Messages

The good old days... https://extra.ie/2024/10/16/sport/gaa/clare-gaa-ennistymon-eire-og-keepy-uppy
Video is there... 🤮

Nobody is saying scrap all the new rules. They're saying it's still not quite right and needs adjustment.

3 up and solo go would have been enough to begin with. It was the blanket that caused most problems. 3v3 and solo go may have solved that.

Also, why a fullback line should be involved in kickouts is just something i can't grasp.

They're meant to be defenders ffs. Their job is to nullify attackers, not be auxiliary midfielders.

My point is that defenders are not even being allowed to defend. The kickout arc makes holding a good defensive position almost impossible.

Either stay inside arc in a zonal structure but miles from your man or follow out and leave no defensive structure. Both are terrible options for defenders.

If you cannot understand this basic point I'm not sure anybody should be taking your points seriously on the rule changes.

Be very interesting when inter County forwards come back to play club football. Basically professionals v amateurs with no real way to defend except man on man, no way to slow the beating either.

Be like a professional high ranked boxer hammering a journey man amateur but the new rules don't allow you to put up your gloves to protect yourself. Just take your pummelling. It's what the people want (apparently).

Almost all field games allow teams to play in different ways. Long, short or a mix of both.

I think short and long kickouts should be allowed. Decision making is part of the game. Teams could then decide to press or not to press.

At the moment forwards have no decision to make. Just head back out and get onto breaks while hopefully pulling defense out of position.

Defenders 2,3,4 and 6 are virtually obsolete on kickouts now.

If they stay inside arc they are out of play completely, cannot receive the ball, miles away from their man and are allowing teammates further out the field to be double marked.

If they follow out the field, they have v little chance of getting ball (in a v high risk situation)and the team has a ludicrous defensive shape (none at all).

The new game is so far skewed in favour of forwards and the recent scorelines back this up.

Its Frankenstein Football on EPO.

I'd get rid of the arc completely too. It shouldn't have been brought in at all.

The rules should have been changed incrementally rather than a raft of changes.

Its impossible to figure out what impact each rule has when all applied together.

It's a mess.

1-34 in a cship match and not a hand laid on anybody. Is this what we want?

Is football actually better after all this? No defending. Huge scores. Big deficits. Very few games going down to the wire. I'm not convinced at all.

Great, thanks for that. Quickly fired off an "I live abroad application" there. Have to say, the gov.uk website is terrific. Have always found it incredibly easy to use.

That said..."You can expect a reply by
30 April 2026"     

I cannot find the form that can be completed online. Can only find a form that you fill in and print at the end before posting. Can you provide a link? Is the CF83 the correct form?

I have seen or heard no 'cutting the back off' anyone to be honest. Supporters are right to be annoyed. If we went to Belfast and went down fighting then people would be ok. We rolled over to Offaly in Portlaoise too.

The above poster is talking about almost accepting relegation and regroup in Division 5Z or whatever other postcode Division we land in. Its not over. Two games and two wins we survive. 1 vs carlow. 1 vs Dublin with nothing to play for.

Why can't we dig it out?

Division 3 is hurling oblivion.

Zero fight from Laois today. Hard to believe. With relegation to Division 3 a distinct possibility, I don't care what is going on in the Laois camp, there should be more fight than what we saw today.

Absolutely rudderless and I don't like being critical. I know what players give. But why give 4-5 nights a week and then a meek, capitulation like that?!

Literally no advice about soldering here   

I wish a longer, more gradual approach had been taken by FRC. This is an experiment. Any decent scientist will change only one thing at a time to see what works. The FRC have made 7+ changes and it's a mess.
Start with 3 v 3 in each half. See if that has an impact. Maybe go 4 v 4 if needed.
It would be a tweak rather than inventing a new game.

I agree, it is highly unlikely that the above would happen.

However it's not entirely beyond the realms of possibility that 3 teams in a group lose all 5 games.

That could see a team with zero progress ahead of a team with 3 wins.

Going to try make this a little clearer. Let's look at groups first.

A
Clough Ballacolla
Abbeyleix
Portlaoise
Rosenallis
Ballinakill

B
Camross
RE
BK
Harps
Castletown

Each team in A plays each team in B.

In theory Group B (or Group A) teams could win every game vs the opposite Group.

Eg.
Group A
Abbeyleix Pts 0
CB 0
Rosenallis 0
Portlaoise 0
Bkill 0

Group B
Camross 10
RE 10
BK 10
Ctown 10
Harps 10

Even in this situation 3 teams from Group A progress and 2 teams from Group B are eliminated with 1 unbeaten team in a relegation play off!

Obviously this is worst case scenario but it is possible with this type of grouping system.

Are these rules actually improving things? It feels like the more you change, the more needs changing. I'm getting weary of reading and hearing about rule changes. Will supporter rule fatigue drive ppl (like me) away from the game? Will the game even be recognisable when they are finished?

Just a word on Willie Maher's new appointment. What are his intentions for promoting/progressing hurling in Laois?
Im sure his remit includes promoting hurling in weaker counties. Trying to get hurling going in counties like Longford and Leitrim is going to be an arduous task. There needs to be some will in these counties to get things going. Im not so sure that will is there in those counties.

I would have to question though are the county board doing there utmost here??

WHO HAS GOT LAOIS HURLING'S BACK?

I have quoted 2 parts of your message. The first refers to weaker hurling counties and questions if there is interest in those counties. There is interest and a will, however the problem is that their county boards are completely dominated by football only people and hurling isn't promoted or allowed to grow. That's the biggest issue. Hurling lives in footballs house as a hostage.

Later your message refers to Laois Co Board which is similar to those in Longford, Leitrim etc. Hurling has little or no voice and nobody with any power is a hurling first person. However Laois does have a hurling area and a proud tradition which allows us compete in tier 2 mostly and tier 1 occasionally without any real drive from co board level. Imagine what we could do with a board that was determined to drive hurling? Similar strides would be possible in Longford, Leitrim etc.