Liam Brady

Where do I start? There'll be a "Square D" on it Wednesday or Thursday. But before I go through some more maths equations...the two point arc is going to become the biggest show in town. It's too valuable/high percentage to do much else. Consider that an uncontested 41 metre shot in county football runs at between 55 and 60% chance of success. Scoring one pointers is in and around bad value (depending on skillsets of teams). The queueing up outside the "40" to shoot makes a new sport all on its own. That alone is a disaster. Consider further...goals have decreased, not increased in value as they're now 200%, not 300% the value of 41 metre shots. When teams work this out or copy the teams who've worked it out and are winning, the whole game will centre on 41 metre shots. Kicking anything in high to full forwards will cease to make any sense/exist with smart teams, despite new rules to incentivise it. Add in your keeper attacking and with 12v11 you can hold the ball indefinitely until you get your unpressured 41 metre shot. Or worse, to kill the clock endlessly when you've a lead. This will be worse than the slowest fare we've seen with reduced numbers in your defence/capacity for pressing. This merely drags slow possession play from one half into the other half going forward. That is, of course, until the defending keeper has to come out to full back and push the full back out to their keeper, to stop the opposition attack holding the ball all day. So, now we have "Gaelic football" with empty goals and keepers playing full back. The old school keeper is extinct overnight. He has to leg it up the field to attack when his team has the ball and play full back when they don't. It sounds like a bad dream but it's coming. So, teams are attacking man-on-man 12v12 with no net minder to beat. But then the data analysts have already worked out that one pointers are no value, and defenders apply an approach of "any risk of a goal and all six of us within 30 metres of the goal get into the penalty box and protect the goal". Now you have attacking teams facing a clogged goal who know that one pointers are no value. I won't say it's certain but it appears rational and quite feasible that this could quickly evolve to the attacking team on the 20 metre line actually turning around and trying to "break line" to get back outside the "40" while the defending team try to hem them inside the "40". It sounds like a unplausible bad dream. But it's coming!

That's a quote by me in an Irish Examiner interview by @m_brosnan with me in 2023. Please read it Gaelic football needs radical change, but the proposed 7 changes will destroy the game. The knock-on effects have been wholly miscalculated Create the smart rule that makes the tactical knock-on effects achieve your goals Create rules to create the effects you want and the tactical knock-on effects will make a mockery of your intentions I proposed four of the GAA/FRC's rule changes at my club's AGM in 2007. I'm 17 years ahead of the curve on this. FRC...please listen irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/…