Bonus point structure would give league a running start

‘Slow starts are accepted in the Six Nations,” wrote Gordon D’Arcy in The Irish Times as he backed the introduction of rugby’s bonus points system to the competition.

“It’s the only major sporting tournament I can think of where you go in cold.”

The Allianz Leagues wouldn’t, understandably, factor on D’Arcy’s radar in that regard but it’s not just the best of rugby’s northern hemisphere who are asked to commence from a standing start in early February, or in Gaelic football’s case this year, late January.

D’Arcy made the point the Six Nations “only ever, really gets going in rounds three, four and five”.

The same applies in football where it isn’t until March that the rest of the counties have caught up with those who have returned to collective training earlier as per the guidelines or illegitimately.

The GAA’s own version of a bonus points system could alleviate such an anomaly.

By incentivising the scoring of goals (ie, awarding a league point for two or more) and the reduction of a losing margin (ie, a point for a defeat by five points or less), teams would not only have more to play for further into games but further into the competition as well.

Applying the structure to this year’s league after five rounds wouldn’t impact on any of the four divisions’ top spots nor three of the bottom positions.

However, in Division 2 Armagh would find themselves off the foot of it and out of the relegation zone having secured one more bonus point than Meath and Laois who currently supersede them based on score difference. That would be their reward for running teams closer than the Leinster pair when they have been on the losing end of games.

The only change to Division 1 would be Donegal leapfrogging Kerry into third place as a result of the four bonus points (two for goals, two for losing margins) compared to Kerry’s two (one for goals, one for losing).

However, Mayo, in picking up four bonus points, also wouldn’t be relying on other results to go their way tomorrow to avoid relegation.

In Division 4, Wexford and Louth would swap spots as a result of Louth also having picked up four bonus points. Waterford’s bad luck would at least be recompensed in being a distant second last from lowly London.

But it’s in Division 3 where the system would see the most change, Tipperary moving into second from fourth and Offaly from fifth to third because of the extra points they would have accumulated.

The argument for such a structure is strengthened next year by the removal of the Division 1 semi-finals next season, which is likely if not guaranteed to increase the number of dead rubbers.

While it is, in the whole, a welcome move, it may also see results towards the end of the competitions between teams who have something to fight for and others that don’t eschew the true reflection of a division.

With the implementation of such a rewards scheme, the disputed criteria differentiating teams who finish on the same number of points would also become less of a factor.

There have been situations in recent years where teams have gone into the final weekend consigned to their fate because a win wouldn’t be enough to lift them above a county who beat them previously in the campaign.

Bonus points would not only increase the chances of league places changing in the latter stages but propagate attacking play.

When the cries about anti-climaxes grow, as is extremely possible, this time next year, it’s a mechanism the GAA might believe is worth considering.