The waiting is over as GAA’s experimental rules go on trial in college matches
And so it begins – the sports of Gaelic football and hurling are now on trial. Well, kind of. The widely discussed trial window for experimental rules in both codes has arrived, with the opening round of matches in Division One of the third-level football league – the Ryan Cup – taking place this week. The first round of matches in the corresponding hurling league are due to take place on October 22nd, albeit college fixtures are susceptible to change at this time of the year. Still, on the football front, the first official game took place in Sligo on Monday night when ATU Sligo hosted Dublin City University at Knocknarea Arena. There have been several challenge matches recently as some teams tried to familiarise themselves with the rules before playing under them in competitive outings. There are further Division One football league fixtures scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday of this week too. Members of the Kevin McStay-chaired Gaelic football Expert Advisory Group (EAG) will be in attendance at the round-one games this week, but the data from these contests will not be central to the review at the end of the competition. The GAA ’s Games Intelligence Unit has identified 15 fixtures in particular to record and analyse – the eight round-two matches, the four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the final. The round-one matches this week are being viewed largely as a bedding-in period for players and managers to get accustomed to the rules. And the EAG do not intend putting too much focus on round three either as, depending on results, there could be several dead-rubber matches in that round. The higher education competition is played on a round-robin format with four groups of four teams. The four table-toppers and runners-up will advance to the quarter-final stages. The final is due to be played on the week beginning November 23rd. Among the rules being trialled in football include a ban on fisted points, increasing the worth of a goal to four points, limiting consecutive handpasses to three and implementing a backcourt rule whereby a team cannot play the ball back across the halfway line once they’ve entered the opposition half of the pitch. John Meyler’s Hurling Expert Advisory Group will see their recommendations officially trialled from next week. There are also some challenge games taking place this week. Among the hurling ‘rule enhancements’ to be road-tested include awarding two points for a converted sideline cut and a regulation that on puck-outs, three players from each team must remain between the 45-metre line (nearest the player pucking out the ball) and the 21-metre line. Dublin hurler Conor Burke believes the trial rules should be given a chance in the upcoming third-level games before any definitive pronouncements are made. And the St Vincent’s clubman is particularly interested to see how the alteration to 65s will impact matches. During the trial, 65s will be struck from a player’s own 65-metre line rather than the opposing team’s 65-metre line. “There are no free-takers in the country that have an issue scoring 65s these days,” said Burke. “But I did hear John Kiely raise a good point that the 65-metre line on every pitch is different, the distance between them, so they’re going to land differently. That’s a very valid point, so there are arguments for and against everything. “The evolution of hurling has been brilliant and we want that to continue, but we also don’t want to bring in rules that go against the great stuff that’s already happening. “I think you need to be open to change but also appreciate that the game evolves in a way that we don’t want to disrupt that as well.” One of the more interesting trial rules will see consecutive handpasses outlawed. Instead, if a player receives a handpass he must then strike the ball with his hurl rather than move it on with his hand. “The game is so quick that instinctively you do things from playing for 25 years,” added Burke. “So, it’s hard to know until you’re actually in that environment, when you’re in getting tackled by three or four lads from the opposition, what your first instinct is. “So that’s why I’m saying obviously you need to have a bit of time to get used to things. “There’s no question if some of the rules come in that they’ll definitely change the way the game is going. “The rule changes have been great [in football], so that’s why I think it’s important to stay open-minded to potential change, but just hope that the changes do make sense.” Both committees will complete a review at the end of the third-level competitions before further trials could take place in the pre-league intercounty tournaments next January.