GAA CAN'T AFFORD ANY HALF MEASURES

FRC'S changes have had a huge impact but their work is far from finished

- BY KARL O’KANE

GROUP THINK has surrounded the Football Review Committee's new rules for a while now.

Strangely, there have been few dissenting voices, bar a few serious football analysts who have employed the data they gather to make some strong cases.

It's hard to think of one pundit who has come out against the new rules over the past couple of months.

Maybe it’s because the inter-county season is over.

But what exactly were delegates voting on at the weekend?

Taken in isolation, each bundle of rules is probably an improvement to the game. And so is the total package but put them all together and it's far from perfect. There are very clear areas where the game can be improved and the FRC and GAA have to follow through on the substantial job they've done to date.

Jim Gavin and the FRC have been systematic and thorough, certainly in terms of ensuring their proposals sailed through the initial GAA Congress and last weekend's Special Congress.

It may be a big ask of them but they have to continue to review the game.

Football had gone so slow and possession-based that much of it was almost unwatchable, so the FRC couldn't fail but to improve the game.

But, as has been the suspicion from day one with some, the volume of change meant no one could be sure of the unintended consequences of so many new rules playing off against each other.

The FRC got it right tweaking the goalkeeper rule to prevent 12 v 11 attacks with the goalie involved but do they have the nerve to ditch any of their fundamental changes?