PLAYERS will be pleading for referees to show some understanding in the early rounds of the National Football League as they get to grips with a raft of new rules, according to Antrim stalwart Marc Jordan.
Even though it is just two weeks until the start of competitive action, counties up and down the country are still grappling with the changes adopted at November’s Special Congress, having only been allowed to arrange challenge matches since January 1.
The recent cold snap hasn’t helped preparations, with a host of challenges either hastily rearranged or cancelled altogether, while the decision to put pre-season competitions on the longer finger ruled out any kind of competitive games before the big throw-in.
Andy McEntee’s Antrim open their Division Three campaign against Clare at Corrigan Park on Sunday, January 26 – and Jordan hopes referees will show some leniency, at least in the early weeks, as players, management teams and officials get up to speed.
“Personally I’d rather have played the McKenna Cup… the GPA can come out and talk about welfare and say ‘aw no, they shouldn’t be playing’, but you knew you were going to be playing four or five games anyway.
“The only thing is, at least you can roll subs on and off, that’s probably the only benefit. But you’d rather be playing in front of a half decent crowd at the start of the year, get a bit of a buzz.
“The new rules have been a challenge, definitely; it’s going to be hard for referees too. David Gough’s done one of our games, Paul Faloon’s done one… they were trying to talk you through it, and you’re hoping that experienced referees like those two will do that a little bit during the League.
“Because there does need to be a bit of flexibility – there’s even interpretation about the way things are said, like if you swear to yourself for example, and the ref thinks it’s at him… obviously that’s more frustration than being aggressive to an official.
“But look, you saw Galway and Kildare making mistakes last week, probably in the early rounds everybody’s going to make mistakes, but hopefully you get used to it eventually.
“Over the course of seven League games, some will go for you, some will go against. You can only try and watch your own discipline and make sure the ball’s not being moved up 50 metres two or three times a game, or at all, because of not handing a man the ball or slabbering at an official.
“It just might take a bit of time.”
This will be a sixth year in Saffron for Jordan, who also spent a year with London under Ciaran Deely’s stewardship.
Since then he has played under Lenny Harbinson, Enda McGinley and now McEntee. The Meath man is in his third year at the helm, and the 31-year-old Lamh Dhearg dynamo hopes Antrim can improve upon a mixed campaign in 2024.
“The first two games [against Clare and Fermanagh] are massive again, and you just hope that you learn the lessons of the last few years.
“We had a lot of injuries last year, Ryan Murray, Conor Stewart, big Ruairi [McCann, of Aghagallon] is arguably our most important player. Adam Loughran was out too, Conhuir Johnston barely got playing.
“All teams need their best players out, and we definitely do. We probably don’t have that experience of other teams, but having those boys back this year will hopefully lend itself to a better League.
“Even though we’re more consistent, a bit more solid, I think Andy would be the first to say we’re still hoping for a bit more.”
