Gaelic football is crap- and needs to change ASAP

[befair]

As a coach and referee, I've said for ages, people are trying to 'rule' their way into making the game more appeaseable for people.
Why spend time trying to draw up rules about numbers of handpasses, players in zones, backward passes?

One, well 2 changes which would work an absolute treat as far as I can see would be games played at 13 aside and removal of the forward mark.

- Addresses concerns about dropping men back as too much space to cover with 2 players less
- Harder on teams that rely on group tackling
- Rewards an attack minded team and also players who can make space and win ball, especially with ball kicked in earlier as a result of the space

Would be worth trialling it in a competition that actually means something to coaches and players i.e the Mac Rory Cup schools competition and the other provincial bodys comps

Agree with this; 13-a-side would also make it easier for smaller clubs/counties to compete. A small club might have 13 decent players, less likely to have 15

13 a-side is tough going on a big pitch, would certainly be worth trying though

I played at McRory level in the 1970s (not very well!), and it was 13-a-side then; more space allowed more attacking football, tho the everyone-behind-the ball tactic hadn't been conceived then

[smort]

Not sure if 13-a-side would work, teams might just put all 13 behind the ball

[Rufus T Firefly]

The only rule that needs changing is the forward mark, which is a terrible rule. After that, please leave well alone. There is a widespread tendency for critics to lament the loss of some golden era of Gaelic football which never actually existed. Watch any football from the seventies / eighties and see how awful the standard actually was.

[Rossfan]

I'm not a fan of the forward mark but I fail to see how its abolition is going to suddenly make football watchable and entertaining again or get rid of sideways backwards passing??

[Rufus T Firefly]

I'm not a fan of the forward mark but I fail to see how its abolition is going to suddenly make football watchable and entertaining again or get rid of sideways backwards passing??

Agreed. Just to clarify, I was stating it's an awful rule that I would really like to see dumped, rather than it making any meaningful difference to the debate. I honestly believe there are too many rule changes being made to the game for very little / no gain.

[thewobbler]

The only rule that needs changing is the forward mark, which is a terrible rule. After that, please leave well alone. There is a widespread tendency for critics to lament the loss of some golden era of Gaelic football which never actually existed. Watch any football from the seventies / eighties and see how awful the standard actually was.

I don't lament a golden era. Not even close.

But watching a team move the ball sideways in their own half, unopposed, for minutes at a time, is not entertainment. It's not sport. It's not skilful. It's not manly. It's not intelligent. It's just shit. Absolute shit. And it needs to be culled from the game.

[MajorShields26]

The only rule that needs changing is the forward mark, which is a terrible rule. After that, please leave well alone. There is a widespread tendency for critics to lament the loss of some golden era of Gaelic football which never actually existed. Watch any football from the seventies / eighties and see how awful the standard actually was.

I don't lament a golden era. Not even close.

But watching a team move the ball sideways in their own half, unopposed, for minutes at a time, is not entertainment. It's not sport. It's not skilful. It's not manly. It's not intelligent. It's just shit. Absolute shit. And it needs to be culled from the game.

Up to the defending team to come out and try to win the ball. Teams only do this when they are ahead and other team sitting in. Why should winning team be punished for other team being over defensive?

[thewobbler]

The only rule that needs changing is the forward mark, which is a terrible rule. After that, please leave well alone. There is a widespread tendency for critics to lament the loss of some golden era of Gaelic football which never actually existed. Watch any football from the seventies / eighties and see how awful the standard actually was.

I don't lament a golden era. Not even close.

But watching a team move the ball sideways in their own half, unopposed, for minutes at a time, is not entertainment. It's not sport. It's not skilful. It's not manly. It's not intelligent. It's just shit. Absolute shit. And it needs to be culled from the game.

Up to the defending team to come out and try to win the ball. Teams only do this when they are ahead and other team sitting in. Why should winning team be punished for other team being over defensive?

Nonsense. Absolute nonsense.

Every sport that has inadvertently created a situation where there is no need for both teams to attack, has sought to correct the anomaly, through rule changes.

Why in holy f**k'a name you are defending the one sport that hasn't, is beyond me. It's a form of masochism what you are going through, it really is.

[square_ball]

The only rule that needs changing is the forward mark, which is a terrible rule. After that, please leave well alone. There is a widespread tendency for critics to lament the loss of some golden era of Gaelic football which never actually existed. Watch any football from the seventies / eighties and see how awful the standard actually was.

I don't lament a golden era. Not even close.

But watching a team move the ball sideways in their own half, unopposed, for minutes at a time, is not entertainment. It's not sport. It's not skilful. It's not manly. It's not intelligent. It's just shit. Absolute shit. And it needs to be culled from the game.

