TYRONE star Kieran McGeary believes the best managers will always figure out ways of manipulating new rules – but admits those trialled at the weekend could see sides getting “rinsed” in the short-term.
The 2021 Footballer of the Year featured in both of Ulster’s inter-provincial outings at Croke Park, as the public got a first glimpse at the seven core ‘rule enhancements’ brought forward by Jim Gavin and a Football Review Committee (FRC) that included McGeary’s new county boss Malachy O’Rourke.
The 30-year-old wasn’t about to rush to judgement based on a handful of trial games, and feels the proposals should be given a fair crack of the whip.
However, the Pomeroy man believes the space created by a three up top rule, as well as a new scoring system awarding four points for a goal and two for a score from outside the 40 metre arc, could see the game swing from cagey to chaos initially.
“Did the game need to change? Possibly it did. A lot of teams can be scared to lose the game moreso than wanting to go and win it.
“But you could go now from, instead of it going to the last few minutes and it being a tight game to being over in the first 10 minutes, and people might be thinking ‘what did I pay the money for?’
“I get that it sometimes can be cagey at the start, but now it’s going the total opposite. Bigger teams with a height advantage could rinse teams and it could be over in the first 10, leaving you scratching your head for the rest of the game going ‘what do we do now?’
“Everybody will be looking for loopholes along the way, and they’ll figure it out. It’ll take one team to set the tone, and others will follow.
“They’re good rules, it will take time to adjust.”
With players eager to road test the new rules, McGeary also warned that the televised games could have created a false impression of what Gaelic football might eventually look like should the FRC proposals receive the backing of Special Congress next month.
“Players wanted to kick more, wanted to shoot more - maybe it wasn’t always the right option but, when the dust settles and the rules are properly implemented, teams will realise we don’t have to shoot here all the time. We don’t have to kick all the time.
“I don’t think the rules forced it to be manic, boys just took it upon themselves to trial it out. Yes it’s very tasty, three inside forwards, by all means you lift your head, you see your speed demons inside, you want to launch it, but it’s not always on, and teams will come to realise that – or they’ll do a lot more kick-passing on the training field and see can they free somebody up.
“Teams will take time to get used to it. There’s a few you could argue aren’t in your favour at the moment, but there could come days where maybe they will be.
“We’re extremely lucky because Niall [Morgan] joined a lot of our attacks, which left us with a 12 v 11… that could work for you until a team figures out a way to counteract it. That might be that they step up and mark Niall, and leave somebody else free.
“Because the ‘keeper is going to become a massive part of the game.”
One of the “speed demons” Ulster hit regularly over the weekend was Mark Bradley, who could be on the verge of a Tyrone comeback under O’Rourke after another impressive club championship campaign with Killyclogher.
“Sure it’s like he never left – sharp as ever, left foot, right foot,” smiled McGeary.
“He’s a handful, he always has been… it’ll be interesting to see what way it goes. Having him, potentially, as an addition to the team, would certainly be favourable.”
