Why wont die hard GAA fans admit football these days is muck?

Spot on. Sadly.

Fair point - and that also comes back to the earlier point on player fitness - the reason for the 12 defenders is because basically 28 lads are running up and down and up and down the pitch for 75 minutes. What do you think of a shot clock type set up? Or alternatively, having less players on the pitch. 13 a side.

Just ban the hand pass and have only kick passes and you'd have football again. By all means solo with the ball and kick from the hand, either to pass or for a score.

Weekend of puke football

Good luck to Galway though

All is says is that since kickouts have become such an important part of the game that goalkeepers have become the best players in the team at kicking long range off the ground.

Hardly surprising that so many then take 45s.

There was a instance yesterday in the Derry game where the wing back carried the ball through the Kerry defence, got to the 21 right in line with the right hand post and instead of shooting, popped a pass off to McGuigan. The Kerry defender who was coming across to tackle the wing back, just switched his attention to McGuigan and with the extra second it took to pass and shape for the shot he ended up making it and blocking him down. Ball turned over, Kerry went down and scored. Absolutely criminal 2pt swing. If you can't kick the ball over the bar from the 21 with your bad foot, never mind your good one, you have no business even playing football, much less winding up in an AIQF.

A two pointer rule would pulls defences out further giving the attacking team the option of attempting the shot, taking on an isolated defender or playing over the top in the space created between the perimeter and the goal defenders. You'd also have competent distance shooters camped on the two point line occupying defenders leaving more space at the goal.

It's basically becoming field basketball at that stage but at least it improves the spectacle.

I don't see handpassing ever been opted out from the game. Maybe limit number of passes in a row.

Although wasn't that tried before? Like about 50 other rules ha.

I used to think that the game would evolve and didn’t need intervention but it’s clear to see that rule changes badly need to be made.

The game is already unrecognisable to the sport it was even as recently as the 90’s and 00’s.

I don’t think any of the proposed changes could conceivably make the game any worse.

Doesn’t that say it all.

So it’s context then, rather than player skill?

hurling will never have the same issues because at any time a top player will ping it over the bar from 60 metres out, if given time.

In my opinion .
gaelic evolved on soccer professionalism .
Soccer is no where as fun as it was 30 years ago as every team are technically hard to penetrate. For that I’d do the following .

-) once possession is brought past the half way it can not be recycled back again into your own half . This is monitored by the ref .
Promotes turn overs .
-) keepers not allowed outside the 21.
-) 3 forwards and 3 backs must remain in their own half at all times . This allows for more space in attack . A difficult one but should be monitored by both lines men .
-) a second referee for each half of the pitch .
-) persistent off the ball fouling or persistent fouling in order to break down a counter attack results in a 21 yard free .
-) players faking head injuries in order to stop the game . It’s getting so much like soccer . If a player goes down holding his head then he must leave the pitch for assessment . Referees desecration on when to let him back on .

Getting rid of the preliminary QF would rank up the pressure in the groups from the off. As it is, you could lose two games and draw the other, and still go through. That would suck the life out of any championship in any sport.

Forcing teams to actually having to go and win at least one game to progress surely couldn't be a worse endeavour. And who knows, it might even be a way to change the mentality in the game as well given managers would have come up with plans to win rather than plans to contain.

Now, it may mean a couple of dead rubbers after two rounds, but dead rubbers are better than the dead-feeling round robin we have now.

And as someone else pointed out, part of the problem with the QF's was the atmosphere in Croke Park, it's too big. How about as a reward for, and an encouragement to go out and win games, the team that tops the group gets a home QF? Massive incentive, and likely a more vocal atmosphere for a QF in a home ground.

Football is a great sport and engagingly entertaining when the two teams are focused on going for the win, whenever we've had that on display we've usually had a great game. However, pure negativity seems to be the order of the day. So football probably does need some rule changes to encourage attacking football. But just a handful of tweaks would breathe life into the championship itself outside of the way the game is played, a poor structure is never going light a fire in people.

The reason that there was no 'atmosphere' in Croke Park and in other venues too is not that they are too big but that the action on the field of play is abysmal.

When you have long periods of nothing happening but players shunting up and down the field slowly, hand passing the ball backwards and sideways and the other team just gathering in their own half out come the phones and there is more interest in their content than the game.

The attraction of games is uncertainty and chaos coupled with skill and effort, not trying anything till its a near certainty to succeed makes for boring football as was well proved on Sunday.

Gaa need to wake up fast before the game sinks into a sludge of monotony which will drive paying spectators away.

Apparently Peter Canavan was complaining that teams have designated shooters, who need to stay close to the goals. He was the designated shooter for Tyrone, making him top scorer in Ulster three years in a row. Conor McManus was the same for Monaghan, he did it four years in a row.

It is nothing new in football, and top scoring forwards used to be heroes of the game instead of now being accused of ruining it. I don't remember Canavan wandering out the field too much to take pot shots from 40 metres.

Exactly, and very little will change unless the GAA clear the clipboard merchants off the backroom teams.

Lets hope Jarlath has the drive and will to drag Gaelic football out of the malaise it now wallows in.

There has been a couple of mentions of how advantageous a one hop one solo rule would be.

I don’t get how that would help in any way. You wouldn’t make lateral passages of play significantly more difficult.

What would become more difficult is any sort of flair from individual players. The Mulligan goal against Dublin would be impossible, the Flynn wonder point for Kildare a few years ago against Dublin too couldn’t happen, as well as countless other memorable moments in gaelic football.

It would make it more difficult to attack and easier to defend. Exactly the opposite of what’s needed to make the sport more spectator friendly.