Niall Morgan blasts Jarlath Burns for ‘stupid’ rule changes

Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan has taken aim at playing rules committee chairman Jarlath Burns for altering the rules of Gaelic football.

Last month, Burns succeeded in convincing Congress to introduce the mark, which will come into the game next year .

The former Armagh captain’s group also persuaded delegates to change the body-check black card, meaning any deliberate collision with an opponent after he has played the ball away or for the purposes of taking out of the movement of play will warrant an automatic substitution.

Following the weekend’s league action, Burns commended the competition on Twitter: “Given the number of brilliant games, massive crowds, and that so much is still up for grabs, the @officialgaa NFL is in a great place.”

His offering prompted Morgan to respond on the social media platform, paraphrasing the song “Something Stupid” made famous by Frank and Nancy Sinatra: “and then they go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like we need new rules.......AGAIN!! #LetTheLadsPlay”.

Morgan’s remarks were backed by a number of players such as footballer of the year Jack McCaffrey, who is taking a year out from Dublin inter-county duty this season.

Morgan’s criticism echoes the comments made by manager Mickey Harte who last month claimed the mark will “spoil” the game. “The reasons that they suggest is to increase high-fielding. It won’t do that because you won’t let teams catch high-ball if they’re going to have the freedom of the park when they get it, so there’ll be more broken ball because of it.”

Burns also said the league won’t be used to trial new rules in his remaining two years as committee chair. .