Sufficiently stress-testing new Gaelic football rules is an impossible task

Months of comprehensive preparation are coming to an end; the trial is only getting started.

NEW RULES: GAA Football Review Committee chairperson Jim Gavin speaking during a briefing of the GAA Football Review Committee at Croke Park in Dublin. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

As an entire process, it was unequivocally exhaustive. Jim Gavin’s committee had met 35 times, considered thousands of survey responses and data reports, staged seven trial games to produce a 204-page report broken down in an hour-long presentation. Then came the challenge.

Amid the swath of attacking suggestions and increased scoring returns, what about the poor defender? The question was framed around the new version of the offensive mark. A player must catch the ball on or inside the 20m line from a kick that came from outside of the 45m line. The attacker may play on immediately until no advantage is accrued. Basically, go for goal and if you miss, come back for the mark.