NFL Division 1 2025

[tbrick18]

I think I saw someone mention that Football is becoming more like soccer - I kind of agree when you see the zonal defending and back/side passing around the 45. But, imo that has not improved under the new rules. Maybe we forget about 3v3 and bring in an offside rule.

Talk about restricting the number of handpasses - what about removing handpasses altogether? Easier refereed and brings the much desired (by some) kick and catch game back. Think of the excitement where every ball has to be kicked!
Don't need to worry about 3v3, or back-passing to the keeper then either.
It is called football after all.

The point I'm making is that adding more rules won't make the game better necessarily, and while some might think they are great, others will think they are nonsense.
Removing rules is just as likely to improve the game - or at least gives you the same argument used for some of the rules that have been introduced.
I personally feel Football is getting close to being unrecognisable to the sport I grew up playing and watching.

That would be a radical move!  Would hardly expect to kick the ball to someone a couple of yards away?

It was a tongue in cheek suggestion - but given the apparent public dissent against teams fist passing the ball around the pitch, surely the obvious rule change is to take that part out of the game. All passes must travel at least 13m and be kicked....there we go. The game is fixed, only kicking and catching allowed, no handball, massed defence wouldn't be possible as you have to kick the ball 13 metres, either would working the ball in slowly. It also forces players in possession to have to take his man on (or run into the tackle as its now referred to), which we rarely see nowadays.
The point I'm trying to make is that adding all these rules to stop players doing x, y, and z are changing the game entirely and perhaps not for the better. The reasoning behind a lot of the rules is no more reasonable than my suggestion here to do away with handpassing.

[JoG2]

I wonder is it possible for the national media to share a balanced view on the new rules and current state of the game than mainly play cheerleaders and shout down any player,Managers that gives constructive criticism?

It's clear in such a short and rushed time too many rule changes was brought in at one time.

every league Sunday show so far has been critical of some of the rules, the confusion around them, the number of them, the implementation and at times lack of transparency / updates.

FRC surely take feedback from all corners in their weekly meetings? It's their game too

[Saffron_sam20]

I wonder is it possible for the national media to share a balanced view on the new rules and current state of the game than mainly play cheerleaders and shout down any player,Managers that gives constructive criticism?

It's clear in such a short and rushed time too many rule changes was brought in at one time.

Listened to the GAA social podcast where they discussed it. I really don't understand Niblock trying to say the rules are good, didn't really go too much into some of the stuff McConville was raising. He's talking about an official to count the 20 secs for kick outs because the referee has too much to be worrying about... I couldn't believe the irony, if IC refs with their 4 umpires, 2 linesmen and 4th official have too much on them how the f do they think the club refs are going to do it.

He actually mentioned he was speaking to a ref who decided to pack it in due to the rule changes yet he is STILL cheerleading for them because a few long kicks add a bit of contested ball for neuturals. The media are clearly being told to be positive towards the FRC and the rules

[93-DY-SAM]

I wonder is it possible for the national media to share a balanced view on the new rules and current state of the game than mainly play cheerleaders and shout down any player,Managers that gives constructive criticism?

It's clear in such a short and rushed time too many rule changes was brought in at one time.

Listened to the GAA social podcast where they discussed it. I really don't understand Niblock trying to say the rules are good, didn't really go too much into some of the stuff McConville was raising. He's talking about an official to count the 20 secs for kick outs because the referee has too much to be worrying about... I couldn't believe the irony, if IC refs with their 4 umpires, 2 linesmen and 4th official have too much on them how the f do they think the club refs are going to do it.

He actually mentioned he was speaking to a ref who decided to pack it in due to the rule changes yet he is STILL cheerleading for them because a few long kicks add a bit of contested ball for neuturals. The media are clearly being told to be positive towards the FRC and the rules

At this rate we'll soon have more officials officiating than players playing. Far too many rule changes at one time. There should only be a couple of changes at any given time for everyone's sanity.

