‘There wasn’t enough for us’ — Why the FRC decided to not ban fisted points

Seven of Armagh’s 20 points against Galway came through the fist

Tiernan Kelly makes a hand pass against Galway. Picture: INPHO/James Lawlor

An outright ban on fisted points was something the Football Review Committee discussed but never advanced, according to former Mayo manager James Horan.

Speaking on the Irish Examiner’s Gaelic football podcast, Horan said such a draconian measure could have unintended consequences for the Gaelic football. Last weekend seven of Armagh’s 20 points were fisted efforts during their loss against Galway.

“It came up a lot in the FRC discussions," he said. "There was a lot of chat and a lot of commentary on it in the surveys sent out. We went through a lot of examples. But there are a lot of examples where the fisted point is absolutely the right decision. It is the end result of a lot of good skill.

“We have seen players cutting in along the line, beating guys on a 30- or 40-yard run, the best and sometimes only option is a handpass over the bar. Do we want to take that away? He turns around and cuts out to set up another phase of play. It can add to a game being more controlled. We had some discussions on it.” He continued: “There wasn’t enough for us. If you are constraining decision-making on players and scores like that, it can have detrimental effects.” 

On the fisted point itself, the former Mayo player and manager said his own coaching approach was to ensure players were constantly trying to identify when there was a chance of goal.

“When you are coaching, you are coaching decision-making. What situation do they face? Play it. At a fundamental level, that is really what you are trying to coach. There is obviously huge context to that. If you are three points up and in on goal, near the last play of the game, you are going to handpass over the bar to make it a two-score game.

“Outside of that, you are evaluating am I coming in on an angle, is it a real goal chance, is it a two-vs-one? That depends on the players as well. Some are better goal scorers than others. Some take the shot where others won’t.

“When I was coaching, you are trying to bias that to be positive and score heavy. Looking for that all the time, because otherwise a lot of players will take the easiest option.”