Hurling Rule Changes 2026: 24 Trials That Could Transform the Game.

GAA to Trial 24 Major Hurling Rule Changes as Six Steps, One Handpass and Two-Point Sidelines Proposed

Hurling could be set for some of its most significant playing-rule changes in decades, with the GAA preparing to trial 24 amendments covering handpasses, steps, puck-outs, tackling, throw-ins, 65s, sideline cuts, match officials and the Maor Foirne.

The GAA’s Hurling Expert Advisory Group has published a major Interim Report on the state of hurling, with a package of experimental rules to be tested in the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup League from mid-October 2026.

Among the headline proposals are an increase from four to six permitted steps, a ban on two consecutive handpasses, a requirement for a clearly struck handpass, puck-outs having to travel beyond the 45-metre line before being played by a defending teammate, and two points for a sideline cut struck directly over the bar.

A 65 would also be moved back and taken from the 65-metre line nearest the taker’s own goal, while linesmen would receive significantly greater powers to assist referees in identifying both technical and aggressive fouls.

These are trials, not confirmed permanent changes to the rules of hurling.

The Hurling Expert Advisory Group, chaired by former Cork manager John Meyler, will assess what happens during the Fitzgibbon League before deciding which, if any, proposals should progress through the GAA’s rule-making and Congress process.

Hurling review backed by more than 8,400 survey responses

The scale of the review is significant.

The Interim Report runs to 172 pages and combines public consultation, focus groups and detailed match analysis from the GAA’s Games Intelligence Unit.

The group conducted 22 focus groups involving 77 stakeholders across nine different categories, generating almost 200,000 words of transcribed discussion. A further 8,430 people took part in the public survey.

Those consulted included inter-county players, inter-county backroom teams, club players, referees, underage coaches, pundits, media personnel, strategic GAA figures and people involved more generally in hurling.

Crucially, the report is not based on a belief that hurling is in crisis.

Majorities across all stakeholder groups felt hurling is in a better position than it was 10 years ago.

However, eight issues repeatedly emerged: the handpass becoming a throw, inconsistent refereeing, the steps rule not being enforced, use of the spare arm in the tackle, rucks, the goalkeeper’s increasing influence in possession, equipment concerns and the structure of the championship season.

The handpass was the single most consistent concern across the research, appearing as the number one issue across provinces, playing levels and competition tiers. Games Intelligence Unit analysis found that approximately 40 per cent of passes in Division 1A and 1B of the 2026 National Hurling League were handpasses.

What are the 24 new hurling rule amendments being trialled?

The 24 amendments published by the Hurling Expert Advisory Group are:

1. Pre-match referee briefing: Referees will brief both teams in their dressing rooms before matches on how the experimental rules will be implemented.
2. Officials operating as a team: Linesmen will work more actively as part of the overall officiating team while continuing to rule on sidelines.
3. Linesmen become assistant referees: Each linesman will patrol from an endline to halfway, effectively giving the referee additional support in each half of the pitch. They are not restricted to identifying fouls only in that half.
4. Linesmen can flag fouls: They will be empowered to alert the referee to technical and aggressive fouls they see. The referee retains the authority to overrule them.
5. No two consecutive handpasses: A player who receives the ball from a teammate by handpass cannot immediately handpass it again. The next transfer must therefore be made by another legal method. A free will be awarded from where the second handpass is made or attempted.
6. Clear handpass striking action: The ball must be released and struck with a clear and definite striking action of the hand.
7. Fair-play wording strengthened: The same requirement for a clear and definite strike will be added to the section governing what a player may do while in possession.
8. Benefit of doubt moves against the passer: It becomes the player’s responsibility to make the striking action obvious. If the referee or linesman is in doubt, a free is to be awarded against the player.
9. Six steps allowed: Players will be permitted to carry the sliotar for a maximum of six consecutive steps, replacing the existing four-step allowance.
10. Overcarrying and overholding redefined: A player taking more than six steps, or holding the ball longer than the time required to take six steps, will commit a technical foul.
11. Holding an opponent with the arms prohibited: The rule on tackling will specifically prohibit holding an opponent with the hands or arms, targeting the increasingly common practice of tying up a player in possession.
12. Ground stroke required at throw-ins: The two players contesting any throw-in must attempt to play the ball with a ground stroke. Failure to do so will result in a free to the opposition.
13. New start-of-half throw-in: One player from each team will contest the throw-in around midfield. A second player from each side will stand on opposite sidelines at halfway, with the remaining players positioned behind their respective 45-metre lines.
14. One-against-one at other throw-ins: All other throw-ins will also be contested by one player from each team, with everyone else required to remain at least 13 metres away.
15. Puck-out positioning requirement: A minimum of three players from each team must remain in the area between the defending team’s 20-metre and 45-metre lines when a puck-out is being taken.
16. Puck-outs must clear the 45: The ball must travel outside the 45-metre line before another player from the team taking the puck-out can play it. An opposition player can attack the puck-out inside the 45. If an opponent touches it there, the restriction on the defending team ends.
17. Referee must restart play: Following a score or a wide, the goalkeeper cannot restart until the referee has blown the whistle.
18. Goal-scoring opportunity fouls: Specified deliberate fouls which deny an attacking player a goal-scoring opportunity, including certain dangerous or off-the-ball collisions, will result in a penalty puck and the yellow or red card appropriate to the offence.
19. Advantage rule altered: If a player is fouled again during the five-second advantage period, the attacking team can choose the location of the original foul or the second foul for the resulting free. The referee can also extend the assessment beyond five seconds where a shot has already been taken, while an infringement by the team receiving advantage does not automatically wipe out the original advantage.
20. 65s moved back: A 65 will be taken from the 65-metre line situated nearest the taker’s own goal, rather than the traditional attacking 65-metre line.
21. Two-point sideline cut: A sideline struck directly over the crossbar will be worth two points, provided no teammate of the scorer touches the sliotar before it crosses the bar.
22. Maor Foirne returns: One designated Maor Foirne per team may enter the field during breaks in play, provided they are listed on the team sheet, wear the designated bib and receive permission from the linesman or fourth official.
23. Unauthorised Maor Foirne entry prohibited: Entering the pitch outside those conditions will constitute an unauthorised incursion.
24. No replacement Maor Foirne: The designated Maor Foirne cannot be replaced by another team official during the match.

