‘It’s unnecessary’: Geaney latest star to criticise mark
KERRY sharp-shooter Paul Geaney is the latest highprofile player to criticise the introduction of the advanced mark into Gaelic football, saying it will move the game closer to Australian Rules. Even though Geaney is an excellent high fielder and the Kingdom would also benefit from Tommy Walsh’s presence in their attack, the Dingle forward believes that the rule change wasn’t necessary, as the day of massed defence in the game is coming to an end. Geaney also has an issue with the fact that forwards don’t have to catch the ball over their head and if they make a low catch, they will also be rewarded with a shot at goal. ‘You don’t have to be a good fielder, that’s one of the problems I have with it,’ he pointed out at Eir’s launch of their Allianz League coverage. ‘You can catch it at your feet and get a shot at goal for that. It will suit some and it won’t suit others. It won’t always be great placed-ball kickers who will win a mark, but everyone is going to practise that now.’ However, from his time playing International Rules, Geaney — who joins Dublin’s Jack McCaffrey, among others, in criticising the rule change — reckons there is a difference between a free kick and the kick you take after a mark. ‘When I played International Rules, I found that taking a mark is totally different to a free, even just with the routine of a normal free. There’s a different psyche to it. ‘But it is in now and hopefully, it will suit Tommy (Walsh). It’s good to have a guy in the squad that if we need to play that game, it almost guarantees it will work. On the flipside, you don’t want someone like Dean Rock getting a mark in the last second of a game if it’s a draw. The year will tell us a lot about the new rule changes. ‘But I don’t think the rule change was necessary. Massed defences aren’t really a thing any more. They are not even the way club teams are playing, because they model themselves off the best inter-county teams and most club sides have attacking corner backs like county teams. It wasn’t necessary and I don’t know the reasoning
behind bringing it in.’ Geaney feels that the GAA are too eager to make rule changes when there is often no need. He remarked: ‘We are very quick to bring in rule changes when a lot of things are cyclical, like the massed defence. The game sorted itself out. A team comes along with new coaching methods and a way of fixing the problem. Dublin came along and blew that away and now teams are modelling their games on
Dublin. Someone will figure out how to stop that and that will be the next thing for a while. Then the next thing and the thing after that. That’s how the game develops, it fixes itself in a lot of ways. Bringing in a rule forces things and you are now changing the game permanently. It’s closer to Aussie Rules now and I think that’s a bad thing. And I’m a forward, I should be benefiting from this rule but I don’t see how it is warranted.’