It'll take more than new rules to save football

I took a trip the other day to Dublin and ventured into Croke Park, on the Friday evening, to see for myself the outcome of Jim Gavin’s committee on a new way forward for the game of Gaelic football. As you know the game has become a proper shambles and supporters have voted with their feet to stay away. Rightly so. For the past while what has been offered up as Gaelic football has been nothing but pure crap.

There’s a breed of manager out there who are committed to negative, defensive football. They don’t believe that entertainment is part of the game. All that matters is the result and a scoreline of 0-2 to 0-1 is acceptable so long as their team has the point advantage after the seventy minutes. Most of these managers are from Ulster but team managers in the other three provinces have become infected with the blanket defence tactic. They don’t have much choice. It’s a case of if we can’t beat them we must join them. The powers that be in the GAA were happy enough to tolerate the boring games, the back passing, the buck passing, the hand-passing, the delaying tactics and the sheer lack of sportsmanship that prompted players to play keep-ball once they got their noses in front.

The top brass and indeed some in the enlightened media even suggested that the sport should not be viewed as a spectacle but rather as a game of chess played on a field 120 yards long and ninety yards wide in which tactics and, of course, the outcome were more important than the game. Supporters finally forced the issue simply by staying away from the game and not alone did they stay away, for the most part they even decided not to tune into televised games. The penny dropped for the game’s administrators when the income flagged and fell off a cliff. It was time to do something and that naturally necessitated the establishment of a committee.

And on this occasion the committee was made up of people who had something to offer rather than the usual nonagenarians (nothing against older people!) selected on a regional basis who generally inhabit GAA committees and spend a lot of time coming up with very little. Jim Gavin as Dublin manager and James Horan as Mayo manager produced games of excellent quality and thrilling performances during their heyday. We have seen nothing like the excitement those clashes produced since Gavin and Horan departed the scene.

So, Friday night a Connacht selection played a Leinster selection while Ulster took on Munster. Perhaps I was expecting too much but I was, initially, disappointed. There was still too much handpassing and quite often the handpassing was executed to no purpose. The handpass was introduced into Gaelic football to give players an escape route when surrounded by opposing players. Nowadays it has become a safe and lazy way to play the ball without really achieving anything. Back and over, back and over again, give to the lad coming off the shoulder, boring, boring, boring.

Leinster looked like they had not done any preparation for this game and Connacht soon established an unassailable lead. Many of the Connacht lads were able to kick the ball, something that the Leinster lads found difficult to contend with. As the game progressed Padraic Joyce replaced a number of his key players to give the full squad a run out and Leinster came more into the game.

There were elements of the 'new' rules that came to the fore but what I found encouraging was the opportunity given to the full-back line to show what they were capable of when it came to defending. Galway’s Johnny McGrath, Roscommon’s Brian Stack and Seán Mulkerrin (Galway) are not exactly big men in the mould of (let’s say) Noel Tierney, but they showed they are footballers and in the absence of a crowded blanket defence they were outstanding. The man of the match accolade was given to Aidan O’Shea and he was a worthy recipient but, if the decision was mine, I would have given it to the tigerish and diminutive McGrath. He was unbeatable.

While the games did not live up to my expectations, there was enough to see that the Football Review Committee’s (FRC’s) recommendations should be given a proper trial and by the time you read this it is expected that Central Council will have given the green light to the proposals so that the trials can begin in earnest in the upcoming national leagues.

Now, not to detract from the consideration given and the hard work undertaken by the FRC members, but I have to wonder why it was necessary. On my way back from Dublin, I turned in for a while to the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence in Bekan where Mayo GAA Bord na nÓg was running off a series of Under 17 league finals. I had a particular interest in the Burrishoole/Islandeady clash with Shrule/Glencorrib, a game that was won by Shrule/Gencorrib, in extra time, on a score of 3-12 to 2-14.

This turned out to be an excellent and exciting game of football played under the existing rules but without the invasive and destructive contribution of negative coaches. The young lads knew how to kick the ball which was refreshing and only resorted to handpassing when absolutely necessary. It was thoroughly enjoyable to watch and convinced me that there was no great need for the Football Review Committee. The game is fine when it is played in the right spirit. But the problem remains: how do we get rid of the negative coaches.

There is a simple solution, but not one that is likely to find favour with the top brass. The simple solution would be to create two championships. Let the Ulster counties have their own championship with their blanket defences and negative approach. Counties such as Antrim, Fermanagh and possibly Down, who have footballing pedigree, could be allowed the choice to play in the Ulster Championship or to throw their lot in with the Connacht, Leinster, Munster Championship.

Fermanagh would be an addition to Connacht, Antrim could fit nicely into Leinster while Down, distance notwithstanding, would, in time, be a good fit for Munster where their innate footballing instincts would flourish and they could add spice to what too often is a predictable Munster championship. There is an obvious problem in that with just three provinces there would be a gap in the All-Ireland semi-finals but with some smart thinking and the use of a limited round robin series a suitable solution could be found.

I’d leave the lads up the north the title of All-Ireland champions and whoever would come through in the south could be the All-Ireland B champions. Those southern teams that would not be in the round robin series could play off in the Tailteann Cup, with the final in Croke Park as a curtain raiser to the All-Ireland B championship. The situation could be reviewed after five years and if there was a team from Ulster that could show an ability to kick the ball and who could prove a fear of confined spaces in front of the goal on a football field then an application to play in the southern championship could be considered. Equally, a team in the southern championship could apply to join our northern brethren if they feel unable to shake off the blanket approach, to which they have become infected.

Thought for the Day 

A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles.

- William Hazlett