[Silver hill]

The game has been in serious decline since 2011 when mcguinness was appointed Donegal manager and achieved success with his system in 2012. As with anything that's successful, plagiarism followed as rival managers tried to emulate it in other counties. McGuinness technically wasn't doing anything illegal or wrong, he simply exploited the rules of the game to suit his style of play. Unfortunately, this trickled down to club football, even as far down as u8s with some clubs.
We continued to go to games because we were invested in it, almost bound by it as our fathers and to their fathers had been before us. For most, the spectacle on show simply wasn't entertaining or in any way enjoyable (apart from the final 5 mins in most games). Something had to change and that is why Jim and co were appointed. Their remit was to simply make the game exciting and enjoyable again.The key change required was limiting the blanket, hence the 3 up rule. Not perfect but not sure what else would have worked better?
Tap and go definitely speeds up the play, a good initiative in my opinion.
Kick out arc encourages contests again and I do think there has been more high fielding on show this year so far. 2 point rule is good but not for a free.
Handing the ball back is too difficult to enforce. Would be happy enough if the player just had to place the ball on the ground after a free was awarded.
50m advance for dissent is too punitive, 30 is plenty although I would concede that the 50 m advance has seriously reduced the verbals.
One man throw in - gimmicky, adds nothing. Everyone will have their own interpretation and opinion but I really do think what we've seen so far has achieved the original objective, ie, to make the game a better spectacle.

[Saffron_sam20]

The game has been in serious decline since 2011 when mcguinness was appointed Donegal manager and achieved success with his system in 2012. As with anything that's successful, plagiarism followed as rival managers tried to emulate it in other counties. McGuinness technically wasn't doing anything illegal or wrong, he simply exploited the rules of the game to suit his style of play. Unfortunately, this trickled down to club football, even as far down as u8s with some clubs.
We continued to go to games because we were invested in it, almost bound by it as our fathers and to their fathers had been before us. For most, the spectacle on show simply wasn't entertaining or in any way enjoyable (apart from the final 5 mins in most games). Something had to change and that is why Jim and co were appointed. Their remit was to simply make the game exciting and enjoyable again.The key change required was limiting the blanket, hence the 3 up rule. Not perfect but not sure what else would have worked better?
Tap and go definitely speeds up the play, a good initiative in my opinion.
Kick out arc encourages contests again and I do think there has been more high fielding on show this year so far. 2 point rule is good but not for a free.
Handing the ball back is too difficult to enforce. Would be happy enough if the player just had to place the ball on the ground after a free was awarded.
50m advance for dissent is too punitive, 30 is plenty although I would concede that the 50 m advance has seriously reduced the verbals.
One man throw in - gimmicky, adds nothing. Everyone will have their own interpretation and opinion but I really do think what we've seen so far has achieved the original objective, ie, to make the game a better spectacle.

Armagh won 11 of Dublins 14 kick outs in the first half at the weekend, how does that improve our game? After conceding  score a team should be able to restart how they see fit not just a contested ball to engage armchair fans with no dog in the fight.

The 2pt is a red herring too, seen a few games now where teams are just playing the ball around the arc and trying to get a 2 pt score. Really no need.

I've said before the dissent is stupid, book the player and he's walking a fine line for the rest of the game. No need for handing the ball back, it's not go games. Set the ball down and get into position.

[armaghniac]

I wonder is it possible for the national media to share a balanced view on the new rules and current state of the game than mainly play cheerleaders and shout down any player,Managers that gives constructive criticism?

It's clear in such a short and rushed time too many rule changes was brought in at one time.

every league Sunday show so far has been critical of some of the rules, the confusion around them, the number of them, the implementation and at times lack of transparency / updates.

FRC surely take feedback from all corners in their weekly meetings? It's their game too

Jim Gavin was on the radio this morning. He quoted stats about average kickout times, which were something like 21-22 seconds. Yet Ethan Rafferty was penalised on Sunday after 17 seconds which is far below the average.

[statto]

The game has been in serious decline since 2011 when mcguinness was appointed Donegal manager and achieved success with his system in 2012. As with anything that's successful, plagiarism followed as rival managers tried to emulate it in other counties. McGuinness technically wasn't doing anything illegal or wrong, he simply exploited the rules of the game to suit his style of play. Unfortunately, this trickled down to club football, even as far down as u8s with some clubs.
We continued to go to games because we were invested in it, almost bound by it as our fathers and to their fathers had been before us. For most, the spectacle on show simply wasn't entertaining or in any way enjoyable (apart from the final 5 mins in most games). Something had to change and that is why Jim and co were appointed. Their remit was to simply make the game exciting and enjoyable again.The key change required was limiting the blanket, hence the 3 up rule. Not perfect but not sure what else would have worked better?
Tap and go definitely speeds up the play, a good initiative in my opinion.
Kick out arc encourages contests again and I do think there has been more high fielding on show this year so far. 2 point rule is good but not for a free.
Handing the ball back is too difficult to enforce. Would be happy enough if the player just had to place the ball on the ground after a free was awarded.
50m advance for dissent is too punitive, 30 is plenty although I would concede that the 50 m advance has seriously reduced the verbals.
One man throw in - gimmicky, adds nothing. Everyone will have their own interpretation and opinion but I really do think what we've seen so far has achieved the original objective, ie, to make the game a better spectacle.

