WHAT has happened to hurling? The Antrim game last weekend was so exciting, it was so intense, and there was so much tackling and pressure put on. But that was so different to what we are getting in the other divisions.

The Antrim game was so enjoyable but it reminded me that hurling has not been as enjoyable as it once was. I know that it is a league and teams are using the games to get up to championship pace. I understand that maybe Antrim’s motivations were a bit different to the other teams. They needed to be sharper and quicker because they wanted to stay in Division One.

However, if you look at the other games that have been played they have been so boring.

The reason it is going this way is because of tactics. The approach to the game focuses on ball retention, not giving the ball away. Teams are more likely to keep the ball in their own full-back line and half-back line and make short sharp passes up the field. They can also put the ball over from 60, 70, 80 yards. That is why the scores are so high.

While we all like to see high-scoring games, we also want to see competitiveness and intensity which was what hurling was famous for. If you think of the great games that Kilkenny and Tipperary played in the past, from the early 2000s to the mid 2010s. Those games were so intense, but there was also a great art to their defence. But that doesn’t happen anymore. I actually think that the Antrim game was a throw back to those type of intense games of the past. That’s what made the game so good. Antrim’s work rate and intensity was phenomenal.

If you look at the other games they are not as entertaining as they once were. As a spectator we want to see that competitiveness and that passion and the will to win but that is not there at the minute.

Perhaps the Antrim game was exciting because the crowds were there at Corrigan Park. Sometimes when there is no crowd at a game there is a challenge match feel. The crowds bring an atmosphere. But I do think that hurling is changing and it is becoming more tactical.

The tactical changes is the evolution of the game in the same way that football evolved into a possession game. Teams want to keep the ball because they don’t want to give it away because they don’t want to concede a score.

If you look at Limerick, they have so much movement that they have all positions covered at all times. But they never waste a ball. I think teams are now trying to play the way Limerick have been playing for the past few years which isn’t as enjoyable to watch.

One of the issues is that there is a large amount of scores that have come from frees. Teams want to get into a position where they can win that easy free and then put it over the bar. So then teams don’t want to give away free, anywhere in the field. If they give away a free in the half-back line then there is a good chance that it will end up as a point.

I have noticed that the amount of frees given in hurling has increased even though it is not a dirty game. Hurlers go in hard, but hurlers expect to get hit hard. I think that’s why we enjoy it, because it is so physically intense.

Take a look at the Galway and Waterford game at the weekend. Galway scored 4-28, and Waterford scored 3-23. They scored 3-23 and still lost by eight points. Tipperary scored 4-27 and Westmeath still scored 0-16.

In the Galway game, they almost scored once every minute. The high-scoring rate would suggest that there is no intensity and there is no tackling and players are happy enough to have a shoot out. It is just not as enjoyable to watch.

These are conversations that are happening among supporters. Don’t get me wrong, the level of skill among hurlers is off the charts. They are exceptional at what they do. But the games are not as enjoyable because of the way the games are being played.

I don’t want to run the sport down, because I do love the game.

It might change for championship, but I don’t think so. I don’t think the style is going to change in the championship. I don’t think there will be less frees.

I think the powers that be might have just wanted it to be less physical. But if they do that then they are taking away the best part of the game.

SCORING… The high-scoring nature of the Galway Waterford game reveals a problem, according to Fionnuala Carr