Changes in the GAA - super thread

Why not have both? Players vote as well as journalists. i think the format of competitions will help just see finalists/semi finalists be rewarded more

I dont see a 4 team all star would be great at pre season at all. might get good tv coverage but how many players would take part. county managers wouldnt want it nor would county boards.

Why is a warm up game needed? Most other players in other counties could have club championship or anything else on.

Why do you need to have 25th anniversary teams more a part of the occasion. and how do you do that?

Finalists? Would they really want to come on. fair enough celebrate/honour the winners of the past but the runners up as well? Would they really be interested in that?

Such as?

I see there scheduling league games for Paddys Day next year

I'd imagine could be some chaos getting too venues

----

Just sparked from a something another poster said on another thread - basically going on about how teams keep the ball for ages in football, hoping the other side make a mistake.

Would the simple answer be a shot clock (like in basketball) could be the answer to that 'keep ball' problem? 1/2 minute limit? Have a separate ref for it in the stands. Anything more than 2 minutes of keep ball is really taking the mick as far as I am concerned. I remember years ago div 2 final Galway v Kildare. Both sides were afraid to get out of their own half and afraid to take any shot. It was not a great spectacle for the neutral.

I think could make it harsh and give a 45 to the opposition for repetitive breeching of the rule etc. That would put some smacht on them.

Yeah, hard to figure it out. That is why I said two mintues max - 30 seconds does not seem long enough.

Though a rule like that would fundamentally change the sport and could have unintended consequences - (like the advanced mark). There definitely needs to more incentive for attacking in football though. Way too easy for a side to just shut up shop. Maybe 5 points for a goal would be a much simpler solution? Or would that make some sides even more defensive?

I don't mind a small bit of defensive football, but when they are all at it gets silly - no contrast in styles. It does not make for a nice spectacle and would not encourage neutrals to switch on.

Came on here to raise a point, and hope this is the correct forum.

First off, I'm not a bigg GAA fan. I'll get that out in the open, and may get told to butt out due to this, but I would have followed a bit of football many moons back.

My point is about hurling though. Always enjoyed watching it over the years, and I know it's a very skillful game and a tough one as well, but as a spectacle is it starting to fail a little bit? I think with the strength of the players now, plus their skill levels, scoring is too easy. Watching games, guys are scoring from 3/4 of the pitch away, and seem to do it with ease. Their accuracy is amazing.

Do rules need changed? Or equipment? To make it harder to score from so far out?

I think this is good idea, simple and does not radically change both codes. A slightly smaller ball in football might be the answer either.

It would be great to see the end of glorified hurling free-taking competitions, constant risk adverse football.

Your ideas are much better than the one I was thinking the last day when watching hurling, that that it should be 1 point for a placed ball, 2 points from play. It was correctly pointed out to me that fellas would be deliberately fouling then. So that would end up creating more problems than it would solve.

Hurling is in danger of moving from the fastest field game in the world to the most "stop start" game in the world at this rate.

I was trying to think of some in-between benefit instead of a free that would be permitted to shot at goal.

Maybe a sin bin for 2 minutes for a foul might be better than a free? Could have a ref in the stands to time that.

Only a max of 3 players can be sin binned from a team at any one time, then it reverts to the current type of free instead of a sin bin rule?

Because if a team cannot take advantage of being 3 men up there must be something wrong.

You certainly would have open games.

Yeah something like that, because missing a player for two minutes in hurling can count for a lot. As there is no "black card" in hurling it could be a nice happy medium,

But what would worry me is the competence of the officials to keep track of it, it could be fairly constant. The watch could stop, they could leave it at home etc

Jayus I must have gotten a wallop of a hurl to forget that.

Would like to see them try a ban on the ball going backwards past the 21/45/65.

Larry McCarthy is a strange man. I thought we couldn't top his "and now we move on to the liars" All Ireland hurling speech but his final speech about paedophiles and sectarian cold cases was a real blast.

A positive change for the GAA this weekend I think.

Martin Breheny on again about 5 points for a goal he's been writing this article for as long as I've been reading the paper (25 years).Utterly stupid suggestion as if a goal is worth 5 points it devalues scoring a point and therefore ends up making the game completely tedious as teams have to go searching for goals in the main.

Of course it would devalue scoring points. A value of 5 for a goal is ridiculous and really jumps the line of the risk/reward of going for a goal when it’s worth 3.

They’ve sussed it out in basketball that the value of a 3 pointer and the % chance of making one makes it worthwhile to just shoot, shoot and shoot. The value of the 2 pointer is gone now essentially unless it’s a dunk or easy layup.

In Gaelic football a 5 point goal would do the same. Going for a 1 point shot would pretty much always be crazy. Also, if you’re chasing a game and you’re fouled - the time it’ll take to get a single point back with your free wouldn’t be worth it anymore.

I often wonder would a 2 point shot have the same effect the 3 pointer had in basketball.You would think it would encourage teams to go for more long range points which would cause defenses to push out and therefore open up space closer to goal.