Opinion: Why it’s time the GAA gave dangerous challenges the cold shoulder

When legal tackles result in players getting hurt it’s time to examine the laws

Joe Canning after being shoulder charged by Padraic Maher in the 2016 All-Ireland hurling semi-final. Picture: Cathal Noonan/Inpho

A video was circulated this week to mark the retirement of Padraic Maher, the Tipperary hurler. In the footage, from the 2016 All-Ireland semi-final, Joe Canning is soloing the ball as he accelerates down the Hogan Stand side of Croke Park.

Canning’s gallop is halted when Maher charges towards the Galway player and meets him flush with a well-timed and thunderously executed shoulder.

As a tribute to Maher’s superb career, it did not seem the ...