IF THE big freeze passes over the island, the Gaelic football season will begin nationwide this weekend. With it comes a new set of experimental rules that are supposed to improve the game from a spectator and playing perspective.

Successfully used in Australian Rules, and the currently shelved cross-breed compromise game, the mark arrives to the native game. Former Waterford football manager John Kiely was on the committee that drafted the experimental rules and he sees the calling of a mark between the two 45s, coupled with all kick-outs being moved to the 13 metre line, as progress.

“I like the idea of the mark,” said Kiely. “Some people are shooting it down because they are under the opinion when the ball comes lár na páirce and the guy catches that the referee is going to blow the whistle and we are going to have this big hold-up in play but the player can deliver the ball immediately if he is not brain-dead and in a good position.

“Hopefully it will bring the day of the fetcher back into the game. Some counties will benefit more from it; teams like Derry who have three or four big midfielders on their panel like Joe Diver.

“Management teams will have to work new ways to counter a recognised fetcher. Opponents will go out to destroy him but then that brings another thing into it; you will need a horse of a guy out there minding the fetcher which could bring a whole new dimension to Gaelic football.”

A few years ago the managers collectively blew the experimental rules, particularly the sin bin, out of the water with negative comments on the first weekend of preseason competition. It might happen again but Galway manager Joe Kernan is keen to give them every opportunity to evolve, although he does raise an obvious warning about the new square-ball rule, or lack thereof.

“The referee now has to make a decision if there is a foul in the square,” said Kernan. “There are still major decisions. I’m a goalkeeper who has to catch a ball and I’m knocked into the net, is it legal or illegal? That still leaves a lot of pressure on the referee.

“When I heard of that one I smiled as it reminded me of years gone by when you finish up with six men in the back of the net along with the ball.

“The game was different then so common sense should prevail. The goalkeepers have got away very easy for a long time. Not so much any more.”

A lack of consultation has in the past been an easy stick to beat any significant rule changes with but Kiely is joined by Séamus Woods (Chairman), Patrick Doherty (Secretary), Pat Daly (Croke Park), Michael Curley, Michael McGrath, Oisín McConville, Liam Sammon and Anthony Rainbow on the football committee that agreed on these experiments. That’s a decent mix of administrators, along with recent managers and players.

“Séamus Woods from Carrickmore was on the committee,” Kiely continued. “To be honest with you, an awesome man and one of the most impressive people I’ve ever been involved with in the GAA. He interviewed four of the top referees in the country so it’s not just a crowd of radicals who just sat down and decided this is it.

“We’ve done our research; interviewed managers and had players on the committee (like Oisín McConville). We put a lot of thought into it.

“What did (John Fitzgerald) Kennedy say? ‘We should never negotiate out of fear but we should never fear to negotiate’.”

Tighter restrictions on the hand-pass, now just a fist-pass, and bounce should make life easier for referees while restricting the more subtle arts of shifting the football. Along with the mark, it all seems like an attempt to curtail the ever-growing adoption of basketball-type skills in to Gaelic football.

“Years ago the fist-pass was one of the great skills in the game and many scores came from it so while you are doing away with something that is practically illegal you are bringing in a skill that might benefit,” added Kernan.

“The old rule was if I didn’t catch the ball I could bounce it three or four times and run on. It would seem a wee bit unfair to bounce the ball twice and be blown up even if you didn’t catch it.”

Congress will vote on these experiments, individually, in April.