Colin Sheridan: Gaelic football is off life support but its rehabilitation should continue

The GAA has done the hard part in improving the action of the pitch. Here are six things it could fix tomorrow without a special congress or an EGM.

Eight teams are capable of winning this year's All-Ireland football title. Keys skills of the game, like  catching and kicking are experiencing a renaissance. People are happier. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Gaelic Football is so hot right now. If it were an actor, it would’ve gone to Cannes this week and received an 18 minute standing ovation, so attractive it has become. Which is quite something, because the sport was on life support two years ago - riddled with a plague of lateral passing and stacked defences. 

It reached rock bottom when some lad from Westmeath finished his thesis while playing midfield during a Tailteann Cup match. Solo, solo, hop, solo. Run sideways and backways. Order some takeout while you wait for your keeper to come up to take a free. It was bad, very bad, but the good news is the sport went to a life coach and started listening to the High Performance Podcast. Little bit of Botox by way of the Football Review Committee. A tummy tuck and a Hyrox subscription and before you know it, the Ulster Football Championship makes Munster hurling look like a Fellini movie where everything looks beautiful, but nothing really happens. As makeovers go, this is Bradley Cooper levels of transformation.