THE GAA is to experiment again with the hand pass in both football and hurling. Modifications are to be introduced in the National Leagues as part of the experimental provisions put forward by sub-committees appointed to consider both games and approved at the weekend by Central Council. They will be trialled during next year’s NFL and NHL competitions.

There has been growing concern at the looseness of much of the hand passing in both games. For the duration of the trial in football, a pass will have to be played with the fist in a visible striking movement whereas in hurling, where blatant throwing has been a feature of matches even at the highest level, the sliotar must be tossed into the air and played away.

The hand pass has been a recurring issue for the GAA down through the years and has gone in and out of fashion since the 1940s.

These are just two of the ideas that are due to be announced this week by the GAA.

In football the mark is to be introduced and awarded for a clean catch between the 45 metre lines taken from a kick-out. This idea, gleaned from the international rules series, is intended to reward high catching in football and address the situation in which the player fetching the ball is surrounded when he returns to the ground and sometimes penalised for not releasing the ball.

One of the games’ most contentious provisions, the square ball rule, is to be relaxed.

Co-incidentally both provincial club finals on Sunday featured examples: Gary Dolan’s effort for Garrycastle was allowed in the Leinster decider but down in Limerick Kerins O’Rahillys were denied a last-gasp win against Kilmurry-Ibrickane when Declan Quill’s goal was ruled out.

A proposal to prevent matches ending while one of the teams is on the attack will be introduced. This will stipulate that full-time and half-time cannot be signalled until the ball has crossed a boundary line although it will still be open for a defender to put out the ball and bring the match to an end.

Compared to the football experiments, hurling’s trial rules will be less radical. One controversial subject that has apparently been tackled, however, is the question of penalising goalkeepers for pucking out the sliotar from outside of the small rectangle.

In the past – and most controversially in last year’s Munster under-21 hurling final – any such infraction has been punished by the concession of a 65, which at the end of a close match is potentially fatal for the offending team, as it was for Clare against Tipperary in the above match. During the coming months the penalty for this will instead be a throw-in on the 20-metre line.

Players deliberately stepping outside of a boundary line to gain an advantage will be subject to a yellow card.

Penalties in football have been made easier by bringing forward the kick two metres. This reflects concern that the difficulty in converting the awards was effectively rewarding cynical play and whereas the conversion rate in hurling is believed to be in the region of 80-20, the comparable ratio in football is a significantly lower.

If the trials prove a success the proposals can go forward to next April’s annual congress for permanent adoption in the Official Guide.

Under rule experimental provisions are allowed to be trialled every five years despite a motion from Tyrone in recent years to prohibit experimentation for a longer period.

• The Cavan footballers will host a fight night charity fundraiser in Cavan on December 11th in the Imperial Bar, Cavan Town.

Among those taking part will be senior county manager Tom Carr, who said: “A lot of teams try the same thing year in year out but to no avail – but we wanted to mix it up a bit. It’s all for a bit of crack, plus charities will benefit from the players efforts on the night.”

• Donegal Creameries has announced that it will be the Official sponsor of the Donegal GAA county teams for the new season in 2010. The company is a local creamery, which employs over 100 people and has been in operation in the county since 1899.

Hand pass

In football, a hand pass will have to be played with the fist in a visible striking movement. In hurling, the sliotar will have to be tossed in the air and played away.

The mark

In football, a mark will be awarded for a clean catch between the 45-metre lines from a kick-out.

Full-time

Full-time and half-time will only be signalled when the ball has crossed a boundary line.

Puck-outs

Goalkeepers who puck out the sliotar from outside of the small rectangle will be penalised by the award of a throw-in from the 20-metre line.

Boundary lines

Players deliberately stepping outside of a boundary line to gain an advantage will be subject to a yellow card.

Penalties

Penalties in football have been made easier by bringing forward the kick from 13 to 11 metres.