John O’Leary: Dublin will adapt to rule changes
Dublin’s 1995 All-Ireland-winning captain John O’Leary does not believe any of the proposed experimental rules for Gaelic football are aimed at curbing the county’s dominance at senior level.
In fact, O’Leary has welcomed the recommendation that all kickouts must pass the defending team’s 45-metre line, believing it will make the game more of a contest, and reckons his native county will be strong enough to adapt to the change.
However, he is unsure about the workability of each team having to have six defenders and a goalkeeper inside their 45m line for each kickout.
“I would prefer if the ball just had to cross the 45. It’s long overdue to change that rule because it’s made a mockery of the game as a contest. It’s great tactically but to watch it has made the game rubbish.
“This thing about keeping the players out of the zone in the middle when the kickout is taken might be tricky but I like what they’re doing. It’s worth trying.
“You could see fellas lining up on the two 45s and charging into that zone and it will be interesting.”
O’Leary is intrigued about the extension of the mark to inside the 20m line providing the ball has been kicked from outside the 45m.
“That’s really interesting and probably the most exciting and it could be the real game-changer more so than the kickout one because in a sense that brings it back to what it was in the past and four fellas jumping for a ball, a 50-50 contest. With the inside mark rule, you’re bringing back the Kieran Donaghy player. It will make the game more like Compromise Rules but it’s worth having a look.”
The five-time All-Star doesn’t see the forward sideline kick and limit of three consecutive hand-passes making much impact.
“The ball can still go backwards from the fella who is receiving the forward sideline kick. I’m not that convinced about the handpass one either because we had it before in the early 1990s when I think it was two handpasses in a row and it got messy with the counts and the quick handpasses.”
From his experience as Dublin’s senior ladies football manager in the early 2000s, O’Leary supports the sin bin proposal.
“You see it in rugby, you’re off for 10 minutes and your team suffers.
“Even at club level, if a fella gets a second yellow, he’s off for 10 minutes. Okay, there are fewer officials but it works really well in ladies football. I didn’t understand why it was thrown out the last time. It’s well worth bringing in.”
Rule change reminder
The number of consecutive passes of the ball with the fist or open hand shall be restricted to three.
The ball must be played in a forward direction, except when an attacking player is inside the opponents’ 13m line.
A mark will be awarded for a clean catch inside the 20m line from a kick delivered on or beyond the 45m line without it touching the ground. The free kick must be taken within 15 seconds from the hands.
A player who commits a black card infraction or two yellow card infractions will spend 10 minutes in a sin-bin.
Only two players from each team shall be positioned between the two 45m lines from kickouts, which must travel beyond the 45 before being played by a defender. The goalkeeper and a maximum of six players from each team shall be behind the respective 45m lines, until the ball is kicked.
