Kerry manager Jack O'Connor again hit out at the rule that a player must hand back the ball to an opposing player when a free is awarded against him, arguing it was too open to abuse and was deciding big games.
The reigning champions edged out Roscommon in Killarney on Sunday, thanks to Tomás Kennedy's fisted point, which passed the crossbar just as the hooter sounded.
A few minutes earlier, Roscommon looked to be in position to claim a shock victory following Diarmuid Murtagh's two-pointed free, which was converted after the ball was moved forward 50 metres, referee Brendan Cawley deeming that Mike Breen hadn't handed the ball back after the visitors were awarded a free on halfway.
O'Connor branded the rule "unnatural" early last year and he was even more trenchant in his criticism after Round 1 of the 2026 Allianz League.
"I've always been against that rule about handing the ball back," O'Connor told RTÉ Radio 1.
"The ball should be placed on the ground where the foul occurs. You have stuff going on, I know where a fella holds the ball out and someone slaps it out of his hand and it's brought forward 50 yards.
"That could have decided the game today, that two-pointer that Murtagh kicked from the ensuing free. It's just a rule that will have to be looked at."
"We don't have to like the rule but we have to get the interpretation right"
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) January 25, 2026
Lee Keegan and Éamonn Fitzmaurice discuss the 50m rule for the ball not being handed back to the opposition promptly
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By far the most contentious and consequential instance of the rule in operation was in the final play of the Munster club final, when St Finbarr's were penalised 50 metres for failing to hand the ball over.
Conor Geaney swung over the subsequent two-point free to turn a one-point deficit into a one-point lead for Daingean Uí Chúis with no time remaining on the clock.
"Whatever about respect, if it's deciding big games, there's just too much at stake to have such a grey area," says O'Connor.
"If a fella holds the ball out and someone runs into him and the ball spills or slaps the ball out of his hand, how the hell is that his fault?
"I've been consistent on this one, I've said from the beginning that's a rule that's going to cause a lot of bother.
"Right throughout the club season, it caused bother. Big games decided on it. I certainly think that rule is going to have to be looked at."
FRC member and former Kerry manager Éamonn Fitzmaurice stressed that the rule had been heavily endorsed by Congress after a year-long trial period
Fitzmaurice said the focus should be more on coaching referees to be aware of players who are seeking to engineer a 50-metre advancement.
"It's a fair point and he's been consistent from the off," Fitzmaurice said on RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland.
"It was brought to Special Congress in 2024. 85% of the delegates voted in favour of that particular motion.
"It was trialled throughout the year. When we went back to Special Congress in October, it actually went up to 96.3% of the delegates that voted in favour after the trial year. 90% of the FRC cohort survey voted in favour of it as well.
"It's in the rulebook now, for good or for bad. I feel myself, personally, we just have to get on with it.
"Brendan Cawley is an excellent ref but he made a mistake. It shouldn't have been brought in. And it could have been costly.
"But that's the nature of the game. In the first half, Tomás Kennedy got a great goal but it was a square ball. It was something the officials missed as well.
"Refs are going to make mistakes, managers are going to make mistakes, players are going to make mistakes.
"It's in now, we just have to get on with it. It's about supporting the referees and coaching the referees to be aware of the shenanigans that are going on sometimes by the player receiving the ball, that they're trying to buy that 50m advancement."
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