The State Of Gaelic Football

[DuffleKing]

So who are these named 6 backs? Are coaches allowed to make positional switches? Has he to send the ref a memo? absolute nonsense of the highest order.

No-one enjoys this style of play but you see, this other stuff you peddle about all of the poorer elements of our game at the minute betrays the same underlying problem with your and most coaches' mindset... you want an easy silver bullet solution.

Coach / think your way out of it. If you can't, take your ball and go home

[smelmoth]

So who are these named 6 backs? Are coaches allowed to make positional switches? Has he to send the ref a memo? absolute nonsense of the highest order.

No-one enjoys this style of play but you see, this other stuff you peddle about all of the poorer elements of our game at the minute betrays the same underlying problem with your and most coaches' mindset... you want an easy silver bullet solution.

Coach / think your way out of it. If you can't, take your ball and go home

I think we can probably stop discussing that particular rule change proposal

[smelmoth]

Removing backwards passing is utterly insane. When you tackle someone and dispossess them, you should be able to accrue that advantage any way you choose. There are umpteen scenarios in football where not being able to then play the balls backwards to a runner would actually see you at a disadvantage, as holding onto the ball is the same as a turkey shoot. So why dispossess in the first place? Also there'd be referees battered all across the country for interpreting a sideways pass as either backwards or not at crucial stages of the game.

In your defensive half you would try dispossess the opposition because they are in a threatening position.
In your attacking half you would try to dispossess the opposition because (knowing that they can't play the ball backwards) they have to take a risk granting you the chance of turnover ball in an attacking position.

[maigheo]

jeez Indiana, any body new reading your posts would think you had never seen a game in your live and yet you claim you have a celtic cross

[INDIANA]

So who are these named 6 backs? Are coaches allowed to make positional switches? Has he to send the ref a memo? absolute nonsense of the highest order.

No-one enjoys this style of play but you see, this other stuff you peddle about all of the poorer elements of our game at the minute betrays the same underlying problem with your and most coaches' mindset... you want an easy silver bullet solution.

Coach / think your way out of it. If you can't, take your ball and go home

You guys enjoy it because its the only means your counties can use to keep the score down these days.

Thankfully the Black Death of Gaelic Football only permeates the ROI when you guys roll into town.

There is no skill in having 15 players in the one half of the field and you know it. The rules are completely lob sided in favour of this tactic flourishing. Its not a coaching issue -its a rules issue and you know it. Nonsense of the highest order to suggest its a coaching issue.

Field games develop organically through coaching but they also develop through the bloody rules too and the rules on this are the same since 1884!

[INDIANA]

jeez Indiana, any body new reading your posts would think you had never seen a game in your live and yet you claim you have a celtic cross

Its not a claim its a fact.

[thewobbler]

Indiana must have missed the bit in 1990 when all frees and sidelines were no longer kicked from the ground.

Or maybe his selective thought processes were running then too.

[INDIANA]

Indiana must have missed the bit in 1990 when all frees and sidelines were no longer kicked from the ground.

Or maybe his selective thought processes were running then too.

You may jest but  there was a bit more skill in that. You had to kick the ball let's not forget.

Rather then stand in your own half and hand-pass. No skill in being fit either. I can train a chimpanzee to get fit.

[smelmoth]

Indiana has nordie issues which are reflected in his posts BUT he is correct in that coaches coach around the rules and its the rules that need changing not necessarily the coaches (though some coaches would be found out by rule changes)

[thewobbler]

You're missing my point. The game changed seismically as a result of the rule change; it was a reply to your intimation that we've used the same rules for 130 years.

It was also the rule change that ushered in counter attacking football - possession became more important than territory for the first time in the game -  and ultimately allowed Donegal et co to refine it to the point they're not at.

It would only take 3 games on Tg4 gold for anyone to accept that reverting to the old system would be a giant step backwards. But the side effect of the quicker game produced by those rules has been defensive football to counteract it.

[INDIANA]

Indiana has nordie issues which are reflected in his posts BUT he is correct in that coaches coach around the rules and its the rules that need changing not necessarily the coaches (though some coaches would be found out by rule changes)

I have issues with the Nordies telling us we can't set our sights a bit higher then providing a game that people want to watch rather then one where they will turn off the TV.
Its the rules that need changing not the up-skilling of coaches. And for the record I'm not in favour of limiting handpassing. What I am in favour of is drastic changes to the penalties available to referees for the systemic and organised fouling that is killing the game due to teams having the entire range of personnel in their own half.

The black card has been a shambles because it wasn't allowed go far enough.

[smelmoth]

Indiana has nordie issues which are reflected in his posts BUT he is correct in that coaches coach around the rules and its the rules that need changing not necessarily the coaches (though some coaches would be found out by rule changes)

I have issues with the Nordies telling us we can't set our sights a bit higher then providing a game that people want to watch rather then one where they will turn off the TV.
Its the rules that need changing not the up-skilling of coaches. And for the record I'm not in favour of limiting handpassing. What I am in favour of is drastic changes to the penalties available to referees for the systemic and organised fouling that is killing the game due to teams having the entire range of personnel in their own half.

