When Jarlath Burns became President of the GAA, one of his ambitions was to tackle the state of football.
Even the most fervent supporters would admit that it has not been pretty to watch.
While tactics have been intriguing at times, with matches resembling a chess game, the lack of atmosphere and involvement of fans with the game have led to a disinterest.
Instead of seeing David Clifford’s silky skills, we talk about how many players will be marking him and who they will be.
For players and managers, it is all about winning but for the GAA to market its brand to the best of their ability, there has to be fan engagement in a way that allows people to be fully present and invested in the game. Hurling works because it is unpredictable and exciting. Why can’t the same happen with the football code?
When the Football Rules Committee (FRC) was set up under the chairmanship of Jim Gavin, the former Dublin All-Ireland-winning manager, the vision for their work was that ‘Gaelic Games will be the most enjoyable amateur games in the world to play and watch’
There have been countless meetings and engagements by the FRC, which has some of the sharpest GAA minds from both a player and manager perspective, with all interested parties.
Hours of footage have been trawled through, a survey was sent out to allow the public to have their say and communication has been key both within the corridors of Croke Park and the media.
We know and understand what the seven rules the FRC want to trial and also what the reasoning behind each of these rules are.
That is a positive and this weekend, all the hard work will come to fruition, as we get to see what these rules, if implemented at Congress later this year, will look like and what effect they will have on the game.
“The rules are easier in practice than in theory” says referee Martin McNally who will be the man in the middle for the first game in the Allianz Inter-Provincial series between Leinster and Connacht this Friday at 6pm.
“There were groans from players when I started my PowerPoint presentation to explain the rules at Garvaghy, initially to the Ulster players, but when we got out on the field to practice them, the groans stopped.
“One of the big changes is the speed of the game. There are now four quarters of 15 minutes duration and by the end of the third quarter, everyone was huffing and puffing.
“A lot of ground was covered and you could feel the effects of the distance covered with how fast the tempo was in the game”
One of the concerns about the implementation of the possible seven rules is the workload that this will add to the referee but for McNally it has not been too hard to get to grips with them.
“There have been lots of consultations with the FRC about them and we have done a lot of work in understanding them. A big change is in communication and how we work as a group of officials,” he said.
“There is a greater use of the fourth official as an extra pair of eyes and we are all talking, so if an encroachment happens, the referee will know about it.”
McNally has refereed two sandbox games and an in-house game for Ulster and, along with the seven rule changes, there are proposals to clamp down on foul play, dissent, and help support game officiating.
During the Ulster in-house game, one of the new proposals that players initially struggled with was not retreating away from the ball in time after conceding a free.
This led to the ball being brought forward 50 metres but by the end of the game, this tactical foul was not happening. In other words, players learned quickly.
“One of the huge benefits is the 1 v 1 and you could see players going for it, taking their man on and looking for the score. As there are now four points for a goal, there was a lot more emphasis on looking for a goal,” he said.
“The David Cliffords, Rian O’Neills and Shane Walshs will love this freedom as it will suit their natural flair.”
“There is now space with six players having to stay in their own half at all times and it was interesting to see when a turnover happened, instead of empty space and watching a goalkeeper retreating back to their own goals, there were contests and quick ball in.
“Teams that have good forwards will work well in the space and this will lend itself to scoring goals”
The new 40m arc, which marks where two-points scores can be attempted from, works and for McNally it has not been difficult to differentiate between the two-point and one-point zone.
“There is a very distinct white line and it is marked very clearly.”
“A bigger challenge lies in monitoring the kickouts and players inside and outside the two Ds (20 m and 40m).
“Pressing up on kickouts can still happen but both sets of players need to be outside the 20m mark but can be inside the 40m arc and as a result, it can get pretty congested.”
“”I can’t wait for the game. All the teams are competitive and are taking the games seriously. They want to win and have their strategy in place to do so.”
McNally is aware of the significance of Friday night’s contest, but is approaching it in much the same way as he does for any other game.
“I’ll leave Carrickmacross at 2pm on Friday and meet my umpires at 3pm.
“We’ll have something to eat and then head to Croke Park for 4pm, where we will have a pre-match brief with Dónal Smyth, the GAA National Match Officials Manager and Shane Kenny from the FRC to go through any last-minute questions or queries and then we get ready with our warm-up ahead of the game. It is the same as any other game”
“Like everyone else, you are hoping that you don’t make a mistake on national television as you want to put in your best performance. Everyone is learning, though, so if you do make a mistake, it’s about recognising it and rectifying it”
“Everyone really wants to make this the best possible spectacle and see the best version of Gaelic Football out there.
“There was scepticism and negativity at the beginning of the process, but anyone who has seen the rules live have found their mindset changed to one of positivity.
“This will change the face of Gaelic Football for the next 50 years and it’s 100 per cent worth looking at.”
Changing the face of GAA football for the good is most certainly the aim of this weekend. We await with excitement and a lot of interest.
