The assisted lift, or whatever it's called

[Eamonnca1]

When Rugby players do a line-out, nowadays they have a body to get in there and help them jump up higher.  Up he goes, and the man behind grabs him and lifts him up higher.

How come this has never been adopted in Gaelic football?  Is it because in the heat of the moment when a kick-out is coming in there's no time to get in position and get such a thing set up?  Hard enough for one man to get in position never mind two?  If that's the case then how come there always seems to be at least three or four players gathered up around the spot where the ball lands?  Would there be too much jostling going on to let it happen?

[BennyHarp]

It would take some timing to get into the position to assist a jumper to catch a kick out, plus it would be quite dangerous for the lifter as others come clattering in from a running start.

[Ball Hopper]

What about using it under your own crossbar?  Making a catch above the crossbar would be impressive, a la Darragh O'Se against Limerick some years ago.

Future use would involve launching the light corner forward up.  Could get him up to 12 feet I bet. Timing would be easier there than out the field.

What rule says this is illegal?  One would think Eamonn would know the answer, rather than ask the question, with him being an administration expert of the GAA and thereby familiar with all the rules of our games. 

Then again, what rule exists to prevent a player climbing/being hoisted onto the crossbar and standing/sitting there when a long-range free coming in?

[Black Card]

Then again, what rule exists to prevent a player climbing/being hoisted onto the crossbar and standing/sitting there when a long-range free coming in?

That made me laugh. 

[haranguerer]

This whole thread makes me laugh

[Zulu]

It's impractical, pointless and illegal for starters. Now the real conundrum is why Eamonn is asking rather silly questions about football all of a sudden? It's like he's an American who's just come across the game and not an Irish man living in America who is heavily involved in the administration of GAA.

[Hardy]

It's impractical, pointless and illegal for starters.

Illegal under which rule?

[Jinxy]

What if you played a really small lad midfield that you could fire a good 10 foot into the air?

[theskull1]

After 10 seconds thinking about it, you really have to wonder why this thread was started....apart from the potential for hilarity

[AZOffaly]

When Rugby players do a line-out, nowadays they have a body to get in there and help them jump up higher.  Up he goes, and the man behind grabs him and lifts him up higher.

How come this has never been adopted in Gaelic football?  Is it because in the heat of the moment when a kick-out is coming in there's no time to get in position and get such a thing set up?  Hard enough for one man to get in position never mind two?  If that's the case then how come there always seems to be at least three or four players gathered up around the spot where the ball lands?  Would there be too much jostling going on to let it happen?

Assuming you're serious, there are fairly substantial differences between a rugby set play where opposition players have to be a metre apart and cannot touch you in the air. In football, contact in air is common, the opponent can stand where he likes, the ball is coming from 40 yards away so it's unlikely it's going to land exactly on top of the jumper, unlike a 4 metre throw. There's no way you could set up in that manner.  The reason there are people around the ball when it lands is because it travels to get there, and people run towards the breaking ball. In rugby they are already there.

[AZOffaly]

Sorry, I know.

[Jinxy]

Lets be honest lads, we've all thought of the 'standing on the crossbar' idea at some stage.

[Hardy]

I've often idly speculated about it myself just for gas. It looks so spectacular in rugby. But of course it's unworkable for the reasons AZOffaly points out.

What remains, though, since there's no rule that bans it, is the question of what happens when it's tried for the first time, as could quite easily happen.

All-Ireland Final 2014. The teams are level. Last kick of the game is a 45. Mickey Newman's kick is accurate and is going to sail about four feet over the black spot to break Louth hearts yet again. But The Louth lads have been doing a bit of practice in training for fun. The full back leaps and, as he does, the two corner backs grab a leg each and hoist him. He pulls the ball down into his chest and returns safely to earth.

The referee blows the whistle. Is it the final whistle, replay in two weeks? Or is it another free. If so, what for?

If it's allowed, as it might be, since I can't find a rule that disallows it, it'll be tried again in the league and will be be quickly banned as it would be impossible in our game to make it safe with the rules that rugby applies. But, in the meantime ...

[haranguerer]

The original post was in relation to kick outs, which is spectacularly ludicrous.

The situation you are describing Hardy, less so, but still ludicrous.

Assuming you are going to have a few corner backs in around your full back prepared to hoist, then thats an entire full forward line unmarked and available for a short one. Unless you could get the opposition to also be obedient and stand very close to your full back....

[Zulu]

I was at a referees course a few years back and the guy hosting it said lifting as discussed here was not allowed, though I can't remember why it came up. There are quite a few things which are not allowed but not explicitly stated in the rules. I think this would come under dangerous play, albeit, towards your own player! Lifting in football would be extremely dangerous as one or both lifters could be knocked over during the contest for the ball and lose control of the player in the air who would then be at risk of serious injury.