Exprimental Football Rules

[magpie seanie]

I disagree with large swathes of that and think its quite an arrogant article to be honest. Sure what would the players and coached know - tis us journalists that really know the game!

The players and top managers are against these rules by a large majority not because they want players to be able to get away with foul play. All they want is the current rules to be applied correctly and consistently. How can anyone advocate change when the current problems within the game of football (there is no problem at all in hurling) is down to one thing and one thing only - poor refereeing.

One of the first things a player learns in every game is what the ref will let you away with. I heard them on about the same in rugby there recently. Its not a "culture of indicipline", its just the way it is.

Another thing - why are "more scores from play" an indicator of improved games? If that's what we want I suggest everyone should be watching U-12's.

I'm a vehement opponent of the GPA and what it stands for and often criticise them for not getting involved in issues like this. I think they should be more focussed on this kind of stuff rather than the dollars and strikes. Therefore, I welcome their input and stance on this issue. I hope they are listened to and there's more chance they'll be listened to than the likes of me.

[Carbery]

Are all County Boards going to give thier clubs a chance to discuss these proposals?

[Zulu]

The players and top managers are against these rules by a large majority not because they want players to be able to get away with foul play. All they want is the current rules to be applied correctly and consistently. How can anyone advocate change when the current problems within the game of football (there is no problem at all in hurling) is down to one thing and one thing only - poor refereeing.

While referring standards are an issue, it is completely and utterly wrong to say that refs are the only problem. This is true of hurling as well as football.

[magpie seanie]

OK Zulu - I actually meant to edit that before I posted it. Poor refereeing is in my view by far the biggest issue but yes - there are some other issues. Good refereeing and officiating would eliminate a lot of the dirty stuff no-one wants to see though.

[Tyrone Dreamer]

It looks like they will be close to the 2/3 majority. I still dont know how they are ignoring the potential impact these rules will have on rural clubs particularly at underage level. How are these teams who struggle to get 15 going to find another 3 or 4 players to bring on regularly due to players getting sent off for very little. Its going to make the stronger clubs with bigger picks even stronger.

[screenexile]

It looks like they will be close to the 2/3 majority. I still dont know how they are ignoring the potential impact these rules will have on rural clubs particularly at underage level. How are these teams who struggle to get 15 going to find another 3 or 4 players to bring on regularly due to players getting sent off for very little. Its going to make the stronger clubs with bigger picks even stronger.

Where is this coming from? I haven't heard any player or manager speak out in favour of them as they stand... Dear god I hope this doesn't get pushed through!!

[offtheground]

Does anybody here know for sure how their delegates will be voting on this?? Have any counties nailed their colours to the mast yet?

[magpie seanie]

It looks like they will be close to the 2/3 majority. I still dont know how they are ignoring the potential impact these rules will have on rural clubs particularly at underage level. How are these teams who struggle to get 15 going to find another 3 or 4 players to bring on regularly due to players getting sent off for very little. Its going to make the stronger clubs with bigger picks even stronger.

Where is this coming from? I haven't heard any player or manager speak out in favour of them as they stand... Dear god I hope this doesn't get pushed through!!

Its clear how most counties will vote at this stage and I'd agree that its too close to call whether they will get the 2/3rds majority they need to bring in these ridiculous rules. We're being sleepwalked into it. I laughed when I heard Newstalk last night and the so-called GAA lad was saying he was in favour alright so long as it only applied to county teams!!!! Shows how little he knows about what's going on but that's typical.

Sligo are voting to bring in the new rules. So will Laois, Cork, Down, Limerick (despite the clubs voting against it), Meath, Dublin, Mayo, Kildare, Longford and Wexford. Tyrone, Monaghan, Donegal, Galway and Wicklow are against. I know votes of club delegates were taken in Laois, Galway and Donegal. We are not afforded such a luxury in Sligo.

[Owenmoresider]

It looks like they will be close to the 2/3 majority. I still dont know how they are ignoring the potential impact these rules will have on rural clubs particularly at underage level. How are these teams who struggle to get 15 going to find another 3 or 4 players to bring on regularly due to players getting sent off for very little. Its going to make the stronger clubs with bigger picks even stronger.

