Shane Walsh of Galway in action against Barry McCambridge of Armagh during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Galway and Armagh at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
There has been much commentary in recent weeks as to how inter-county Gaelic football coaches might best exploit the new FRC rule enhancements in an attacking sense.
Ideas on how to use your goal-keeper as a 13th man in the opposition half, how to create two-point scoring opportunities outside the arc, where to position your three-men in the opposition half when you don’t have the ball, and how to quickly engage them when you force a turnover have all generated a lot of column-inches and air-time.
We’ll see a lot of attacking innovation in the coming weeks, but the most successful teams could well be the ones that are best equipped to carry out an old-school defensive art – man to man marking.
The popularity of sweeper systems in recent years has meant that defenders are rarely exposed in one-on-one situations or had to make last-ditch tackles on anything like a regular basis.
But now that teams are obliged to always leave three players in the opposition half, defenders will no longer be coddled by the comfort of a blanket defence like they once were.
According to Derry manager, Paddy Tally, significant time is going to have to be spent on the training field teaching defenders how to be more comfortable in uncomfortable situations.
“With the new rules and the three up and three back, one to one marking is going to be a big part of it,” he says. “It's something we've spent a good bit of time so far and it's definitely a work in progress.
“There would be a change of mindset having to happen in a lot of counties where players who would never have been put in that position for a long time to be one to one defenders because there was always a sweeper or double sweeper or a set defensive play.
“I think a lot of players, especially defenders, are having to realign the way they defend and we've had to do a lot of coaching around that on helping players become better in one to one situations.
“There has been a lot of change in the focus of coaching and we've had to hit the ground running because we haven't had a lot of time.”
In recent years Gaelic football has become more and more a possession based game where teams have played keep ball for long periods of time in an attempt to draw out blanket defences or play their way methodically around them rather than kick the ball recklessly into areas of the pitch heavily populated by opposition players.
This has led to a marked decline in contests for possession and opportunities for inside forwards to get their hands on the ball in space.
Ethan Doherty of Derry in action against Niall Devlin of Tyrone during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Tyrone and Derry at O'Neills Healy Park in Omagh, Tyrone. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Tally is optimistic that the new rule enhancements can reverse that trend.
“It does make for exciting football and what we've seen so far is that the games are higher scoring and there are more opportunities and a lot more one to one battles across the field, especially on the kick-outs and in the one-to-one marking at the back,” he said.
“I do like the thought of having more space for the boys to place a fast, open, brand of football. But also for the inside forwards to have an opportunity to show their skill-set.
“I think it's been one of those things these last number of years where we really haven't seen the best of our inside forwards regularly because of the way teams set up.
“I think it's going to be a real breath of fresh air to see the full range of skills with the high catching around the middle and the one to one battles both offensively and defensively.”
Organisms that are more adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and thrive, and a similar process of natural selection can be applied to the 2025 Gaelic football season.
The teams that adapt more successfully to the new FRC rules will be the ones that finish the year with silverware, and the challenge for them all is that they’ll have to learn quickly.
“We got two matches in January (before the League) and both of those matches were really good learning experiences and we had to just run with it and it was up to the players to adapt as quickly as they could to the new rules and I have to say they found it quite difficult,” says Tally.
“A lot of times we overstepped the mark in terms of the three up and the three back. That was a pattern in both games we played (before the League). Both teams were getting caught.
“The kick-outs going beyond the 40 metre arc really seems to have changed the game an awful lot. The goalkeeper coming up to form the 12th man against 11 defenders, it seems to be a big part of the play and it's a significant one.
“I don't know if it's changed the game from teams dropping deep. It looks like teams are dropping deep higher up the field.
“It's been a serious challenge for everyone involved.”
Inter-county managers have a lot to weigh up during this Allianz League campaign.
Squad depth is going to be more important than ever during the championship because the new FRC rules have led to a faster game with less stoppages that put a greater aerobic demand on the players.
Derry manager Paddy Tally, right, and selector Paul McFlynn during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Tyrone and Derry at O'Neills Healy Park in Omagh, Tyrone. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.
Any team that can’t replace six players with subs of a similar level of ability won’t be in the reckoning for All-Ireland honours.
Giving your whole panel game-time in the Allianz League seems now like a prerequisite, even if long-term gain could lead to some short-term pain.
“I always looked at the National League over the years as being an opportunity for two things,” says Tally. “Number one, to progress and if you're in Division One to maintain that status.
“If you're there or there abouts near the end of the National League with a chance to get to what used to be the semi-finals but is now just a final, then absolutely you go for it.
“The other part of the National League was always to blood players and see could you improve the depth of your squad for the championship.
“I think that's going to happen this year as a consequence of the new rules because there's a greater demand now in terms of high-speed running, distance covered, so all teams will play their six replacements in every match because you're going to need that, especially around the middle eight.
“We're seeing some of the data coming through and there's a nice increase in the distance covered, the high-speed running, the high-speed metres. So I do think as a consequence of the new rules you're going to introduce more players which is a good thing for everybody in a squad of thirty-odd players.
“It's a great opportunity to give them all game time in the national league as much as possible with a view to the championship down the line.”
What’s going to be very entertaining for spectators is that all of the Division One teams are going to be learning on the fly in a highly competitive environment.
Every team is arguably capable of beating everyone else in the Division, and you get the feeling the pot will be really boiling when we get down to the last two rounds of the competition.
“If you look at the eight teams in Division One of the National League, in all my years I don't think I've ever seen as strong a Division One as we have this year,” says Tally.
“I think it's a fair reflection of the best teams in the All-Ireland Championship these last three or four years.
“That's the starting point this year, that you know you're going in against the best teams, but there is a sense of levelling out here because of the new rules.
“And also because it's so early in the season. No-one has really had much opportunity to work on their game in a competitive setting.
“I think there's a sense of equality at the start of the competition just because of the unknowns.”