A member of the rules committee which brought recommendations to Congress in February is happy with the performance of referees so far in the National Hurling League.
Willie Barrett has refereed All Ireland finals at Senior, Under 21 and Minor levels.
There has been much comment about the new rules including those aimed at clamping down on cynical fouls with the introduction of the penalty and sin binning for pulling a player down, tripping a player or careless use of the hurley inside the arc or inside the 20 metre line.
Speaking on Tipp FM’s Extra Time Ardfinnan native Barrett said just like players, referees also have to get used to the new rules.
“I would be happy with the refereeing certainly. And the reason I say that is because referees are coming from the same place as hurlers and footballers – they haven’t had a game in six or seven months.”
“It would hard for a referee to get everything right on the first day he goes out because he had no challenge matches or anything and he has been faced with new rules immediately.”
“He has to get up to speed just like the players do but I would be hoping that when our Leagues come to an end in a couple of weeks’ time that referees will be up to speed because the Championships are only two weeks away from that.”
