Ulster manager Kieran Donnelly during the Allianz GAA Football Inter-Provincial Series Briefing at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
Fermanagh manager Kieran Donnelly takes charge of Ulster for this weekend’s Allianz interprovincial series and is making one confident prediction – we can expect lots of high-speed football.
That, he believes, is the most apparent net effect of the Football Review Committee rule enhancements that will be road-tested in the four-matches played over Friday and Saturday.
The Ulster panel played their own in-house game last weekend to get accustomed to the rule enhancements, and Donnelly was enthused by what he saw.
“There was quite a lot of goal chances, which is not good for the health of managers on the sideline, but you did feel there was a lot more one v ones,” he said.
“The one thing that would probably be the most interesting, even over this weekend, would be the GPS data because there was a lot of high speed running, so the fact the ’keeper could get out quicker, the fact the 'Solo and Go' goal was evident, and then the fact, tactically, teams can be penned in more without being able to use the goalkeeper, led to probably a high octane game.
“The players enjoyed that side of it and, no doubt, felt it was faster.
"The high-speed running, you talk about that, I'd say most players at county level will be covering 2.4k (of high-speed running, not total running), that's probably added 500 metres to it, I would imagine over the game.
“The aerobic side of things might lessen because the ball will travel more, you get more traction in the shape, so the ball will be kicked more, but I’d say it’ll nearly become more anaerobic so it'll be higher intensity and that will probably change methods of training as well.
“But it will definitely be, you'll find, a faster game and probably a more intense game, and less opportunity often to control the ball in that first phase because teams can press up on you.”
In recent years Gaelic football has become a more possession-based sport where the sight of teams playing keep-ball by passing the ball backwards or laterally across the pitch became the norm.
In attendance are, from left, Ulster manager Kieran Donnelly, Geoff Sparling, Chief Customer Officer Allianz Ireland, Munster representive Paul Shankey, Leinster manager Dessie Dolan, Mark Brennan, Head of Marketing Allianz Ireland and Connacht manager Padraic Joyce during the Allianz GAA Football Inter-Provincial Series Briefing at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Donnelly believes the FRC’s proposed rule enhancements will increase contests for possession and make the game a more exciting one for both players and supporters alike.
“I felt change was needed, you know, and some of the rules are excellent. I do feel that the shape, the three up, just leaves you that ability to be fit to kick the ball.
“When there's a turnover, you're immediately up the pitch, so I suppose the fact that, at times, everything was being carried, now you can kick the ball when you want to, you can run it - if you want to run it - there's the option for that.
“I think one of the points one of the players made over the weekend was that making one or two runs meant receiving the ball as a forward, whereas probably in the way the game had evolved, that was three or four runs against the packed defence and not receiving the ball.
“Is there a massive change? Not overly. When you play schools football, or you play club football… when I was involved with Scotstown and you had three or four really top-class forwards, you wanted to keep them up the pitch and you held three up, so that was your style.
"So, I don't think it's foreign to the players, but I do feel the players have enjoyed the rules and I suppose the benefit of this weekend will be to see how they evolve in a competitive environment and I think that will probably be the test of them.”
Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 2 match between Tyrone and Clare at O'Neill's Healy Park in Omagh, Tyrone. Photo by Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile.
It’ll be interesting to see this weekend how goalkeepers adapt to the proposed rule enhancement whereby they may only receive a pass from a teammate if they are inside the opposition half, or if they and the player passing the ball are inside their large rectangle.
That, on the face of it, might seem to lessen a goalkeeper’s influence, but it could see them recast as the key man in a team’s attacking strategy because if they move into the opposition half they can create a 12 v 11 overload.
You can be sure that Tyrone goalkeeper, Niall Morgan, will be keen to test that theory if he’s selected to play for Ulster this weekend.
“Look, Niall’s a top class goalkeeper, so I think good players will adapt to whatever system or style or rules come in,” says Donnelly.
“I do think the new rule suits Niall because he's such a talented player on the ball, it's a skill-set so high, especially with this next phase of the game when a 12 v 11 can be created inside the attacking half, that's an overload you can't mark.
“I think that's something the likes of Niall can really benefit from, so the onus on the goalkeeper becoming the complete footballer is nearly more important. He has to be fit to stop shots, and then the fact that he can play in the final third just means it's an extra tool that a team has that probably can't be stopped.
“If a team is patient enough and utilise it well enough, the likes of Niall Morgan will flourish in it. So I think he enjoyed the game, as well as his long-range point-scoring ability, they're all factors that will benefit him.”
The tactical evolution of Gaelic football in recent years has been to the detriment of what were once two of the most recognisable figures in the game – the big full-forward and the nippy corner-forward.
Donnelly believes the proposed rule enhancements could lead to a revival for both.
“There's no doubt about that,” he says. “With the three up and teams maybe holding no more than four back there's more space. Initially there's more space if teams transition quickly and get a kick on there is room for the nippy corner-forward to win the ball with pace and proper movement.
“There will be room as well for the bigger full-forward to hold the line inside and get runners off that. All in all it just suits a good forward and a quality forward and they're probably the most excited about all of these rules, they were the ones bouncing in the changing room on Saturday looking forward to it. There’s no doubt they'll get the benefit of it.”