One handpass could fundamentally alter how hurling is played

Of all the proposals, limiting teams to one consecutive handpass could have the greatest tactical impact.

Rather than simply attempting to police whether the ball has been thrown, the experimental rule would also break up long chains of handpasses.

Once a player receives a handpass, he must move the ball on through another legal method before his team can handpass again.

Meyler has said the intention is to encourage teams to strike the sliotar more often and reduce the increasingly possession-heavy sequences seen at the highest level.

He pointed to the number of handpasses recorded in major championship games as one reason for exploring the restriction.

The wording of the handpass itself is also being strengthened.

A handpass must involve a clear and definite striking action, and perhaps more significantly, the burden moves to the player to make that strike obvious.

That could produce an immediate change in refereeing.

Rather than officials being expected to prove that a player threw the ball, any handpass which leaves the referee or linesman unsure whether there was a clear strike can be penalised.

Four steps become six, but enforcement becomes the key

The other major possession change is the move from four steps to six.

The report repeatedly describes the existing four-step rule as one that is effectively no longer being enforced in the modern game.

Stakeholders spoke of players routinely taking six, eight or even 10 steps before being penalised.

Instead of retaining four steps on paper while allowing considerably more in practice, the Fitzgibbon trial will establish a six-step limit and ask officials to enforce it.

The Advisory Group’s research found broad support for increasing the legal allowance to five or six steps if that number could then be applied consistently.

The spare-arm tackle is firmly in the spotlight

The six-step rule is also closely connected to another major concern identified throughout the report, the modern tackle.

Players being held or tied up with a defender’s spare hand or arm has become increasingly common.

According to the report, stakeholders see a chain reaction: players overcarry into contact, defenders use their spare arm to stop them releasing the sliotar, the ball becomes trapped, additional players arrive and a ruck develops.

Under the Fitzgibbon trial, holding an opponent using the hands or arms will explicitly constitute an offence.

The change is designed to create cleaner tackles, cleaner releases and fewer prolonged rucks.

Puck-outs face radical rethink

Modern puck-out strategy is another major target.

The trial will prevent the team taking the puck-out from playing the sliotar before it travels outside their own 45-metre line, although an opposition player remains free to attack the ball inside the 45.

At least three players from each team must also remain between the defending side’s 20-metre and 45-metre lines.

The intended effect is obvious, create more space further up the pitch, make the restart less predictable and reintroduce genuine contests for possession.

There is also an important additional rule, a puck-out following a score or wide cannot be taken until the referee blows the whistle.

That targets the ultra-quick restart which can see the goalkeeper put the ball back into play before the opposition has reset.

The match data gives useful context.

Across Division 1A and Division 1B of the 2026 National Hurling League, 37.3 per cent of puck-outs were short, while 48.3 per cent of all puck-outs were uncontested.

In the 2026 Liam MacCarthy Cup final, 49.3 per cent of puck-outs were short and 63.4 per cent were uncontested, considerably higher than in several lower-tier finals.

Interestingly, the report’s data also challenges the perception that passing a puck-out directly back to the goalkeeper is happening constantly.

Across 76 matches analysed by the Games Intelligence Unit, just 3.8 per cent of all puck-outs were subsequently returned directly to the goalkeeper.

