Former Waterford hurling boss Derek McGrath is frustrated by the clampdown on the handpass during the league.
He feels that players have been harshly penalised in recent weeks. "Speed is the key word," he told WLR's Lár Na Páirce show. "The skill has now developed to be what I call a fast handpass. A handpass where the ball comes barely off the skin of the palm and then it's handpassed off that. In Waterford, Philip Mahony is probably the greatest exponent of the overhead high handpass that Gearoid McInerney was blown for last week. It's a little pet hate of mine. Eight out of ten of them are actually handpasses but they're fast handpasses. The rule states 'is it a clear striking action?' For me, it's clear, for some referees, it's clear, for players, it's clear. I just worry about it. If I was in Limerick, I'd be worried about it. They handpass it around really quickly with great subtlety. I'm afraid that it will be taken out of the game and we'll see a situation where the ball will have to come right up off your hand and struck and I think that will slow down the game more than people think."
He wouldn't like to see the fast handpass eliminated from the game. "I think the players playing the game now are the best players to have ever played the game. They're more flexible, they're more adaptable. Why penalise a guy that's bringing absolute excellence to a trait of the game? I wouldn't like to see us going down the route of looking for something to penalise them when there's no misdemeanour."