Up to the defending team to come out and try to win the ball. Teams only do this when they are ahead and other team sitting in. Why should winning team be punished for other team being over defensive?

To say this only happens when teams are ahead and the other team are sitting in is not correct at all. This is in the Irish News match report from the Kilcoo/Mayobridge match report at the weekend:

"The scene was set from the throw-in. CJ Barr won the ball and Mayobridge hung on to it for four and-a-half minutes. Kilcoo retreated and the 'Bridge played back-and-across and across-and-back until they finally launched a long ball towards the Kilcoo posts."

[thewobbler]

The only rule that needs changing is the forward mark, which is a terrible rule. After that, please leave well alone. There is a widespread tendency for critics to lament the loss of some golden era of Gaelic football which never actually existed. Watch any football from the seventies / eighties and see how awful the standard actually was.

I don't lament a golden era. Not even close.

But watching a team move the ball sideways in their own half, unopposed, for minutes at a time, is not entertainment. It's not sport. It's not skilful. It's not manly. It's not intelligent. It's just shit. Absolute shit. And it needs to be culled from the game.

Up to the defending team to come out and try to win the ball. Teams only do this when they are ahead and other team sitting in. Why should winning team be punished for other team being over defensive?

To say this only happens when teams are ahead and the other team are sitting in is not correct at all. This is in the Irish News match report from the Kilcoo/Mayobridge match report at the weekend:

"The scene was set from the throw-in. CJ Barr won the ball and Mayobridge hung on to it for four and-a-half minutes. Kilcoo retreated and the 'Bridge played back-and-across and across-and-back until they finally launched a long ball towards the Kilcoo posts."

It dawned on me to to check where MajorShields26 is from and it makes more sense now. He's one of those wans who unknowingly have had their wits and tastebuds reprogrammed this year by the sweet smell of success.

Don't worry MajorShields. As the current Derry side have already reached their absolute pinnacle and things can only get worse, I can assure you that you will start to feel mostly normal again by June 2023, and by mid-2024 you will utterly despise the possession oriented tactics so replete in modern Gaelic football.

[MajorShields26]

The only rule that needs changing is the forward mark, which is a terrible rule. After that, please leave well alone. There is a widespread tendency for critics to lament the loss of some golden era of Gaelic football which never actually existed. Watch any football from the seventies / eighties and see how awful the standard actually was.

I don't lament a golden era. Not even close.

But watching a team move the ball sideways in their own half, unopposed, for minutes at a time, is not entertainment. It's not sport. It's not skilful. It's not manly. It's not intelligent. It's just shit. Absolute shit. And it needs to be culled from the game.

Up to the defending team to come out and try to win the ball. Teams only do this when they are ahead and other team sitting in. Why should winning team be punished for other team being over defensive?

Nonsense. Absolute nonsense.

Every sport that has inadvertently created a situation where there is no need for both teams to attack, has sought to correct the anomaly, through rule changes.

Why in holy f**k'a name you are defending the one sport that hasn't, is beyond me. It's a form of masochism what you are going through, it really is.

Lad your talking shite. Ridiculously naive. Defending team sitting back when behind is beyond dumb. Should be weeded out of game. 13 aside would fix everything. It would be impossible to cover all the space in scoring zone with 13 men. People that think defending team should sit in when behind are so dumb.

[MajorShields26]

The only rule that needs changing is the forward mark, which is a terrible rule. After that, please leave well alone. There is a widespread tendency for critics to lament the loss of some golden era of Gaelic football which never actually existed. Watch any football from the seventies / eighties and see how awful the standard actually was.

I don't lament a golden era. Not even close.

But watching a team move the ball sideways in their own half, unopposed, for minutes at a time, is not entertainment. It's not sport. It's not skilful. It's not manly. It's not intelligent. It's just shit. Absolute shit. And it needs to be culled from the game.

Up to the defending team to come out and try to win the ball. Teams only do this when they are ahead and other team sitting in. Why should winning team be punished for other team being over defensive?

To say this only happens when teams are ahead and the other team are sitting in is not correct at all. This is in the Irish News match report from the Kilcoo/Mayobridge match report at the weekend:

"The scene was set from the throw-in. CJ Barr won the ball and Mayobridge hung on to it for four and-a-half minutes. Kilcoo retreated and the 'Bridge played back-and-across and across-and-back until they finally launched a long ball towards the Kilcoo posts."

It dawned on me to to check where MajorShields26 is from and it makes more sense now. He's one of those wans who unknowingly have had their wits and tastebuds reprogrammed this year by the sweet smell of success.

