Another GAA rule proposal scrapped ahead of next month’s meeting

Jim Gavin's Football Review Committee have amended more of their rule changes following last weekend's trial games.

Earlier this week, the controversial four-point goal rule was scrapped after it received plenty of criticism off the back of last weekend’s interprovincial matches.

According to Maurice Brosnan at the Irish Examiner, the FRC changed their mind on a couple of their new scoring suggestions following Friday and Saturday’s action, concluding that a goal will revert to three points, and 45s will now only be worth one point.

Players and managers who took part in the four matches were open and honest with their feedback on the new rules, with some commenting that the game felt quicker and more exciting, while others struggled to keep abreast of the new scoring system.

“There was a lot of space the ball was being kicked in,” said Saturday’s man of the match Riain O’Neill. “Teams aren’t going to open up that expansively at the end of the day. You’re trying to keep it as close as you can to win the game, and it’s hard to know how it will fit in if it comes in during the league.

“That might tell the tail when it’s windy, sticky conditions, smaller pitches, and bad fields; it might bring teams closer together, but it’s hard to judge it out there in Croke Park. It’s the best surface in Ireland, which results in a fast game.

The Crossmaglen man added: “As far as the scoring goes, my maths wouldn’t be great. I was trying to figure out the score. I was asking Aidan Forker the whole of the second half what the score was.”

Now, after meetings between Coiste Bainisíochta and Ard Comhairle this weekend, another amendment has been made to the proposed new rules.

One of the most-talked about new rules that seemed to irk both viewers and managers during last weekend's games was that umpires had to wave two flags for the two-point score

It was a strange sight when trialled first, as it seemed like the umpire had forgot to wave the red flag and the whole act looked fairly unnecessary.

It is now proposed that an orange flag will be waved in the event that a two-pointer is scored when a referee raises two hands in the air.

Speaking to RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport, Jim Gavin explained why the four-point goal proposed rule has been reverted back to three.

"The original proposition was to incentivise goals,” he said.

"The feedback we got from inter-county players and Ard Chomhairle members was that people felt it would work in competitive games, between teams of equal status, but with structures in the association, as we know, we get Division 1 teams against Division 4 teams.

“If a team from a lower division got behind by two goals, eight points, people felt in that scenario it would be quite difficult.”

All of the other proposed rules will be voted on when Special Congress takes place on November 30 at Croke Park.