Fenton says football doesn’t need to be Dub-proofed

ONE of the conspiracy theories that can be heard around the capital in recent days is that the GAA’s drive to make Gaelic football a more aesthetically-pleasing sport is a response to Dublin’s recent dominance. But Brian Fenton, for one, doesn’t believe that the five proposed rule changes are an effort to Dub-proof the game.

The big midfielder, in the running for Footballer of the Year alongside teammates Jack McCaffrey and Ciarán Kilkenny, feels that the proposed changes are simply a reaction to the falling Championship attendances and a way of making the game a better spectacle.

‘I wouldn’t think of them like that,’ Fenton insists when asked if the changes are a response to Dublin’s success.

‘It has been well-publicised that attendances were lower last year and that viewership was lower. So, it’s not just us having won the last few years, I think there is a broader picture. I wouldn’t see these changes as a dig at Dublin or anything.’

And Fenton is largely in favour of the changes, as he believes it will enhance the skills of the game.

‘Anything that makes the game a better spectacle for the spectator and a better watch, I am a big fan of. Anything to promote the skills of the game — high catching, more scores — I am all for.

‘We all practise the skills of the game. With Dublin, every session is working on goal-scoring, point-kicking, high catching and kick-passing. All those basics.’

However, Fenton does feel that the playing rules committee should have included a couple of current players, rather than just ex-players and administrators.

‘All these rules are going to be trialled with the players, so they should have taken the opinions of players into account as well. I know there was a panel, but it would have been nice to see maybe a present player or two on that.’

Fenton, who famously has yet to lose a Championship game in his four seasons as a Dublin senior footballer, reckons that the game hasn’t changed that much since he established himself in midfield and he believes that the problems are below county level — at club and juvenile level where teams are playing too defensively.

‘Teams do set up defensively against us [Dublin] but that is just a different challenge, a great challenge. And we play open games as well, so it is a variety of everything. It hasn’t changed that much at inter-county level,’ Fenton says.

‘But I think it is changing on the club scene. You see club teams set up defensively, you see under-age teams playing with sweepers and that is not the best thing to see. At senior level, you can see the reason for teams setting up defensively but at junior level, skills should be promoted more than tactics.’

Fenton has become the driving force of Jim Gavin’s Dublin, controlling games for the All-Ireland champions. But the Raheny native believes that he had better seasons than the one just gone. It is only that he has added scoring to his array of skills that meant he was in the limelight more this summer.

‘If I actually look at my stats, I was probably lower in possession than other years. I think there is a tendency if you are on the scoreboard, you are in the limelight a little more and that is probably what has got me noticed this year.’

Still, the All-Star ceremony promises to be a special night for the Raheny club with Fenton nominated for Footballer of the Year and Brian Howard nominated for Young Footballer of the Year. That function is part of Fenton’s busy social schedule this winter — he is just back from Old Trafford where the lapsed Manchester United fan watched his team come back to beat Newcastle 3-2.

He is planning to enjoy the next few weeks because come January, all attention will turn to this Dublin team going down in GAA history. And Brian Fenton will have an integral part to play in that drive-for-five.