The black card has been a shambles because it wasn't allowed go far enough.

There is a hell of a lot wrong with football that started in Ulster but your are kidding yourself if you think clubs and counties in the south are not every bit as bad.

The black card should have included the jersey pull and at most only one dismissed player should be replaced

[rrhf]

I blame the black card.   A bundle of feckin eejits promised us it would change gaelic football for the better. Some good gaa folk were called all sorts of names for telling the black card cheerleaders they didn't know what they were at.   1 year on. It's been a crock of shit really and it dealt with nowt. The guys who proposed these rules well what  football powerhouses were they from.  Hold on a minute  wasn't one of them from derry?

[thewobbler]

Anyway enough talk about whose fault it is.

The question is, what can be done to make out games more entertaining.

The first thing everyone needs to do is accept and understand that defensive football and cynical football are not one and the same thing.

The beauty and reward of every sport is in the challenge between attacking and defensive skills and strategy. In every game there absolutely needs to be a belief that defending your corner is important, as otherwise it's just shooting practice.

As such, I would be thoroughly opposed to any motions or suggestions devised to reduce the ability of teams and coaches to gain success through defensive strategy. Our game would be genuinely weaker if anything such was to pass.

Cynical football is, on the other hand, a genuine problem. There simply isn't a strong enough deterrent for players not to wind up opponents, block off runs, foul deliberately, or to slow up the game after a free is conceded. So not only are attacking teams faced with having to break down defensive shapes, it is often the case that a number of opponents are also operating outside the rules of the game. It's a double whammy against flowing football, and for us spectators, it's often gruesome to watch.

This is why the black card was introduced, and as an idea it is still one of the best ever conceived for our game.

But the problem is that referees are now so reluctant to use the black card, that it is almost a non existent aspect of our game... and after only 18 months. Such is the lack of black cards that one has to assume it's a centrally requested edict.

Just this Friday night I witnessed a player bearing down on goal, getting deliberately tripped up from behind at the 14 yard line. The most clear it cynical foul of all.  The outcome was a yellow card.

Anyway about a year ago this was already quite evident so I opened a thread where i suggested that it's time to get rid of the yellow card entirely; with the red for dangerous play, the black for cynical play, and effectively a pass for anything in between (such as a mistimed tackle).

It was roundly laughed off as an idea and I can see why.

But here's the thing: if we don't attack the scourge of cynical play, then more and more coaches will teach it, expect it and demand it from their players.

Players will only refuse these orders when the penalty or punishment  is too big, and at that time coaches will need to change their tune.

We will never be able to stop a man being dragged down in the last minute of a game. But we need our games refereed in such a way that every minute is as equally relevant as the last minute.

Some players would be hard done by, no doubt. But the game would be better for it.

[DuffleKing]

Anyway enough talk about whose fault it is.

The question is, what can be done to make out games more entertaining.

The first thing everyone needs to do is accept and understand that defensive football and cynical football are not one and the same thing.

The beauty and reward of every sport is in the challenge between attacking and defensive skills and strategy. In every game there absolutely needs to be a belief that defending your corner is important, as otherwise it's just shooting practice.

As such, I would be thoroughly opposed to any motions or suggestions devised to reduce the ability of teams and coaches to gain success through defensive strategy. Our game would be genuinely weaker if anything such was to pass.

Cynical football is, on the other hand, a genuine problem. There simply isn't a strong enough deterrent for players not to wind up opponents, block off runs, foul deliberately, or to slow up the game after a free is conceded. So not only are attacking teams faced with having to break down defensive shapes, it is often the case that a number of opponents are also operating outside the rules of the game. It's a double whammy against flowing football, and for us spectators, it's often gruesome to watch.

This is why the black card was introduced, and as an idea it is still one of the best ever conceived for our game.

But the problem is that referees are now so reluctant to use the black card, that it is almost a non existent aspect of our game... and after only 18 months. Such is the lack of black cards that one has to assume it's a centrally requested edict.

Just this Friday night I witnessed a player bearing down on goal, getting deliberately tripped up from behind at the 14 yard line. The most clear it cynical foul of all.  The outcome was a yellow card.

Anyway about a year ago this was already quite evident so I opened a thread where i suggested that it's time to get rid of the yellow card entirely; with the red for dangerous play, the black for cynical play, and effectively a pass for anything in between (such as a mistimed tackle).

It was roundly laughed off as an idea and I can see why.

But here's the thing: if we don't attack the scourge of cynical play, then more and more coaches will teach it, expect it and demand it from their players.

Players will only refuse these orders when the penalty or punishment  is too big, and at that time coaches will need to change their tune.

We will never be able to stop a man being dragged down in the last minute of a game. But we need our games refereed in such a way that every minute is as equally relevant as the last minute.

Some players would be hard done by, no doubt. But the game would be better for it.

Booooooooo

Down with this sort of Nordie common sense