Hand-pass rule adding to confusion, so don’t count on its survival
ONE-TWO-THREE, one-twothree… On a weekend when RTÉ’s Dancing with the Stars was unleashed on a suspecting public, the experimental rules represent a kind of last waltz for Gaelic football.
Like contestants keeping time on the dancefloor, players the country over have been reduced to the same basic arithmetic to keep in time with the three hand-pass limit, one which has their team managers in a state of revolt.
At various different grounds on Sunday, you could hear the counting going on. The new, highly-choreographed version of the game that the standing committee on playing rules has brought forward, faces its own moment of truth on Saturday week when county board delegates at Central Council level will decide whether the package of rule changes will also be implemented in the Allianz Football League, in addition to the current early-season competitions.
Is this to be the future of Gaelic football? Players and backroom team members shouting numbers at each other and the referee throughout a game? Has the creativity of players been reduced to this? In terms of artistic expression, it’s the equivalent of painting by numbers.
Here’s Cork football manager Ronan McCarthy’a view: ‘You shouldn’t have players counting their hand-passes. They should be able to play naturally and freely.’
One-two-three, one-two-three… it’s like a beginner’s guide to the sport.
The problem is, there is so much other stuff going on in a game of football that even that basic arithmetic is being lost in translation – not only by the players but, more significantly, by referees.
In the first game under the new rules, Wexford’s Paul Curtis found the net in the first half of December’s O’Byrne Cup game against Louth. Referee David O’Connor did a solid job overall in wet and cold conditions but missed the fact that the score came on the fourth hand-pass. The ball had been kicked out and play had restarted when, his ears ringing in protest from the Louth management team, O’Connor was informed of the error by a sideline official. After a stoppage, the score was cancelled.
Imagine the same happening in a decisive League or knockout Championship game?
Versions of the same have been happening in different grounds since. Wexford had another goal disallowed for the same reason on Saturday, this time against Meath in Enniscorthy.
Three times, Westmeath were penalised against Kildare at the weekend for breaching the limit of three hand-passes, the frustration compounded when it restricted a goal-scoring opportunity.
In Carrick-on-Shannon, the drama of Mayo winning a novel penalty shootout against Leitrim was almost overshadowed by the hosts’ midfielder Dean McGovern setting up Damian Moran for a stoppage-time equaliser. McGovern had picked up a yellow card to go with an earlier black, so he should have been off the field.
Yet the general consensus was, all things considered, referee James Molloy handled the game, and the application of the new rules, well overall. Remember, the package of radical changes also includes an offensive mark, sin-bin, kick-outs being taken from the 20-metre line, and sideline kicks having to go forward. It’s just that with so much more added responsibility, it’s nigh on inevitable something — or somebody — will fall through the cracks.
Declan Bonner delivered arguably the ultimate insult after his side coasted past Down in the McKenna Cup. He admitted that Donegal have blithely ignored the new handpass rule on the basis that it will ultimately be binned. For that reason alone, expect the hand-pass rule to come under the most pressure to be ditched at the next Central Council meeting.
It would be unfortunate, though, if the work of the playing rules committee was ignored after getting to this point. The proposed rules changes are intended to protect the core skills of Gaelic football and are based on weighty statistical analysis, documenting how the number of hand-passes has increased as to mess with the game’s fundamentals.
Doing nothing isn’t a viable option. However, there are other, more palatable alternatives that offer a solution and do more to address the root cause, rather than the symptoms.
Declan Bonner delivered the ultimate insult, admitting Donegal blithely ignored the new rule