Two-time All-Ireland winning full-back Conor O'Donovan hopes that a motion seeking to redefine the hurling handpass can make it to GAA Congress in the near future.
Former Tipperary star O'Donovan has long since been an advocate for the redefinition of the handpass in hurling and expects that while there is currently a focus on the area, it will reduce during the summer.
Speaking to RTE Sport, he said: "A lot will depend on media coverage of this issue.
"But my fear is that the focus will die off during the season if referees stop blowing for illegal handpasses. I get the feeling that people feel it's alright in some instances to throw the ball if it keeps the game flowing, or if the ref is not sure.
"I don’t see many analysts out there who are clearly 'anti-throwing’ either so my fear is it will just continue to be penalised only here and there in games. There will be no consistency and it will be hard on referees.
"But what is happening with handpassing is a blight on the game and should not be tolerated.
"I think there’s a lot of support for change, to eradicate illegal handpassing, and I would still hope a motion for change can be adapted and make its way to a Congress floor in the near future."
The Nenagh Eire Og man specifically wants the handpass to be redefined so that it would be a foul to 'handpass the ball or palm the ball directly from the same hand that is holding the ball'.
"I’m trying to highlight something that is wrong and offer solutions.
"I think as it stands the handpass is not policeable. In my opinion, continuous illegal handpassing is also having an effect in causing more rucks and high tackles. I think they are all associated," he adds.
"There would be greater definition for everyone if the rule to handpass or palm the ball directly from the same hand holding the ball was changed. Until that is taken away illegal handpassing will continue."
And as for the options to move away from the part of the game that is irking him?
"A player still has the option to hop the ball on the hurley and palm it away with either hand.
"There is the hop of the ball off the bas (Brick flick) and there is the option of a two-handed pass - where the ball is thrown from one hand and palmed by the other, with the hurley transferring hands in the process," he explains.
Michael 'Brick' Walsh broke a record today and he's had a skill named after him - the Brick Flick. Eddie Brennan, Anne Marie Hayes and Anthony Daly pay tribute to a wonderful career. #BrickFlick #SundayGame pic.twitter.com/rgaDvKjrhV
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 17, 2018
"Some people seem to think that particular one - the transferring hands pass – requires a form of magic to execute but it’s one of the basic skills of the game," he added.
"It would be much simpler for everyone if a striking action with the same hand that a ball was thrown from was deemed a foul."
Last week RTÉ GAA analyst Dónal Óg Cusack addressed the issue and what he feels has led to this position.
"I think the genesis of what is causing the [handpass] issue is the way we're tackling, the way players are being held up and being forced into different types of handpasses to releases the ball," he said.
He was speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podcast.
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