Early new rules data shows big shift in kickout, but similar shots and scores when compared to 2024 championship

RULES ARE RULES: GAA Football Review Committee chairperson Jim Gavin speaking during the GAA Special Congress 2024 at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.

The new Gaelic football rules have seen no change in the number of scores or the handpass-to-kickpass ratio when compared to the 2024 championship.

There has, however, been a significant change in the kickout.

For the first time in 2025, the Games Intelligence Unit has produced key metrics from 47 games across the opening three rounds of the National Football League.

It comes after Football Review Committee chair Jim Gavin had said a Data Research Unit would be formed to establish how the game has been impacted by the new rules.

They have compared numbers from the 2024 championship to the 2025 league. Weather conditions, pitches and the sample size make this a limited comparison.

So far, ball-in-play time is at 57% from a 62% average in the 2024 championship. Fouls have risen to 31 from 23.8 in the 2024 championship and 29.5 in 2023. There is no change in the total number of scores, 31.

51% of kickouts went short in 2023 and 2024 compared to just 21% so far in 2025. 64% of kickouts are contested. In the 2024 championship, it was 26%.

The handpass-to-kickpass ratio has also remained steady at 3.3. It was 3.4 in 2024 and 3.2 in 2023. Predictably, the most significant change so far has come around kickouts.

The number of short kickouts has decreased compared to previous championships and there has been an increase in contested kickouts. 51% of kickouts went short in 2023 and 2024 compared to just 21% so far in 2025. 64% of kickouts are contested. In the 2024 championship, it was 26%.

The GIU project lead is Johnny Bradley, a highly-regarded analyst who is also the Programme Director for the MSc in Sports Performance Analysis at SETU. Insight development came from Denise Martin and Barry Cleary.

Their stated goal is to establish protocols to build an in-house analysis unit. Footage from games has been shared by all counties in the Allianz National Football League. The only game that was excluded was the Wexford vs Carlow match from Round 3 because of poor visibility due to fog.

The GIU project lead is Johnny Bradley, a highly-regarded analyst who is also the Programme Director for the MSc in Sports Performance Analysis at SETU.

They aim to provide data to intercounty teams on a weekly basis and produce comprehensive Game Intelligence reports throughout the seasons.

The data is broken down by division. Interestingly, Division 4 has the lowest number of goalkeeper possessions in the opposition half at just 9.3. Division 2 is the highest with 17.8 goalkeeper possessions in the opposition half per game.

This rule has come in for considerable criticism in recent weeks with several intercounty managers calling for it to be tweaked.