Where is this coming from? I haven't heard any player or manager speak out in favour of them as they stand... Dear god I hope this doesn't get pushed through!!

Its clear how most counties will vote at this stage and I'd agree that its too close to call whether they will get the 2/3rds majority they need to bring in these ridiculous rules. We're being sleepwalked into it. I laughed when I heard Newstalk last night and the so-called GAA lad was saying he was in favour alright so long as it only applied to county teams!!!! Shows how little he knows about what's going on but that's typical.

Sligo are voting to bring in the new rules. So will Laois, Cork, Down, Limerick (despite the clubs voting against it), Meath, Dublin, Mayo, Kildare, Longford and Wexford. Tyrone, Monaghan, Donegal, Galway and Wicklow are against. I know votes of club delegates were taken in Laois, Galway and Donegal. We are not afforded such a luxury in Sligo.

Indeed. Westmeath and Offaly are going against it too, fair play to them. Hopefully it falls, but I wouldn't be holding out much hope on that.

[offtheground]

It looks like they will be close to the 2/3 majority. I still dont know how they are ignoring the potential impact these rules will have on rural clubs particularly at underage level. How are these teams who struggle to get 15 going to find another 3 or 4 players to bring on regularly due to players getting sent off for very little. Its going to make the stronger clubs with bigger picks even stronger.

Where is this coming from? I haven't heard any player or manager speak out in favour of them as they stand... Dear god I hope this doesn't get pushed through!!

Its clear how most counties will vote at this stage and I'd agree that its too close to call whether they will get the 2/3rds majority they need to bring in these ridiculous rules. We're being sleepwalked into it. I laughed when I heard Newstalk last night and the so-called GAA lad was saying he was in favour alright so long as it only applied to county teams!!!! Shows how little he knows about what's going on but that's typical.

Sligo are voting to bring in the new rules. So will Laois, Cork, Down, Limerick (despite the clubs voting against it), Meath, Dublin, Mayo, Kildare, Longford and Wexford. Tyrone, Monaghan, Donegal, Galway and Wicklow are against. I know votes of club delegates were taken in Laois, Galway and Donegal. We are not afforded such a luxury in Sligo.

So how come Laois, Cork, Down & Limerick can vote for it in spite of the wishes of their clubs?

[Gnevin]

I like the rules and the regrading of frees etc but why the sin bin wasn't introduced is beyond me .

[Barney]

I think the comment that are "sleep walking" into these rules is very true.

The whole concept is a platform for Liam O'Neill to catapult himself into the presidency in 3 years time.

The response has not been as damning as previous attempts to change rules predominantly because of the failure of referees to implement the rules to the strict letter of the law. The big test was the floodlit game in Croke Park. Duffy was determined that there would be no avalanche of yellow cards, even when justified under the rules, and this was the course taken throughout the league. I think people at matches simply laughed off a lot of the decisions to "send" fellas off because it was the league. in the heat of championship refs will panic and make crucial calls that will lead to uproar. Its a dangerous road for the game.

Players are against. Managers are against. I haven't met any supporters who are passionately for the rules. It is the administrators though who are pushing this through and I reckon they will get passed. The last pathetic act of Nicky Brennan's disappointing presidency.

[Owenmoresider]

I think the comment that are "sleep walking" into these rules is very true.

The whole concept is a platform for Liam O'Neill to catapult himself into the presidency in 3 years time.

The response has not been as damning as previous attempts to change rules predominantly because of the failure of referees to implement the rules to the strict letter of the law. The big test was the floodlit game in Croke Park. Duffy was determined that there would be no avalanche of yellow cards, even when justified under the rules, and this was the course taken throughout the league. I think people at matches simply laughed off a lot of the decisions to "send" fellas off because it was the league. in the heat of championship refs will panic and make crucial calls that will lead to uproar. Its a dangerous road for the game.

Players are against. Managers are against. I haven't met any supporters who are passionately for the rules. It is the administrators though who are pushing this through and I reckon they will get passed. The last pathetic act of Nicky Brennan's disappointing presidency.

