SO nothing new then – just another Ulster football team collecting an All-Ireland title in 2024.
Yet there was obviously much different to digest at Croke Park over the weekend as the old Railway Cup/ Inter-provincial series returned in combination with the trial of the experimental rules advocated by the Football Review Committee.
The main positives were more open games, with more kicking of the ball – both to progress forward and for scores from distance, and a pacier product.
A negative was even less physicality and, a minor niggle, the umpires having to wave a white flag and then a red flag after one of the new two-point scores was confirmed by the match referee.
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Ulster (and Fermanagh) manager Kieran Donnelly would rather have had yet another new rule to decide games, after a 2-1 victory in a penalty shootout against Connacht on Saturday following a high-scoring draw including six four-point goals:
“It’s a drama I would prefer not to have, to be honest. It’s enjoyable for the crowd, it was an excellent game and that added to it.
“That shootout where you have the personal score, that’ll be coming in to replace penalties, I think that’s a better version.”
However, the Brookeborough man was full of praise for the experimental rules, commenting to RTE Sport:
“I think there’s massive positives. The FRC have been excellent, we have great men in charge and their work has been fantastic. I think a lot worked and it’s up to them now to review it and see where we go with it…You saw the quality of scores with the two-pointers and passages of play, a lot to be happy about.”
Donnelly, a renowned coach, noted improved showings compared to the Friday evening victory over Munster, with players acclimatising to the new rules:
“I think that was the big thing, the game was less manic. You had a bit more aggression, more bite – I suppose there was an All-Ireland medal up for grabs. There was more control. We built our play better, knew when to take the pace out of the game and move the ball about. Because the game is so intense you have to build that into your play or it’s too manic all game.”
Connacht boss Padraic Joyce liked a lot of what he saw too, also pointing to the rapid adaptation to the new rules: “Players are very, very smart people these days, inter-county players know what they’re about. It’s great, the games were very enjoyable.
“They definitely make the game speedier and faster, there’s no doubt about that. There’s definitely some rules that could be taken into the game.
“I think the ‘3 up top’ is a good one, the ‘tap and go’ from free kicks speeds the game up as well. The kickout needs to be looked at, people are creating an arc outside the 40 metre. There’s definitely four or five they could be looking at getting through.”
However, Dessie Dolan, whose Leinster side recovered from their opening hammering by Connacht to see off Munster in the Shield Final by 1-19 (23) to 1-15 (19), expressed a couple of concerns, notably about the punishment for dissent or delaying the game:
“Being penalised 50m is quite severe for Gaelic players and in the inside mark is hard to execute - but overall the three up top has given structure to the game and it is a little bit easier to break that down.”
Indeed the Westmeath man noted that: “The lads overall have been very positive about the rule changes…The players are keen on the [new] rules. There’s a frustration with the current game, it’s very static. It was a lot more open out there.”
As for concerns about a lack of physicality, Dolan blamed his side’s approach in the opening game on Friday evening: “We played way too open. You need to get set and have a structure in place, create a plus one and defend hard. We didn’t defend hard enough [against Connacht].”
In general, there was agreement that all four provinces improved from Friday to Saturday and Football Review Committee chairman Jim Gavin, the former Dublin manager, believes that games will get even better as sides get time to work with any new rules:
“When you’re coaching teams that need new tactics and innovations, some of it works straight off, some of it takes some repetition to get it and eventually they’ve got that practice.
“What we’re seeing is that teams practiced it [on Friday night], probably reviewed tape, spoke of what they needed to do, and there was a marked improvement there [on Saturday] from both sets of players. So you can imagine what will happen if they practice it on a Tuesday, Thursday, go out and play a game on Saturday and review it.
“If these rules do get through Central Council and Congress we’ll see a marked improvement by the National League in late January of next year.”
Donegal icon and FRC member Michael Murphy insisted that debate over the rules is very much welcome: “It’s totally vital – it’s not my rules…it’s for the people, it’s for the general viewers, for the players, and for the people at home. We want a better game for viewers to watch and for players to play, it’s not down to ourselves.
“The debate is going to be healthy over the coming months, whatever does come in. Hopefully by the back end of the National League we’ll have debated them out even more so and made really strong ones that are here to stay for a better game of Gaelic Football.”
His fellow FRC panellist, former Kerry boss Eamon Fitzmaurice, said that more trials would take place in order to assess the proposed rules, accepting that matches would change in more competitive circumstances:
“This kind of testing is continuing. We know this environment is slightly artificial in that there’s a bit of stake – but until it comes down to League points and knockout Championship we won’t see the true effect of the enhancements.
“But straightaway you can see progression from [Friday night]. Leinster in particular were very impressive, they really stepped it up.
“As players get used to it, and as coaches and managers get used to it, you’ll see little tweaks and innovations, positive innovations, I feel. Of course we’re happy.”
