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Five-time All-Ireland winning hurler Séamus Flanagan has weighed into the debate around thrown balls in hurling, saying: “I used to always throw the ball.” Appearing in a recent episode of Off The Ball, the former Limerick hurler was asked if players are throwing the ball rather than handpassing. The Feohanagh-Castlemahon clubman clarified: “No, I usen’t always throw the ball. If I was in acres of room, I’d handpass if off, but if I was in a tight situation, get the ball out of there, like.” Given the speed of the game, Flanagan said of officials, “they’re not going to call it”, but added: “When you’re in a situation like that, how is the referee supposed to call that? He’s 20 yards away, there’s no way on earth. It’s the biggest guessing game of all time.” READ MORE Asked again by host Colm Boohig whether he thought players are throwing the sliotar, Flanagan said: “100 per cent.” “If you can get away with it,” he said. “Because, if you think about it, what a referee wants is for you to go up [with your hand] and handpass, like, separation from your hand. Any player [doing that] at a high-level sport is going to get that taken off them.” The GAA’s official guide outlines that, for a handpass in hurling, “the ball shall be released and struck with a definite striking action of a hand”. It adds: “The releasing of the ball is considered an integral part of the handpass.” Without the release, it is considered a thrown ball and a technical foul under Rule 4.2(b). Handpassing in hurling has repeatedly cropped up as a point of debate in recent seasons. During the 2024 All-Ireland semi-final against Limerick, Cork’s Brian Hayes had a first-half goal ruled out after referee Thomas Walsh adjudged Alan Connolly to have thrown the sliotar in the lead-up to the score. Walsh also subsequently awarded frees against Cork’s Ethan Twomey and Limerick’s Aaron Gillane for the same infringement. Speaking on The Sunday Game after Cork’s victory, Donal Óg Cusack took issue with the three frees, believing they were all legitimate examples of the “modern handpass”. “You’d just wonder where that noise is coming from into the referee’s ears that they’re making decisions like this,” the former Cork goalkeeper said. “Before there’s any decisions, or any thought of decisions around [changing] the handpass, you need to get the top players involved. You need to acknowledge the skill set that they have, and also acknowledge the positive impact ... that the evolution of the handpass has made to our game.”