When push comes to shove we support these changes
BEGLEY SAYS GPA IS BEHIND TRYING 5 INITIATIVES
COLM BEGLEY has welcomed the GAA’S decision to review the experimental football rules ahead of the Allianz League.
Gaelic Players Association chief executive Paul Flynn (below) met with GAA president John Horan this week to express misgivings about the five rules, centred around sideline kicks, kickouts, a sin bin, a handpass limit and an advanced mark, being trialled in the secondary competition given its status.
With that in mind, the rules will be assessed by Central Council at its meeting on January 19 having been introduced for the pre-season competitions, which get underway next month.
Begley has just taken up employment with the GPA as a programme co-ordinator and was among the party that departed for the PWC All Stars tour to Philadelphia yesterday.
He said: “I think the main points that Paul raised were that the GPA are totally behind the new rules being implemented and tried out to try to help and change the game.
“The players are behind that. But I think the major concern for us and the members of the GPA was that these rules would be put into the League without review.
“Obviously the League is a massive competition. Probably the primary competition for a lot of players.
“So the concern for our members was that these rules were going to be put into the League no matter what happened in preseason.
“Our viewpoint with that was that after the pre-season competition they would be reviewed and looked at.
“We have around 50 games in the preseason competitions overall and that they’d be looked at individually to see whether they worked to improve the game.
“And the GAA told us that on the 19th of January there will be a review for it. We’re happy enough with that, that’s all we can ask for.”
Whatever comes out of the review, it is more likely to involve scrapping certain rules rather than further tweaking, Begley believes.
“I don’t think there’ll be tweaks to what they are now before the League. I think they’ll look at them, and if they’re not working or effective they won’t be involved in the League. That’s my understanding of it,” he explained. Another hot topic from last weekend’s Central Council is a second tier competition in football and, as an active Laois footballer who would likely be playing in it if introduced by 2020, Begley welcomes the prospect with a motion set to be put to next February’s GAA Congress on the matter.
“I would be in favour of it, I think down the line that’s the way it’s going,” said the 32-yearold. “How we format it, I’m not sure. It’s all about trying to get the same respect for whatever competition it is as what we get for the main one.
“I think that’s the concern among players. It has to be thought about, how you’d market it, how you’d push it, what incentives would be for it.
“But I think players realise that we’re not all on the same level. We all want to go for the Sam Maguire, that’s great, but sometimes we’re not there yet.
“The League, I think, is a great competition because for certain teams, for us this year, our goal was to get to Division Three, and try and win your two games in the Championship and see how that goes.”