'75% of handpasses are fouls' - Barry Kelly urges Congress to consider fundamental rule change to hurling

Four-time All-Ireland final referee Barry Kelly says the GAA's upcoming Annual Congress must seriously consider a motion to amend the handpass rule in hurling.

Kelly has just completed his term on the Standing Committee on the Playing Rules (SCPR) and has been part of a group that reported a 40% increase in the number of handpasses in inter-county hurling in the past five years.

Last season there was an average of around 100 per game.

"The handpass itself was not a big factor when it was down at 10 or 15 per game," Kelly says. "But now it is an intrinsic part of a team’s make-up and weaponry.

"The rule calls for a clear strike of the ball with the hand but in fact it has just become a release. And if you actually watch club or county teams in warm ups, they make no attempt to even try to strike."

Kelly feels there will be strong support for a Nenagh Éire Óg motion at GAA Congress later this month, calling for an amendment in the handpass rule.

The motion, proposed by two-time All-Ireland winning full-back, Conor O’Donovan, states that it will be a foul "to either handpass the ball or palm the ball directly from the same hand that is holding the ball."

Under the proposed Nenagh Éire Óg motion, when hand-passing, players would have three options. They can strike the sliotar with a) the non-holding hand or b) with the original holding hand after bouncing the ball off the hurl, or c) with the original non-holding hand after bouncing the ball off the hurl.

It is a technical foul to intentionally drop the hurl.

"At the moment there are 100 handpasses a game, three-quarters are fouls and they are going unpunished," Kelly adds.

"It’s difficult to clamp down on them all but Conor’s motion seeks to change the handpass completely and it was