Nail on the nead. Watching Duffy in the CP game was bizarre, the man was clearly instructed to make it look good, the usual Marty would have had a dozen yellows shown in no time. O'Neill has to justify himself too.

[Fuzzman]

I wonder where do most of the IC referees stand on the issue themselves. I would suspect they too are not in favour of the new rules as we saw in lots of matches refs would show the black book where in the past they might have shown the yellow. Most refs don't want to be little hitlers and don't want to spoil big matches

Can you imagine if a team like Wexford were in the AI final and Mattie Forde was top scorer for that year so far and five minutes into the game he makes a rash tackle and gets a yellow card. Fans have flew over from America & Australia to see the game and suddenly they're chances are greatly reduced.

I must admit I was all for the rules at the start as I thought that it would really benefit skillful players like Stephen O'Neill, Brian & Tommy McGuigan & Sean Cavanagh and maybe allow Tyrone to play the free flowing football that we know they can when they throw off the shackles. However, having watched the league I agree with most of the players & managers that these particular new rules are not the answer.

Yes there are problems such as pulling & dragging, stopping the player who has just passed the ball from running on for a return, high tackles, roaring in someone's face, stamping and off course under the belt "Tackles". I think the existing rules already covered these quite well but maybe need to be revisited or highlighted so that refs would clamp down on these tackes much more. If you think of the number of times you've been to a match and you've watched a defender (or forward) hit a player off the ball & the linesman calls over the ref. A firm talking to results in a yellow card. WHY?
Surely this is a prime example of where the Ref doesn't enforce the current rules.
If you think of the No of times that so called dirty players get away with stuff just cos Refs don't apply the rules properly.

I think Referees need to have constant reviews & feedback from their peers on how they handle matches. Should they all meet once a month and review matches and agree that was a foul, that was a yellow etc. Then standards would be maintained and no-one could go off the rails without being corrected by their peers. Do they do this in the English Premier league? Its human nature to make mistakes but I think too many refs never admit their mistakes and so there is very little consistency.
We all know its hard job being a ref and they put in a lot of effort to the GAA for little reward but players who train their butts off surely deserve the chance of a fair ref who knows and can implement the rules as well as is possible.

I agree the admin guys seemed to have got carried away with doing something to change the way football was going with such cynicism & win at all costs attitude but these particular new rules are not the answer and will only lead to more frustration with the players, managers & especially fans come the heat of the summer.

[Keyser soze]

I thought that article was a complete load of bo**llocks, the theory is advanced that players and managers are opposed to working within a set of rules..

".. many teams and managers fundamentally resist the notion of being accountable to rules and resist as stubbornly as they can attempts to enforce compliance"

As the rationale for an article on the introduction of new rules into the GAA this takes some topping. For me this demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of why there is 'visceral opposition' to the new rules..

As with most changes in the GAA over the past decade the catalyst seems to come a small cohort of Croke Park staffers, some elected, many not, who seem to think that they have to leave a 'legacy' 'cause the media says so.

N  "Gawd, that game was pure shite Pauric.
P  Aye Nicky so it was.
N  We'll hafta do something about that so. Sure nobody'll pay £100 to watch that in Croker. We'll needa establish a committee so, t'see if we can't root out them dirty feckers from the game.
P Yeah Nicky if i wanna see that level of violence i'll buy a ticket to the WWF.
N Why how many would pay to see that in Croker?
P  Dunno Nicky, sure i'll get the committee to look at that an all.
N  Well i'm off up to the studio to collect a tape of the match for the CCC tomorrow, sure that feckin ref only lined the roun half dozen, i'll need to get a few more boys coolin their heels for a few weeks. Did you see yer man givin thon corner forward a durty luk, the wee lad'll need a fair bit o counselling for that i'd say.
P Well I hope them c**nts at the GPA are gonna pay for it, after all we've done for them.
N  I hear you were 10 minutes late into work last Friday you lazy b**tard, so under the new GAA working directive 'you're fired.'
P I better ring the Indo so...


In this case there certainly doesn't seem to be any significant groundswell of opinion among players, club members, managers, referees or supporters for a significant change in the rules.