New rules frustrating football’s finest

By Brendan O’Brien

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

THREE of the country’s top football managers converged on Dublin yesterday to launch the Allianz National Football League campaign but these events tend to be state-of-the-nation addresses as much as anything else.

So it was again on the capital’s southside where Joe Kernan, Conor Counihan and Kieran McGeeney were prodded for their thoughts on matters such as the close-season training ban and the experimental rules.

It’s a thankless enough task at the best of times, especially with GAA president Christy Cooney occupying a seat front and centre and within touching distance of the three wise men at the top table.

Cooney, after all, addressed a number of managers only last week and asked them to hold fire on the new rules that include tighter regulations on the hand pass and the introduction of a mark.

It was no surprise, then, the meat of the discussions took place when the guests of honour dispersed into smaller groups and Counihan was straight up in his assessment of the rules.

"I would have felt that there would be a more consensus approach by getting all the managers together, maybe a player from each county and a number of referees and administrators, and said ‘look lads, what are we doing and where are we going?’" said Counihan.

He added: "Bring in whatever changes we have for the secondary competitions but don’t try them out in the National League. Put a hold on it for a while. There have been too many changes in the last number of years."

Though opinions have differed on the merits of many of the new rules, there does seem to be almost universal opposition to the decree that a hand pass must be played with a closed fist.

It is too early to make a definitive judgement on any of the regulations after but asking players to fundamentally change how they perform such an intrinsic task seems doomed to failure.

Kerry player Declan O’Sullivan, who was also on hand to help launch the league season, certainly thinks so.

"I think the hand pass rule is a bit silly. You’re trying to play the game fast, get some momentum going, and this is just cumbersome really. I don’t know what it adds to the game.

"You might have a team going for promotion or fighting relegation and they could be penalised for a hand pass and concede a crucial point and that could cause a lot of controversy."

There were some positive reactions to the latest batch of experiments.

McGeeney gave the thumbs up to the decision to move the penalty spot closer to the goal, as well as to the new square ball policy, but is unconvinced about others and feels Croke Park may have taken aim at the wrong targets.

"There are only two things that consistently come up when you are talking about changing rules and that is the consistency with which referees apply the rules and the tackle. Outside of that, the only other thing I can see is that when you get a free kick, it is supposed to be an advantage.

"But at the minute you get a free-kick some people still drag off you and, if you push them off, it is a hop ball. Or, if you don’t take it from the spot because someone is standing in front of you, it is another hop ball. What is the point in giving someone a free kick if there is no advantage? If someone stands in front of you, you should be allowed to run through or fist pass, something to give back the advantage to the fouled team."

McGeeney was just as forthright about the decision to ban inter-county teams from collective training during November and December.

Brought in to safeguard young players being asked to train and play too much by too many taskmasters, it has come under attack on a regular basis.

With the recent cold snap wiping out the first weekend of fixtures in January, senior inter-county teams have had to launch punishing routines of training and matches in recent weeks.

Kernan spoke about one student on his Galway panel who, between training and games, had been on the go seven days in a row recently and admitted the blanket ban was "frustrating".

"I’ve said it before," said McGeeney. "It is unusual there is a blanket ban on senior teams that is aimed at protecting 18-21 year-olds. We would have very few players of that age on our panel yet the clubs and colleges are overlooked. The senior team might not have played for three or four months anyway. Communication between the coaches is the most important thing, making sure players are not out seven days in a row. It’s about education."

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, February 02, 2010