‘EVERY TIME YOU ARE MAKING A DECISION YOU HAVE THREE OR FOUR THINGS TO TICK OFF IN YOUR HEAD’

THE package of new rules for Gaelic football remains a top priority as referees and players learn to adapt to the kick-out from the 20-metre line, the banning of a back pass from a kick-out, a 10-minute sin bin, and particularly the advanced mark which can be called inside the attacking ’45 for a clean catch, once the ball has travelled 20 metres. The GAA’s national match officials manager Donal Smyth (right) says the new rules certainly give officials plenty more to think about. ‘For myself refereeing it, even from a kick-out, you’ve three or four things to consider. Are they all outside the arc? ‘Are they all 13 metres from the ball? Next thing the ball is kicked out and it’s a kick-out mark. Then you have to think did it travel the distance? Plus you have the rule that it can’t go back to the goalkeeper. ‘Every time you’re making a decision, you’ve three or four things to tick off in your head to ensure the decision is correct. ‘Plus you can’t take a mark from another mark. Was it a free? And that’s kind of difficult. But fellas are getting used to it. It’s getting there. ‘That’s what players can find hard to understand, that the referee is blowing his whistle to indicate the mark. But he has to blow his whistle because there are so many conditions about the advanced mark. You have so many things in your head. ‘We had one in the senior championship here in Meath last week where the midfielder caught a mark from a kick-out, called it, and he kicked the ball inside where his team-mate claimed an advanced mark. The referee had to blow for over-carrying. Because it was a mark from a mark. ‘Same from a line ball or a free. It’s nuances like that.’