A casual glance at sliothars down through the years would suggest that they are all more or less the same from ball to ball.
But they can end up being at the heart of shenanigans between sides as one incident in the Cork vs Clare match revealed this weekend when a figure in a Clare tracksuit ran behind the goal housing Cork keeper Anthony Nash and took possession of a big of sliothars, before making away with his quarry.
And there is a long history of sliothars becoming tactical ploys because of the lack of uniformity around the design of the balls.
Denis Walsh of The Sunday Times joined Joe on Tuesday night's show to lift the lid on ***drum roll please***: The potted history of Sliothar Skulduggery.
You can listen to the full chat on the podcast player or on iTunes via the GAA on Off The Ball Series:
"Going back the years, balls varied from different manufacturers. There were different rim sizes, different depth, different width, different weights and even though in the official guide, there were parameters - that the ball needs to be within these parameters - it wasn't policed and it wasn't necessarily observed. So there have always been these variables with the ball and it's always been an issue in how the game is played," said Walsh.
Joe and Richie delved into it on the Tuesday Newsround:
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
