​Armagh trio give their take on seven proposed new rules

​Armagh All-Ireland winning trio Aidan Forker, Paddy Burns and Connaire Mackin have been amongst those giving their take on what works and what doesn’t work, with the 'seven core enhancements’ set to be proposed at congress in November, with a view to being brought in for the 2025 season.

They key changes proposed are:

1 – A 1 vs 1 throw-in to start the game

2 – Players maybe inside the 20-metre line for kick-outs

3 – No pass backs to the goalkeeper allowed unless he is past the halfway line

4 – A 40-metre scoring arc installed worth two points and the value of goals increased to four points

5 – Three players must be in each half for each team at all times

6 – A new ‘solo and go’ style of free kicks adopted from rugby

7 – The advanced mark must come from a kick-pass outside the 45-metre line and taken by a player within the 20-metre line.

Forker spoke to RTE’s Saturday Game Live, Burns spoke to the GAA’s social media channels and Connaire Mackin spoke to Armagh TV.

Aidan Forker

“It’s absolutely forward-orientated. You are a wee bit more exposed than usual. It is a bit more difficult to try and get that sweeper in place or extra player back.

“I’m not sure if the three-up will add to it. Structurally it looks good, but I’m not entirely sure if it adds to it really.

“There are probably a couple there you could tweak. I’m not convinced on the 40-metre arc for the goalkeeper. I know it adds more contests out in the middle, but I’m not sure that it adds to the skill of the game, which is what we’re after are we not?

“I think the scoring is a bit heavily weighted towards goals, to be honest. When you concede a point it doesn’t feel that heavy on you, but when you conceded four (a goal) it does.

“To me, even a 3-2-1 scoring system would be good. I think the two-point arc is nice and it adds to it. But a goal feels quite heavy, it can knock you and teams will set-up not to concede goals. Because if you concede two or three goals, you are going to struggle to win the game.

“It’s hard to get contact on, because the ball is moving so fast. You can’t put those rules in and then want contact. I think even if you were able to play with two-up instead of three, you would definitely get more contact on because there would be more bodies in the defensive side of the field.

“I don’t think that we will know much about it until it is properly coached and you get a bit of time to look at it in the league, if they do come in.

“It’s a lot for referees to get their heads around too. I’m happy to know what I have done wrong, if it is explained. I think (the referee’s being mic’ed up) is a very good thing. Both for the spectators and for the clarity around decision-making.”

Paddy Burns

“If I’m honest, I came in a bit cynical.

“As a corner back, with all that space back there, I wasn’t overly excited about it. But I do enjoy that man-to-man defending, so as the game went on I did enjoy that battle.

“I’m still not sure how it is going to work at club level – that’s the question I have in my mind, and I think 3v3 is enough of a rule without four points for a goal and two from outside the arc. I think they’re unnecssarily overpowering those scores and taking away from the one-pointers.

“Overall, I definitely do think that there is merit in a few of them, but I don’t think that they should all go through.

“I think the tap-and-go is a good idea, even though it wasn’t used that much, but it could speed up the game. The dissent one is going to take a bit of getting used to but I’m not against it either. Having to give the ball to the person closest to you keeps the game going fast.

“The 3v3 – if they can find a way to make that work at club level – I don’t hate it anymore. I do enjoy it in there as a defender. People might have said ‘what are you doing in there? You have so much protection’. So, it’s nice to show that you can play that game too.

“But, as I said, the four-point goal and two-point arc, I don’t think are necessary with the three people staying up.”

Connaire Mackin

“Some of it does work; I was probably a bit harsh before the games.

“I do think that changing the whole game is a bit dramatic. I like the 40-metre arc, I think it's alright from play, but teams are playing to earn '45s so that they can get a two-pointer. It could bring a cynical side to the game.

“If they pick one or two things – that's fair enough. But seven of them at one time is a bit drastic of a change.

“I think if you took those four teams (the inter-provincial sides) and give them a normal game of football, you're going to get a cracking game of football anyway.

“Everyone keeps referring to the Newbridge v Magherafelt game that was on RTE last week – yes, it was poor, but you're in October, you're getting towards winter football – not everything is going to be perfect.”