman (Limerick) - Posts: 4350 - 05/04/2024 00:45:42 2535731 Link
Replying To CTGAA10: "Limerickandproud,that's a very good question..I'm racking my little brain to see what names I come up with..I rate Tomas Walsh in Munster and malone from Clare..I also thought John o halloran from limerick but not sure is he on national list..another one is Kennedy from tipp..in Leinster best man had to retire,John Keenan..I thought stack from Dublin was good but don't know where he is gone..I've seen cunning from Antrim and again he seemed to be a decent one..you notice I havnt named to many of the well known fellas..always liked Cleere doing games to.." Colum Cunning is decent enough in my book. Should start getting a few higher profile games. Hand passes now are no more than a joke. They're let go more so in tier one in my view. Lads cutting their teeth at inter county refereeing start further down the ladder and feel the need to blow for just about anything because of some over zealous GAA assessor sitting in the stand with a scorecard. Thats the start of the problem. On the whole, there's as poor a crop of inter county referees at the moment as there's ever been, to my mind. The age rule is a complete nonsense. With age comes experience. Should be down to a straight forward fitness test (that dosent need to be to the Army Rangers standard either btw). If you pass the test, what odds does it make when your last birthday was. What is the criteria for being an umpire at an inter county match, does anyone know? Serious question. I bet you don't even need an eye test. Passer_By (Carlow) - Posts: 511 - 05/04/2024 08:41:01 2535754 Link
John Keenan and Paud Dywer are yet neither allowed ref inter county. countyman2022 (Wexford) - Posts: 644 - 05/04/2024 09:04:01 2535760 Link
The best referee is the one who you win the game after, the worst is the one you lose the game after. Because the one you win there is not a word about the referee, but its the ref's fault when you lose. It wasn't always thus, but what also wasn't always thus was people's unwillingness to accept losing. But hurling is now impossible to referee and fair play to the brave men who put themselves in the middle to do it. ExiledInWex (Dublin) - Posts: 1144 - 05/04/2024 10:24:37 2535775 Link
Replying To Oldtourman: "I thought they beat Galway by nine points in 23." Will go with your call OTM. Was thinking of less than 3 point margins in long Munster championship. PatOLogical (Limerick) - Posts: 1361 - 05/04/2024 14:34:13 2535840 Link
Barry Kelly Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 399 - 05/04/2024 15:46:52 2535861 Link
Really like Eamon Furlong from wexford Mileythedog (Wicklow) - Posts: 57 - 05/04/2024 16:15:26 2535874 Link
Stack is decent enough and tends to be Cody like in his letting stuff go. Which was possibly his downfall as the club final was a bit anarchic! In fairness the goal was not his doing but there was an element maybe of the sending off of Regan being a compensation. I've always like Lyons I have to say. Its a holy terror of a job these days. BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 2657 - 05/04/2024 16:15:27 2535875 Link
Will watch back but overall good reffing job by Johnny Murphy in today's league final. Again 1 or 2 calls on either side ( with the benefit of rear view mirror) that could've gone the other way. eg Adrian Mullen yellow card and free appeared to be a clear shoulder to shoulder tackle to me, no free and no yellow . Adam Hogan got a free out late on that should have been a free in for his immediately preceding hold around the neck . Possible Kilkenny goal chance cut off here, Juss sayin Well done Johnny! PatOLogical (Limerick) - Posts: 1361 - 06/04/2024 21:33:05 2536107 Link
Replying To PatOLogical: "Will watch back but overall good reffing job by Johnny Murphy in today's league final. Again 1 or 2 calls on either side ( with the benefit of rear view mirror) that could've gone the other way. eg Adrian Mullen yellow card and free appeared to be a clear shoulder to shoulder tackle to me, no free and no yellow . Adam Hogan got a free out late on that should have been a free in for his immediately preceding hold around the neck . Possible Kilkenny goal chance cut off here, Juss sayin Well done Johnny!" Good reffing. Only pulled up dangerous tackles and made it clear where line was. BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 2657 - 07/04/2024 00:59:58 2536136 Link