Kiely: new rules will make a positive mark

AFTER the Arctic chills and the biblical rains, there will finally be games. GAA fields across the country will witness the first flashes of activity this weekend and with it comes the almost annual tradition of road testing a new set of playing rules.

Already there has been resistance from certain quarters with the introduction of the mark and the tweaking of the square ball rule provoking outcry. Former Waterford boss John Kiely, who was a member of the group who drafted the football rules, is none too happy that there has been opposition expressed to the rules before a ball has been even kicked in anger.

“Already you have inter-county managers shouting down these rules straight away. I think the problem is inter-county managers live in their own cosy little world. They’re not thinking of the game as a spectacle. That’s fair enough but our job was to improve Gaelic football. I think these rules are going to do that.”