The GAA has long been fixated on rule changes. 137 years of teething, tinkering, tampering.
However, Gaelic football has always seemed to stay one step ahead of any tweaks that attempt to improve the spectale.
What has that left us with? A stats-based approach of minimal risk, one which has flourished in so far as a scourge can flourish.
Our players are better conditioned than ever. They are arguably more skilled than ever. The rule book isn’t the issue. That has long since been manipulated to the point of no return. Minor changes are tail chasing. Major ones are unnecessary.
The issue is one of mentality. There simply is no reward for bravery in today’s game.
Flashback to Sunday February 5, 2022. A ruthless Kerry hit eventual All-Ireland semi-finalists Monaghan for 3-16. Darragh Roche, Paudie Clifford and Donal O’Sullivan each go for the major.
A display of ruthlessness, of attacking intent, of ambition.
Over in Salthill on that same February 5, Roscommon have five scores on the board with 20 minutes to play. A late purple patch combined with a Galway capitulation results in a 0-9 0-8 victory.
A result grinded out admirably, but hardly a match that would boost the cortisol levels or spike adrenaline for those less primrose inclined.
The end result? Kerry two points, Roscommon two points. No risk, no reward?
Well, no, actually, not here. It’s more a case of no reward for risk.
Perhaps the biggest surprise about that Connacht derby is the fact both teams didn’t plant their arses on a sodden Pearse Stadium turf, sit down, compromise, and settle for the draw.
You’d hardly blame them. God help the man who shoots waywardly from outside the scoring zone and doesn’t rest on his laurels, settling for the draw he gets either way.
The antidote
The current set up of two points for a win, one point for a draw gives the stats man an excuse to lambast the opportunist.
It's time to introduce a bonus point system.
A rugby union style bonus point system has succeeded in a mentality shift, wherein both the team in the lead and the team trailing have something to play for right until the last.
We don’t need to change the rules of Gaelic football, we just need to harness and encourage what we already have.
This bonus points system, as follows, has the potential to do this, without complicating refereeing at a time when it has never been more difficult:
A win = 4 points
A draw = 2 points
A draw (draw with three plus goals) = 3 points
A bonus point win (win with three plus goals) = 5 points
A bonus point defeat (defeat by 1-3 points) = 1 point
A bonus point defeat (defeat by 1-3 points and with three goals scored) = 2 points
If the system had existed in Division One of the Allianz Football League in 2023, the main beneficiaries would have been Armagh.
The Orchard County would have survived relegation by virtue of the fact each one of their four defeats was within three points.
In turn, in a hypothetical world, they would have been rewarded with four losing bonus points, pipping Vinny Corey’s Monaghan to survival.
The 2023 table with bonus points would have looked as follows, with Kerry picking up four bonus points and Roscommon three:
(Mayo oust Galway courtesy of points difference, not head-to-head due to a first round draw between the sides)
The Jusitification
Take that Galway-Roscommon match as an example. Roscommon hit the front, time running out. One score results in a dramatic swing. Roscommon would now be primed to earn four points.
Seconds ago, they and Galway were set to earn two each. Now Galway will only earn one, unless they do something special with one last play.
And crucially, there is a decision to make. Go for broke and they earn four points. Go for the draw and it’s as you were.
Now picture it all again, but it’s the final weekend. Imagine Roscommon enter the fray knowing they require a three-goal win to qualify for a League final.
Or Donegal, Armagh, or Monaghan start the day knowing a bonus-point win may keep them safe even when it seemed all hope was lost.
The shackles would be loosened, undone, and cast beyond the horizon.
What we have learned from the rugby model is that this system is most effective over a series of matches such as the URC league, but less so over the likes of the Rugby World Cup, wherein teams only play four group stage matches.
Therefore, the All-Ireland group stage, with just three matches, should continue to be dictated by head-to-head and score difference.
However, it would make for better spectacles if teams were to register three points for a win, rather than two, with one point remaining the reward for a draw.
This would likely decrease the number of draws and the prospect of elimination on score difference.
The Allianz Leagues are a different kettle of fish. The current format, combined with the heavy pitches of January and February, is a recipe for attritional football.
Across seven matches, teams can be better rewarded for not only beating, but showing dominance over other teams of a similar status.
Equally, the underdog that hangs in the fight against the big guns deserves something other than credit in the bank.
Rule changes in recent years have done little other than inhibit teams.
Let’s put the ball back in the players’ park.
Go on. Express yourself. Back yourself. Take the risk.
Because this time you will be rewarded.
