Mícheál Bannigan of Monaghan poses for a portrait before a media conference at Bective Stud in Balgil, Navan, Meath, ahead of the upcoming Allianz Football League Division 2 match between Meath and Monaghan on Sunday, March 16th. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
By John Harrington
Monaghan captain, Micheál Bannigan, isn’t just enjoying playing football a lot more under the new FRC rules, he finds it much more entertaining to watch too.
He doesn’t mind admitting that for the past couple of years if a football match came on tv he’d only watch it if there was nothing else on.
And even if he did give it a chance, he’d find that before too long he’d be scrolling on his phone instead because the action on tv just wasn’t captivating enough.
This year’s Allianz League campaign has been something different though, and Bannigan puts that squarely down to the impact of the new rules.
“Love them, absolutely love them,” says Bannigan. “I love the way the game is now. To play, it's far more enjoyable. To watch, as a neutral, it's far more entertaining.
“Definitely the last two years....like, I love watching football, but the last couple of years if there was any other option I would have watched something else. You'd flick it on and think, 'Oh, this might be a good game'.
“But it was hard to watch and the next thing you have your phone out. I just think it's far more entertaining to watch now, you're not switching it off for anything else. It's far more enjoyable to play.
“You could nitpick and take one rule and tweak it here or there but I think never mind the rules, the game right now is a lot more enjoyable and entertaining.”
You might say that Bannigan is biased because he’s a forward and the new rules have given them greater space to thrive in, but that’s not what he enjoys the most.
“Well that obviously is one element, there's more space for a forward and that is way more enjoyable to play in, but it's just quicker, it's just quicker as a game.
“I was talking to someone earlier and they were saying, with the wind, without wind, why is it so much easier to get momentum and harder to break it? It's because the game is quicker.
“You could slow the game down last year so easily. By a kick-out, by a free, you could go down and hold your head, if the free was anywhere on the field you could slow it down.
“It was so much easier to waste two or three minutes of a game with the ball or without the ball. You can't do that now. It's solo and go, the game is back on, it's quick and I think that is the biggest reason. The game is just quicker.”
Conall McKeever of Louth in action against Micheal Bannigan of Monaghan during the Allianz Football League Division 2 match between Louth and Monaghan at Integral GAA Grounds in Drogheda, Louth. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
Is it refreshing for the players themselves that they’re no longer being instructed to slow down the game by foul means as well as fair.
Cynical play such as feigning injury and stopping players from taking quick frees has been excised from the game by the new FRC rule enhancements.
“It depends where you are from around the country, we would have called that being smart,” jokes Bannigan.
“But you're right, 100%, you do, you were trying to slow the game down, especially when you're playing a bigger team, or a team you would see as being a wee bit better than you and that you were going to be up against it.
“You'd say 'right...' and I think that's what a lot of teams would have done, they'd say, 'let's get the game to the last 10 minutes' and that's what would have happened in the last number of years.
“You could miss the first 60 minutes but then for the last 10 minutes both teams would say, 'There's a point in it, let's go for it'. But yeah, you would have been coached that (to be cynical) to a certain extent.”
Monaghan certainly look like they have adapted well to the new FRC rules with four wins from five matches in Division 2 while scoring an average of 28 points per match.
Have they transitioned to a more attacking game-plan under new manager Gabriel Bannigan this year?
“Yeah, we probably have,” says Bannigan, who is a nephew of the Monaghan manager. “We're playing a different way this year to how we were. That probably is because of rules as well.
“If we were to play the way we were playing last year, it wouldn't work with the new rules.
“Obviously Andy Moran came in from Mayo and with the Mayo play football he's putting his stamp on the team as well. Yeah, we probably are scoring a bit more. But it's hard to compare that to any other year with the way the rules are.”
Monaghan manager Gabriel Bannigan, left, and selector Andy Moran before the Allianz Football League Division 2 match between Roscommon and Monaghan at King & Mofatt Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon. Photo by Stephen Marken/Sportsfile.
What sort of impact has Moran had on the group? Has he focused mainly on working with the forwards?
“He coaches us everything, he's the main coach,” says Bannigan. “Obviously forward play is probably his main area but he's just a bundle of energy.
“The man is a lunatic, he has so much energy. He is so enthusiastic and positive and has brought that to the group. He's been unbelievable to be honest.
“He loves football. Just watches it and eats, sleeps, drinks it.”
Monaghan’s League campaign reaches an important fork in the road on Sunday when they travel to Navan to play Meath at Páirc Tailteann.
The Royals also have eight points after five matches and whoever comes out on top will put themselves in a great position to secure promotion to Division 1 for the 2026 campaign.
Bannigan is expecting it to be a tough battle against a Meath team that looks to be tracking a steadily upward curve.
“Yeah, I've been impressed with Meath,” he says. “They're really big men and they've young boys who came in from their U20s.
“Obviously we played them in the championship last year and a lot of them young boys weren't there and they've come in and they've really found their feet at senior level which isn't easy to do when you're coming in as a young player into a team like. Yeah, they're playing good stuff. Going well, 4 out of 5.
“You definitely respect them and think it's going to be a tough game.”
Sunday, March 16
Allianz Football League Division 2
Meath v Monaghan, Páirc Tailteann, Navan 2pm