In the dark recesses of January, few would say football is any fun — but then less and less of the current crop remember when it was actually enjoyable.

In the end it was no more than a rehearsal but that didn’t stop some reviewing the black card’s debut like it was its opening weekend.

Just over a week now, folks, until the dawn of a new age in Gaelic football.

Mutual consent.

It may have been a launch but yesterday was also a goodbye from Eugene McGee as Football Review Committee (FRC) chairman.

Last Saturday in Claremorris’s McWilliam Park Hotel, the Mayo management and backroom teams gathered to formulate their 2014 plan of attack.

It was Winston Churchill who once said “the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter”.

Sometimes you have to wonder if there’s anything that can be agreed on in the GAA. Signing off on something is no guarantee it is binding.

As you can imagine, the decision to introduce the mandatory wearing of mouthguards at all levels of Gaelic football was met with mixed opinions among inter-county players.

So fare thee well Lance Franklin. We hardly knew ya.