Armagh won 11 of Dublins 14 kick outs in the first half at the weekend, how does that improve our game? After conceding  score a team should be able to restart how they see fit not just a contested ball to engage armchair fans with no dog in the fight.

The 2pt is a red herring too, seen a few games now where teams are just playing the ball around the arc and trying to get a 2 pt score. Really no need.

I've said before the dissent is stupid, book the player and he's walking a fine line for the rest of the game. No need for handing the ball back, it's not go games. Set the ball down and get into position.

When the opposition score the kickout is meant to be an advantage to the defending team which it no longer is.  I have saw quite a few pre season games and the team with the kickout invariably gets hemmed in on their own kickout.  Free in for not kicking it out within approximately 20 seconds is another crime that doesn't fit the penalty, why not a hop ball like previous? Ref has enough to do without trying to police this in a club league game with no help from anyone else. 

Not going back to the keeper is enough to make kickouts competitive, no need for the defending team to have to clear the arc. 

[statto]

I wonder is it possible for the national media to share a balanced view on the new rules and current state of the game than mainly play cheerleaders and shout down any player,Managers that gives constructive criticism?

It's clear in such a short and rushed time too many rule changes was brought in at one time.

every league Sunday show so far has been critical of some of the rules, the confusion around them, the number of them, the implementation and at times lack of transparency / updates.

FRC surely take feedback from all corners in their weekly meetings? It's their game too

Jim Gavin was on the radio this morning. He quoted stats about average kickout times, which were something like 21-22 seconds. Yet Ethan Rafferty was penalised on Sunday after 17 seconds which is far below the average.

If that is the average time, then why are the keepers meant to be penalised after 20? Madness. 

[Saffron_sam20]

The game has been in serious decline since 2011 when mcguinness was appointed Donegal manager and achieved success with his system in 2012. As with anything that's successful, plagiarism followed as rival managers tried to emulate it in other counties. McGuinness technically wasn't doing anything illegal or wrong, he simply exploited the rules of the game to suit his style of play. Unfortunately, this trickled down to club football, even as far down as u8s with some clubs.
We continued to go to games because we were invested in it, almost bound by it as our fathers and to their fathers had been before us. For most, the spectacle on show simply wasn't entertaining or in any way enjoyable (apart from the final 5 mins in most games). Something had to change and that is why Jim and co were appointed. Their remit was to simply make the game exciting and enjoyable again.The key change required was limiting the blanket, hence the 3 up rule. Not perfect but not sure what else would have worked better?
Tap and go definitely speeds up the play, a good initiative in my opinion.
Kick out arc encourages contests again and I do think there has been more high fielding on show this year so far. 2 point rule is good but not for a free.
Handing the ball back is too difficult to enforce. Would be happy enough if the player just had to place the ball on the ground after a free was awarded.
50m advance for dissent is too punitive, 30 is plenty although I would concede that the 50 m advance has seriously reduced the verbals.
One man throw in - gimmicky, adds nothing. Everyone will have their own interpretation and opinion but I really do think what we've seen so far has achieved the original objective, ie, to make the game a better spectacle.

Armagh won 11 of Dublins 14 kick outs in the first half at the weekend, how does that improve our game? After conceding  score a team should be able to restart how they see fit not just a contested ball to engage armchair fans with no dog in the fight.

The 2pt is a red herring too, seen a few games now where teams are just playing the ball around the arc and trying to get a 2 pt score. Really no need.

I've said before the dissent is stupid, book the player and he's walking a fine line for the rest of the game. No need for handing the ball back, it's not go games. Set the ball down and get into position.

When the opposition score the kickout is meant to be an advantage to the defending team which it no longer is.  I have saw quite a few pre season games and the team with the kickout invariably gets hemmed in on their own kickout.  Free in for not kicking it out within approximately 20 seconds is another crime that doesn't fit the penalty, why not a hop ball like previous? Ref has enough to do without trying to police this in a club league game with no help from anyone else. 

