It might be confusing for those watching, and possibly for those playing, but one of the highlights of the wholesale changes to the playing rules in Gaelic Football this year has been the flexibility to ‘spot and fix’ in coaching parlance.

One of the rules that has caused consternation among fans of the penalised team has been the bringing forward by 50 metres of a breach in the rules where a player is tackled too soon after calling a mark from a kick-out.

It effectively meant a minimum one-point score and often a two-pointer, and was seen as too harsh a game changer for the offence.

So yesterday, as five of the teams came to Dublin to take part in media activity around the start of the knock-out phase and this weekend’s win-or-go-home preliminary quarter finals, the Football Review Committee met and asked that the rule be amended so that the penalty was now back to a free kick at the point of the challenge.

 

 

It’s not a recommendation to go through committees and a vote at the end of the year. It is to be introduced immediately and will apply to the four Inter-County games over the weekend as well as club games with immediate effect.

You’d want to have your wits about you as a referee, with the likelihood being that not every player or fan on the sideline might be aware of the change, but it’s the right thing to do, and it has been done.

The five counties that took part in the media activity, and the reason you will be seeing lots of their comment and analysis in your traditional media today, were reigning champions Armagh, with Oisin Jones pictured above, who don’t play until the week after, Donegal, Louth and Galway who play on Sunday and Kerry who play on Saturday.

Fair play to them and to the Rules Committee for not being afraid to admit where tweaks are needed.

 

 

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On what promises to be the most compelling and enervating weekend of football, this change is one of fairness, and the fact it can be introduced so quickly is a huge plus for the whole process that has allowed the Championship to become so unmissable.
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