Four teams accounted for 45 per cent of those incidents, while 77.5 per cent of those possessions eventually resulted in a turnover. Only 22.5 per cent ended with the team taking the puck-out subsequently scoring.

That evidence may explain why the trial does not contain a blanket ban on passing back to the goalkeeper in general play, despite considerable support for the idea during consultation.

Two points for one of hurling’s great skills

One proposal likely to attract widespread support is the decision to award two points for a sideline cut struck directly over the bar.

The report found broad support for giving greater reward to a skill which has become less attractive tactically as teams increasingly use short sidelines to retain possession.

Under the experimental rule, the score is worth two points as long as another player from the scorer’s team does not touch the ball before it crosses the bar.

The report describes the two-point sideline as the positive playing-rule change which achieved perhaps the clearest consensus across the consultation process.

The 65 is moving back

A successful 65 has become an extremely high-percentage scoring opportunity for elite free-takers.

The experimental solution is simple, move the strike backwards.

Instead of taking the puck from the 65-metre line closest to the opposition goal, the free will be taken from the 65-metre line nearest the taker’s own goal.

The exact additional distance will vary depending on the dimensions of the pitch, but the intention is to make a 65 a more challenging scoring opportunity rather than an almost automatic point for top-level specialists.

Linesmen to become far more influential

One of the most significant proposals may not immediately be obvious to spectators.

Linesmen are to operate much more like assistant referees.

The report repeatedly identifies the difficulty of asking one referee to police a game played at the speed of modern elite hurling, particularly when it comes to throws, holding and incidents away from the ball.

Under the trial, linesmen can actively alert the referee to both aggressive and technical fouls rather than waiting passively to be consulted.

That could be particularly important for the new handpass interpretation, where a linesman may have a considerably better viewing angle than the referee.

The final decision still rests with the referee.

Throw-ins to become genuine one-on-one contests

The traditional swarm around the throw-in is also targeted.

Every throw-in must involve one player from each side attempting a ground stroke, with everyone else held back.

At the beginning of each half the restrictions go even further, with most players required to stay behind the respective 45-metre lines.

The goal is to stop the immediate ruck which so often develops around throw-ins and create a genuine contest for the sliotar instead.

Maor Foirne set for controlled return

The Maor Foirne is also set to return in a tightly controlled format.

One official can be nominated by each team and may enter the field only during breaks in play and with official permission.

The report found significant support for restoring the role because of the difficulty management teams have communicating with players in large stadiums.

However, the official must enter in the designated area, leave when instructed and cannot be replaced during the game.

What the report does not propose for the Fitzgibbon trial

This is important because the 172-page report considers far more ideas than those which have actually made it into the trial.

A four-point goal is not being trialled.

There is no blanket ban on the goalkeeper receiving a backpass in open play.

There is no full two-referee system, although the expanded role of the linesmen moves officiating in that direction.

A heavier sliotar, stricter hurley-bas dimensions, seven substitutions, changes to the championship calendar and a range of competition-structure proposals are all discussed within the report, but they are not part of these 24 Fitzgibbon League amendments.

That distinction matters. The report records views and possible solutions raised during consultation, but those should not be confused with the experimental rules approved for the Fitzgibbon trial.

Fitzgibbon Cup will decide what happens next

Nothing has been permanently changed yet.

The Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup League will effectively become a live laboratory for the proposals from mid-October.

The GAA’s Games Intelligence Unit will collect match data throughout the trial, while players, coaches, referees and other stakeholders will be asked for structured feedback.

The Advisory Group will then examine which changes improved hurling, which produced unexpected consequences and which simply did not work.

GAA President Jarlath Burns stressed that the intention is not to change hurling simply for the sake of it, but to protect the qualities which make the sport unique while identifying areas where it can improve.

Meyler has taken a similarly measured approach.

His argument is that hurling does not require a radical transformation. The game, in his view, needs only a small number of carefully tested improvements.

The Fitzgibbon League is where the evidence for those decisions will now be gathered.

Hurling could look very different, without becoming a different game

Taken individually, several of the proposed amendments appear relatively small.

Taken together, they could substantially alter the rhythm of elite hurling.

Six strictly enforced steps would change how players attack space. Limiting consecutive handpasses would force more striking. Penalising holding with the spare arm could reduce rucks. Longer puck-outs should generate more contested ball. Stronger linesmen involvement could improve enforcement. One-on-one throw-ins could eliminate the immediate swarm around restarts.

Then there are the two changes spectators will notice instantly, the two-point sideline cut and the longer 65.

The significance of the Interim Report, however, goes beyond any single proposal.

For perhaps the first time on this scale, the GAA has attempted to combine thousands of opinions from across the hurling community with detailed match data and then test the resulting ideas in competitive matches before seeking permanent rule changes.

The Fitzgibbon League will now provide the answer to the most important question.

Can the GAA change parts of modern hurling without changing what makes hurling great?