Not going back to the keeper is enough to make kickouts competitive, no need for the defending team to have to clear the arc. 

That's what I mean, there's no other game where you have to play a 50/50 ball after conceding a score, it's insane. As you say the no pass to the keeper in their own half completely changed the kick outs anyway

[statto]

The game has been in serious decline since 2011 when mcguinness was appointed Donegal manager and achieved success with his system in 2012. As with anything that's successful, plagiarism followed as rival managers tried to emulate it in other counties. McGuinness technically wasn't doing anything illegal or wrong, he simply exploited the rules of the game to suit his style of play. Unfortunately, this trickled down to club football, even as far down as u8s with some clubs.
We continued to go to games because we were invested in it, almost bound by it as our fathers and to their fathers had been before us. For most, the spectacle on show simply wasn't entertaining or in any way enjoyable (apart from the final 5 mins in most games). Something had to change and that is why Jim and co were appointed. Their remit was to simply make the game exciting and enjoyable again.The key change required was limiting the blanket, hence the 3 up rule. Not perfect but not sure what else would have worked better?
Tap and go definitely speeds up the play, a good initiative in my opinion.
Kick out arc encourages contests again and I do think there has been more high fielding on show this year so far. 2 point rule is good but not for a free.
Handing the ball back is too difficult to enforce. Would be happy enough if the player just had to place the ball on the ground after a free was awarded.
50m advance for dissent is too punitive, 30 is plenty although I would concede that the 50 m advance has seriously reduced the verbals.
One man throw in - gimmicky, adds nothing. Everyone will have their own interpretation and opinion but I really do think what we've seen so far has achieved the original objective, ie, to make the game a better spectacle.

Armagh won 11 of Dublins 14 kick outs in the first half at the weekend, how does that improve our game? After conceding  score a team should be able to restart how they see fit not just a contested ball to engage armchair fans with no dog in the fight.

The 2pt is a red herring too, seen a few games now where teams are just playing the ball around the arc and trying to get a 2 pt score. Really no need.

I've said before the dissent is stupid, book the player and he's walking a fine line for the rest of the game. No need for handing the ball back, it's not go games. Set the ball down and get into position.

When the opposition score the kickout is meant to be an advantage to the defending team which it no longer is.  I have saw quite a few pre season games and the team with the kickout invariably gets hemmed in on their own kickout.  Free in for not kicking it out within approximately 20 seconds is another crime that doesn't fit the penalty, why not a hop ball like previous? Ref has enough to do without trying to police this in a club league game with no help from anyone else. 

Not going back to the keeper is enough to make kickouts competitive, no need for the defending team to have to clear the arc. 

That's what I mean, there's no other game where you have to play a 50/50 ball after conceding a score, it's insane. As you say the no pass to the keeper in their own half completely changed the kick outs anyway

I would argue its less than 50/50 with the keepers under increased pressure with the 20 seconds rule and the fact that only the opposition can touch the ball in certain areas. 

[Armagh18]

Yeah nothing wrong with a short kickout, the way the rule is now with no option to use the keeper, it wpuld leave things very interesting if teams tried to go short. If a team concedes a score the resulting play should be to their advantage, rather than a complete disadvantage the way the new kickout is.

[Saffron_sam20]

The game has been in serious decline since 2011 when mcguinness was appointed Donegal manager and achieved success with his system in 2012. As with anything that's successful, plagiarism followed as rival managers tried to emulate it in other counties. McGuinness technically wasn't doing anything illegal or wrong, he simply exploited the rules of the game to suit his style of play. Unfortunately, this trickled down to club football, even as far down as u8s with some clubs.
We continued to go to games because we were invested in it, almost bound by it as our fathers and to their fathers had been before us. For most, the spectacle on show simply wasn't entertaining or in any way enjoyable (apart from the final 5 mins in most games). Something had to change and that is why Jim and co were appointed. Their remit was to simply make the game exciting and enjoyable again.The key change required was limiting the blanket, hence the 3 up rule. Not perfect but not sure what else would have worked better?
Tap and go definitely speeds up the play, a good initiative in my opinion.
Kick out arc encourages contests again and I do think there has been more high fielding on show this year so far. 2 point rule is good but not for a free.
Handing the ball back is too difficult to enforce. Would be happy enough if the player just had to place the ball on the ground after a free was awarded.
50m advance for dissent is too punitive, 30 is plenty although I would concede that the 50 m advance has seriously reduced the verbals.
One man throw in - gimmicky, adds nothing. Everyone will have their own interpretation and opinion but I really do think what we've seen so far has achieved the original objective, ie, to make the game a better spectacle.

