Re-writing the football rules is way forward
However, in the early part of the competition there were concerns raised about the standard of fare, and one game in particular, Derry v Monaghan in the Ulster championship, was the subject of considerable debate because of the unsavoury nature of the contest.
Subsequently, a lot of good football was played and the concerns justifiably raised about the standard of football being played in the early stages of the competition were consigned to the recesses of the mind – much like good performances by individuals for the less fashionable counties in the early rounds are when it comes to awarding All Stars at the end of the year.
I don’t believe that should be the case and I am of the view that the organisation should strike while the iron is hot by making some badly needed changes to the way the games are officiated and to the rules governing our game. As with all big organisations the GAA tends to be reactive in its approach to implementing change, but considering the fact that rule changes put forward by a committee chaired by Liam O’Neill were only marginally short of the two-thirds majority at this year’s Congress, the wherewithal may now be within the organisation to be proactive in its approach to its games.
However, Liam O’Neill’s committee should be mandated to deal with either hurling or football, two fundamentally different games and another committee set up to look at the other game. If this had been done in the first place I would suggest that a two thirds majority would have been attained at Congress.
We live in hope and these are the areas of our game I would suggest are most in need of attention. In relation to the officiating of the games, I would put forward three suggestions:
1. Take the timekeeping responsibilities away from the referee and follow the example of the ladies game. It should be introduced at inter-county level irrespective of whether it is feasible to use it at club level or not as the controversy over the amount of time that is added on by refs in big games is avoidable.
2. The use of technology is now starting to be embraced by the GAA with all officials in communication with Pat McEnaney recently. Not all refs are using the technology yet, mind you. However, I would take that a step further and have a suitably qualified official in the stand watching a TV monitor in communication with the referee, thereby being in a position to adjudicate on all controversial decisions such as poor umpiring decisions.
3. Speaking of umpires, intense training courses for those officials should be initiated and the possibility of utilising only one umpire at either end of the field as in Aussie rules should be considered.
MOVING onto rule changes and again just three for consideration:
1. A substitute entering the field of play who has any physical contact with his marker should be given the ultimate sanction, a straight red card and the same should also apply to a player who “welcomes the sub to the game”.
2. The square ball rule needs to be jettisoned straight away; either no player should be allowed in the square when the goalkeeper is fielding the ball or any player can make contact with the goalkeeper legally but the controversy with regard to square balls should no longer be permitted to affect games as it does every year.
3. Finally, body-checking a player after he has played the ball should result in a yellow card for a first offence and a red for a second. This was used with great success in this year’s National League and it is a great pity that it was not retained for the championship.
These suggestions are not ground-breaking but commonsense and a proactive approach by the GAA now would see an even better football championship next year, which is ultimately what the GAA should be striving for every season.