Don't worry MajorShields. As the current Derry side have already reached their absolute pinnacle and things can only get worse, I can assure you that you will start to feel mostly normal again by June 2023, and by mid-2024 you will utterly despise the possession oriented tactics so replete in modern Gaelic football.

Possession isn't the problem. It's the blanket defensive system. Obviously

[Armagh18]

The only rule that needs changing is the forward mark, which is a terrible rule. After that, please leave well alone. There is a widespread tendency for critics to lament the loss of some golden era of Gaelic football which never actually existed. Watch any football from the seventies / eighties and see how awful the standard actually was.

I don't lament a golden era. Not even close.

But watching a team move the ball sideways in their own half, unopposed, for minutes at a time, is not entertainment. It's not sport. It's not skilful. It's not manly. It's not intelligent. It's just shit. Absolute shit. And it needs to be culled from the game.

Up to the defending team to come out and try to win the ball. Teams only do this when they are ahead and other team sitting in. Why should winning team be punished for other team being over defensive?

To say this only happens when teams are ahead and the other team are sitting in is not correct at all. This is in the Irish News match report from the Kilcoo/Mayobridge match report at the weekend:

"The scene was set from the throw-in. CJ Barr won the ball and Mayobridge hung on to it for four and-a-half minutes. Kilcoo retreated and the 'Bridge played back-and-across and across-and-back until they finally launched a long ball towards the Kilcoo posts."

That's those Down ones. You're badly stuck if you're going to watch them

[thewobbler]

The only rule that needs changing is the forward mark, which is a terrible rule. After that, please leave well alone. There is a widespread tendency for critics to lament the loss of some golden era of Gaelic football which never actually existed. Watch any football from the seventies / eighties and see how awful the standard actually was.

I don't lament a golden era. Not even close.

But watching a team move the ball sideways in their own half, unopposed, for minutes at a time, is not entertainment. It's not sport. It's not skilful. It's not manly. It's not intelligent. It's just shit. Absolute shit. And it needs to be culled from the game.

Up to the defending team to come out and try to win the ball. Teams only do this when they are ahead and other team sitting in. Why should winning team be punished for other team being over defensive?

Nonsense. Absolute nonsense.

Every sport that has inadvertently created a situation where there is no need for both teams to attack, has sought to correct the anomaly, through rule changes.

Why in holy f**k'a name you are defending the one sport that hasn't, is beyond me. It's a form of masochism what you are going through, it really is.

Lad your talking shite. Ridiculously naive. Defending team sitting back when behind is beyond dumb. Should be weeded out of game. 13 aside would fix everything. It would be impossible to cover all the space in scoring zone with 13 men. People that think defending team should sit in when behind are so dumb.

Naive?

I've watched plenty of teams the past decade play "successful" ultra-negative football when a man down.

13 a side would make more space. But the downside is that it would give even more room again for endless, skill-less ball retention.

And it would make for a worse game.

This is really obvious when you think about it.

Naive?

You're brainwashed at the minute. Drunk on success. It will though wear off.

——

Regarding your next post.

Blanket defences primarily exist because possession is overwhelmingly more useful than territory in Gaelic Football.

The correct rule change will make it rewarding, indeed essential, to have early and multiple territorial options.

[yellowcard]

The only rule that needs changing is the forward mark, which is a terrible rule. After that, please leave well alone. There is a widespread tendency for critics to lament the loss of some golden era of Gaelic football which never actually existed. Watch any football from the seventies / eighties and see how awful the standard actually was.

I don't lament a golden era. Not even close.

But watching a team move the ball sideways in their own half, unopposed, for minutes at a time, is not entertainment. It's not sport. It's not skilful. It's not manly. It's not intelligent. It's just shit. Absolute shit. And it needs to be culled from the game.

Up to the defending team to come out and try to win the ball. Teams only do this when they are ahead and other team sitting in. Why should winning team be punished for other team being over defensive?

To say this only happens when teams are ahead and the other team are sitting in is not correct at all. This is in the Irish News match report from the Kilcoo/Mayobridge match report at the weekend:

"The scene was set from the throw-in. CJ Barr won the ball and Mayobridge hung on to it for four and-a-half minutes. Kilcoo retreated and the 'Bridge played back-and-across and across-and-back until they finally launched a long ball towards the Kilcoo posts."

That's those Down ones. You're badly stuck if you're going to watch them

It would make you wonder what ever happened the 'Down way'. Their club football must be the worst spectacle in Ulster as most of the teams play a defensive possession based running game. All trying to beat Kilcoo at their own game.