Armagh won 11 of Dublins 14 kick outs in the first half at the weekend, how does that improve our game? After conceding  score a team should be able to restart how they see fit not just a contested ball to engage armchair fans with no dog in the fight.

The 2pt is a red herring too, seen a few games now where teams are just playing the ball around the arc and trying to get a 2 pt score. Really no need.

I've said before the dissent is stupid, book the player and he's walking a fine line for the rest of the game. No need for handing the ball back, it's not go games. Set the ball down and get into position.

When the opposition score the kickout is meant to be an advantage to the defending team which it no longer is.  I have saw quite a few pre season games and the team with the kickout invariably gets hemmed in on their own kickout.  Free in for not kicking it out within approximately 20 seconds is another crime that doesn't fit the penalty, why not a hop ball like previous? Ref has enough to do without trying to police this in a club league game with no help from anyone else. 

Not going back to the keeper is enough to make kickouts competitive, no need for the defending team to have to clear the arc. 

That's what I mean, there's no other game where you have to play a 50/50 ball after conceding a score, it's insane. As you say the no pass to the keeper in their own half completely changed the kick outs anyway

I would argue its less than 50/50 with the keepers under increased pressure with the 20 seconds rule and the fact that only the opposition can touch the ball in certain areas. 

Yeah fair enough, how anyone can see a team like Dublin losing around 80% of their own kickouts in a half of football and think this will work is insane. God help when we come to Leinster champ. That's even before we think bout club

[Captain Obvious]

The game has been in serious decline since 2011 when mcguinness was appointed Donegal manager and achieved success with his system in 2012. As with anything that's successful, plagiarism followed as rival managers tried to emulate it in other counties. McGuinness technically wasn't doing anything illegal or wrong, he simply exploited the rules of the game to suit his style of play. Unfortunately, this trickled down to club football, even as far down as u8s with some clubs.
 

Scapegoating of big Jim remains mildly humorous.

If one wanted they could easily flip that and blame the godfather over these new rules Jim Gavin.  Afterall his Dublin team was the most programmed,robotic team ever that apart from Jack McCaffrey lacked emotion. Other than the odd Mayo match who brought chaos to matches the majority of their games was boring to watch.

[thewobbler]

The game has been in serious decline since 2011 when mcguinness was appointed Donegal manager and achieved success with his system in 2012. As with anything that's successful, plagiarism followed as rival managers tried to emulate it in other counties. McGuinness technically wasn't doing anything illegal or wrong, he simply exploited the rules of the game to suit his style of play. Unfortunately, this trickled down to club football, even as far down as u8s with some clubs.
We continued to go to games because we were invested in it, almost bound by it as our fathers and to their fathers had been before us. For most, the spectacle on show simply wasn't entertaining or in any way enjoyable (apart from the final 5 mins in most games). Something had to change and that is why Jim and co were appointed. Their remit was to simply make the game exciting and enjoyable again.The key change required was limiting the blanket, hence the 3 up rule. Not perfect but not sure what else would have worked better?
Tap and go definitely speeds up the play, a good initiative in my opinion.
Kick out arc encourages contests again and I do think there has been more high fielding on show this year so far. 2 point rule is good but not for a free.
Handing the ball back is too difficult to enforce. Would be happy enough if the player just had to place the ball on the ground after a free was awarded.
50m advance for dissent is too punitive, 30 is plenty although I would concede that the 50 m advance has seriously reduced the verbals.
One man throw in - gimmicky, adds nothing. Everyone will have their own interpretation and opinion but I really do think what we've seen so far has achieved the original objective, ie, to make the game a better spectacle.

Armagh won 11 of Dublins 14 kick outs in the first half at the weekend, how does that improve our game? After conceding  score a team should be able to restart how they see fit not just a contested ball to engage armchair fans with no dog in the fight.

The 2pt is a red herring too, seen a few games now where teams are just playing the ball around the arc and trying to get a 2 pt score. Really no need.

I've said before the dissent is stupid, book the player and he's walking a fine line for the rest of the game. No need for handing the ball back, it's not go games. Set the ball down and get into position.

Something I can't get my head around here:

"After conceding  score a team should be able to restart how they see fit".

Why? Why oh why oh why?

Why should a team gain a guaranteed possession after conceding?