Saturday’s GAA Central Council meeting has become unexpectedly significant, as a revolt against suspending the preseason provincial tournaments picks up pace.
Previously, the meeting was the focus of interest because of its function in approving the Football Review Committee’s (FRC) proposed rule reforms for November’s special congress.
Those FRC proposals have been dragged into the preseason argument because players will likely need to accustom themselves to the new regulations — seven core proposals or “rule enhancements” as they are ingeniously termed, plus ancillary provisions.
Whereas that reality made the decision to suspend the low-key tournaments slightly unusual, the fact is that they had long been on the radar as fixtures that should disappear in the newly congested intercounty calendar and the Central Competitions Control Committee had been pushing for their removal.
Also advocating that change was the Gaelic Players Association, which spearheaded the suspension at September’s meeting of the central council.
Crucially, the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) had the support of GAA president Jarlath Burns, who agreed with the move in the light of increasingly unsustainable demands on intercounty players, particularly those whose teams do well in club championships. Accordingly, the suspension was approved.
The pushback has run an undercurrent through the coverage of the FRC proposals, as committee members bit their lips — not wanting to cut across a central council decision but unable to restrain all feelings of frustration at the loss of further trials.
That is one argument but possibly not vital given that the rules will only enter a proper acclimatisation zone in next year’s league. The other, more potent disagreement is financial. Cavan and Wicklow signalled their intention to look for a reversal of September’s decision but the first shots were fired by Connacht Council a week ago.
In a statement assessing potential losses from the suspension of its FBD leagues at €150,000, the province announced likely resulting cutbacks. Ulster Council has briefed its counties and a key concern is the loss of revenue involved in missing out on a McKenna Cup in a year with Armagh as All-Ireland champions.
The GPA reacted angrily this week at the proposed elevation of revenue over “the health and wellbeing of our amateur athletes, despite overwhelming evidence of player burnout”.
If the timing of the original move was peculiar, the decision has now been taken and it would be extraordinary for the central council to reverse itself on a matter of player welfare within seven weeks, particularly with the president so closely aligned with the move.
That is however what may well happen.
On the rules, nothing the FRC has learned indicates that the central council won’t simply approve the ideas for delegates’ consideration in six weeks’ time.
The changes have been altered slightly after last weekend’s big triage in the interprovincial competition at Croke Park.
After review, it was decided to abolish the two points for kicking 45s and not to proceed with the increased, four-point value of the goal. The first tweak was expected, as 45s are routinely converted by practised place kickers but also because they frequently result from a skilful aspect of defending, either tackling or blocking.
A defender in that position would be better off fouling for a free that would cost a point rather than presenting the opposition with a two-point opportunity.
Devaluation of the goal was however unexpected. There had been concerns that four-point goals and the new two-point shot over the bar from outside the 40m arc had the potential to end contests early.
The first of last weekend’s matches, Connacht vs Leinster, which was the least competitive of the four fixtures created immediate alarm, as Connacht streaked ahead and never looked likely to be challenged.
Deploying it as an argument against proposals caused anxiety to the FRC, who pointed out that uncompetitive fixtures were a reality in the game whatever the rules but addressing that had not been part of the committee’s remit.
Concerns about the two-pointers abated but the four-point goal emerged as an issue when considering how delegate-friendly the package would be at special congress.
There is a long-standing belief among some administrators that football rules should not diverge too much from those of hurling.
A four-point goal was the most conspicuous example of football becoming “a new game” and not simply a better version of itself but it is still a surprise that it has been jettisoned given the now arguably skewed differentials with two-pointers available and a goal remaining at three.
It will also become clear in what manner the FRC wishes to present the motions: as one overarching package, individual proposals or the halfway house of a smaller number of interlinked amendments. The committee were advised on this by the GAA’s Rules Advisory Committee on Thursday evening.
