It’s a Ferm no for Rory..
RULE CHANGES REJECTED, BAR SIN BIN
RORY GALLAGHER says the raft of proposed rule changes would force him to “look for a bigger breed of player” if introduced.
The Fermanagh manager feels that proposals from the standing committee on playing rules around restricting the handpass, expanding the mark, forcing sideline kicks to go forward in most cases and kickouts to travel beyond the 45 are “very drastic”.
He is less critical of plans to expand the mark whereby defenders and attackers could take a free having won clean possession from a kickpass delivered from outside the 45 beyond the 20-metre line, while he favours the reintroduction of the sin bin in some form.
Gallagher’s Fermanagh play a possession-based game and being forced to kick the ball after a maximum of three handpasses would demand a markedly different game plan.
“I would be very much against the restriction of the handpass,” he said. “Anybody in competitive sport is in it because they want to be as competitive as they can, they shouldn’t be penalised if they want to retain possession.
“If you’re going to lead to more kicking of the ball, it will lead to more collisions, physicality and one-on-one battles.
“It’s a 15-man sport that can be played any way, it doesn’t necessarily have to be one-onone battles.
“If you’re forced to kick the ball as regularly as that, I think it will reward physically more powerful and bigger players.
“You would have to look for a bigger breed of player if you’re going to kick more ball.
“Looking at where I’m living at the minute in Donegal, so many of the clubs play on the coast and you get very strong breezes.
“They might play 10 home games a year, six or seven of them with very strong breezes, and to be forced to kick the ball when you feel it’s in your best interests to run the ball, I think that would be very drastic.”
Gallagher would favour a rule whereby once a team crosses its own 45, or possibly even 65, they can’t then play the ball back over that line. “That would make it easier for teams to hunt the ball down – 143 or 144 metres is a huge pitch to hunt the ball down if a team is determined to keep possession late on.”
Gallagher also feels that the level of tactical innovation in kickouts over recent years has been an adornment on the game.
“The quick kickout is rewarding quick-thinking players. Yes, it’s moved away from some of the high catching but some of the most brilliant moments of skill have been keepers kicking the ball out and finding free men and being able to keep possession like that.”
The former Donegal boss would be more in favour of the sin bin being for a 15-minute period rather than just 10.
He added: “Taking a black card with 15 minutes to go, defending a five-point lead, they’ll do it no problem once they’ve a sub to come on. That’s the reality of it.
“If you lost someone for 15 minutes it would make the game more free-flowing, it would reward more skilful play. It’s something well worth looking at.”