{"id":384951,"date":"2026-04-06T16:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T16:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/384951\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T16:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T16:49:11","slug":"cork-boss-ben-oconnor-calls-out-time-wasting-from-free-takers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/384951\/","title":{"rendered":"Cork Boss Ben O\u2019Connor Calls Out Time Wasting From Free-Takers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"157\" data-end=\"359\">Ben O\u2019Connor has once again highlighted his frustration with the time being taken over frees, following Cork\u2019s Division 1A final defeat to Limerick.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"361\" data-end=\"547\">The issue has been a recurring talking point throughout the league campaign, particularly with increased scrutiny on free-takers and the impact stoppages are having on the flow of games.<\/p>\n<p>Cork Boss Ben O\u2019Connor Calls Out Time Wasting From Free-Takers<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"549\" data-end=\"716\">Ben O\u2019Connor, who previously raised the matter after Cork\u2019s clash with Tipperary in February, returned to the topic once again after the final.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"718\" data-end=\"798\">I suppose it was a bit scrappy. There was a lot of frees given there.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"800\" data-end=\"914\">We didn\u2019t get too many of them, but there was a lot of frees given. I suppose it slowed the game down for fellas.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"916\" data-end=\"1095\">I\u2019m not on about the Limerick free-taker, but free-takers in general these days. There\u2019s two minutes of a free now from the time the whistle is blown to the time the ball is hit.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1097\" data-end=\"1166\">Seven or eight frees, that\u2019s 14 or 15 minutes wasted hitting frees.<\/p>\n<p>\n        Recommended\n    <\/p>\n<p>                        <a :href=\"https:\/\/www.balls.ie\/gaa\/article.url\" :title=\"article.title\" :aria-label=\"article.title\" class=\"not-prose col-span-2 md:col-span-1 ga-event\" data-category=\"Recommended Article Tracker\" data-action=\"click\" :data-label=\"https:\/\/www.balls.ie\/gaa\/article.url\" :data-value=\"https:\/\/www.balls.ie\/gaa\/article.url\"><\/p>\n<p>                                            <img class=\"aspect-video\" width=\"130\" height=\"73\" :src=\"https:\/\/www.balls.ie\/gaa\/article.image\" :alt=\"'Image for: ' + article.title\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1168\" data-end=\"1461\">The debate around free-taking has been prevalent this year, with Tipperary\u2019s Darragh McCarthy, the 2025 Young Player of the Year, drawing attention during their meeting with Cork in P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh, McCarthy was booed upon his introduction off the bench and when lining up his frees.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1463\" data-end=\"1561\">For Ben O\u2019Connor, the concern is less about individuals and more about the broader impact on the game.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1563\" data-end=\"1674\">When you\u2019re playing with the breeze, it is frustrating that you can\u2019t get a flow and can\u2019t get a rhythm going.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1676\" data-end=\"1721\">That\u2019s for another day, another discussion.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1723\" data-end=\"1913\">Despite that frustration, Ben O\u2019Connor struck a largely positive note on Cork\u2019s league campaign overall, suggesting they achieved most of what they set out to do, aside from lifting the trophy.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1915\" data-end=\"2091\">With championship now on the horizon, the Cork manager\u2019s comments add to a growing conversation around how the game is being managed, and whether further tweaks may be needed.<\/p>\n<p>SEE ALSO: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.balls.ie\/gaa\/donal-og-cusack-tipperary-under-the-radar-652940\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u2018I Do Not Understand That\u2019 \u2013 Donal \u00d3g Cusack Hits Out At Tipperary Narrative<\/a><br \/>\nSEE ALSO: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.balls.ie\/gaa\/donal-og-cusack-cork-warning-limerick-league-final-652937\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Donal \u00d3g Cusack Warns Cork Of \u2018Fatal Blow\u2019 Scenario After Limerick Defeat<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben O\u2019Connor has once again highlighted his frustration with the time being taken over frees, following Cork\u2019s Division&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[46,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-384951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-cork","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}