DO not adjust your sets, is the word from Dessie Dolan, because what will be served up this weekend is Gaelic football the way it is supposed to be – and not the game as we have known it in recent years.
The former Westmeath boss, and ex-Sunday Game pundit, is one of the four inter-provincial managers leading their sides out at Croke Park this weekend, when the proposed rule enhancements brought forward by the Football Review Committee are road-tested publicly for the first time.
There is a mixture of intrigue, excitement and trepidation out there about what impact the proposals brought forward by the group – headed up by All-Ireland winning Dublin boss Jim Gavin – will have, and how the rules will work in conjunction with each other.
Dolan has a considerable cohort from Dublin at his disposal this weekend – including Stephen Cluxton, Brian Howard, Eoin Murchan and the Small brothers –Paddy and John - having leant on Gavin’s involvement as reason to put shoulders to the wheel.
They have got up close and personal with the new proposals during recent weeks, and the Garrycastle clubman believes the GAA-watching public at large are in for a pleasant surprise.
“There is a frustration there with the rules currently – that they are not fit for purpose. It’s very hard to break down teams, it’s very hard to get the scores and the spectacle of football is not good.
“To be fair to Jim Gavin he has done a very thorough job. He has identified the weak points of the current game and he has got solutions for all of those weak points and it feels like he has answers to the problems of the game, in terms of what’s happening on the pitch.
“When I played here, the goalkeeper kicked it long, the midfielders generally caught it or broke it and then I had to be out in front of my man one-on-one. In my day, I was taking on Anthony Lynch and Sean Marty Lockhart and there were a lot more corner-forwards that you would recognise.
“You had ‘Gooch’ [Colm Cooper], Padraig Joyce, Declan Browne…. nowadays it feels like the corner-forward, you’d struggle to identify them because they get so little ball. It feels like a throwback to a better time.
“I do think when you look at the rules and look at the presentation, there is a lot to take on board, a lot of changes. But when you watch the game, it doesn’t feel like a different game – it feels like a better game; more open, more opportunities, more one-v-one, more long-range shooting.
“It definitely feels like a much better product.”
Saturday’s Derry championship semi-final between Newbridge and Magherafelt, aired on RTE, was the kind of defensive arm wrestle that has become the norm.
For Newbridge, reaching a first Derry decider since 1991 and securing a shot at defending champions Glen was all that mattered. But for Dolan, it was another example of why Gaelic football needs to be shaken up.
“There’s no doubt about it; players are frustrated and supporters.
“I actually watched the match on Saturday night to see could it get any worse as a spectacle, because it was so poor to watch. If people feel that’s the way the GAA should go, that’s fine, but there is an alternative and I think Jim Gavin is basing his alternative on facts of the game.
“A lot of his information is factual, data driven and the solutions really credible. The only thing I’d say is that there is a lot of commentary around it from people who have seen the rules and there is a lot of them have yet to see them in action.
“I think people will be pleasantly surprised when they actually observe the games. In fairness to Jim, he’s presenting the changes to people and backing himself on this. He’s going to show everyone in the country live on television what the product is and let the people decide.
“I’ve great admiration for him. I said it to him on Saturday, ‘you’re putting your money where your mouth in having these games live on TV’. And he is, to his great credit.”
Meanwhile, Dolan insists he is no rush back to the inter-county scene after calling time on his two-year stint in charge of Westmeath.
The Lake county made decent strides during that time, earning promotion to Division Two earlier this year, while pushing the likes of Armagh, Derry and Galway hard once Championship came around.
However, the demands of the job took a toll, leading to him stepping down in August, with former Cavan footballer Dermot McCabe eventually named as his replacement earlier this week.
“You’re invested in your own county but it’s a very busy job – 40 hours a week in the Championship and I’ve a young family, so there is a lot of factors, but it is a hamster wheel when you’re on it. I’m happy to take a step back and reflect on it a bit.
“We were unlucky. We didn’t get the win but when you’re competing really well against the best teams and they get to the final like Armagh and Galway, that validates all the work you’re doing and the standard that you’re pushing as well as the S&C environment.
“Lads are at the pitch of it - that’s where teams have to get. It’s a lifestyle choice for players. If they want to do the work, it’s all in.”
