Paddy Tally, Derry's new manager, criticizes the new '12th man' rule, claiming it creates unfair advantages and disrupts the flow of the game. Meanwhile, Malachy O'Rourke, the former Football Review Committee member and now Tyrone manager, defends the rule, arguing that it encourages attacking play and increases risk for goalkeepers. The article highlights the contrasting opinions on the new rule changes in Gaelic football.
DAY ONE of the new ‘rule enhancements’ and we have a complaint through to the hotline. A dissenter. A lone voice. A whistleblower. Or maybe cutting right to the very heart of it and pointing out a brutal wrinkle in the way that Gaelic football will be played in this year’s National League? Derry ’s new manager Paddy Tally has never been one to enter into a slanging match or deploy microphone diplomacy. He is allergic to media attention. So when he speaks, he means it.
His opinions were not coloured by defeat here to his native Tyrone. He can wear that no bother, but he has something to say first. “The 12th man is killing the game. It’s as simple as that,” says Tally. “That is no slight on any particular goalkeeper. Niall (Morgan) is a fantastic ‘keeper but it (the rules) doesn’t make any sense. “You (the Football Review Committee) wanted one-to-one battles and there were periods in that game today when the ball was just going back and forth across the field for two, three minutes at a time. “It’s just a pointless rule. It doesn’t make any sense that you are now at the stage where it is nearly unfair to 11 versus 11, to add in a twelfth. It just doesn’t make any sense. “The goalkeeper contributing and coming up the field, it is something we have to look at.” Asked if outnumbering the opposition in their own half, with three forwards unable to chase back and tackle had the potential to drain the clock with the winning team in possession, he had an instant answer. “Well it happened in the first half. It doesn’t matter what time of the game is it. If you have an extra player in possession, players aren’t going to jump out of it (their defensive shape.) Advertisement “What actually happened with the second goal was the goalkeeper came up and because the players had to decide to go to the keeper because he was at the two point shooting arc, they dropped off the man behind. “So it gets to the stage when you are asking what is the best thing to do. It’s great if you have a keeper that comes up to do it, it is a bonus, but I don’t feel that’s the way the rule was meant. “Are you going to drop the goalkeeper and have an outfield man in goals? It’s a hard rule to get right.” Three times in the first half, Derry were punished by referee David Coldrick for a mixture of not handing the ball back to an opponent, or else giving out. For decades, we’ve all watched some spectacularly petty macho contests of ball-wrestling. It’s ridiculous, and the measures against it have brought a short, sharp shock. Tally isn’t impressed. “It doesn’t seem natural. I think it’s a very draconian punishment for something so simple at times. There was one there I don’t know if the ball was even touched on the ground and knocked away, the players weren’t too sure what it was for, and it was brought up 50m, so I think it’s a hard one on players.” Asked if the game was a case of the home team further down the line than the visitors, he grinned and joked, “I’d say so. Sure Malachy (O’Rourke) was on the committee that designed the rules so it’s a fair start, isn’t it?” Onto O’Rourke then, and the next puzzle of the night. For decades, Tyrone used to leave the dressing room and turn left onto the pitch. That has been reversed now and they have taken up residence in the dressing room opposite, with some funky artwork on the wall preaching the value of loyalty, teamwork, discipline and all that good stuff. A Football Review Committee member from the start and recently resigned to take up the Tyrone job, Malachy O’Rourke was instantly thrown into the case for the defence against the charges brought by Tally, with special attention to the 12 v 11 situation with a roving goalkeeper. Malachy O'Rourke. Lorcan Doherty / INPHO Lorcan Doherty / INPHO / INPHO “Yeah, well there’s a couple of ways to look at that,” said O’Rourke. “It was always there, the goalkeeper could always come out. Last year it was 15 versus 14, so it’s exactly the same thing only there’s less numbers up there. “I just do think that if you start curtailing the goalkeeper too much, you’ll lose the goalkeepers. Obviously I was part of the committee that made the rules, and we just felt the goalkeeper in his own defence, getting the ball too much, led to an awful lot of possession play and a team couldn’t really push up. “Whereas at least when he’s coming across the halfway line, he’s in a more advanced position, it’s an attacking opportunity, but there’s a lot of risk in it as well. You saw it today, if the ball breaks down, you have to get back.” Certain members of the Football Review Committee, most notably former Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice, have urged caution in how the new rules are discussed on first impressions. O’Rourke was asked if he felt there was a danger of a knee-jerk reaction. “That’s quite possible because it is different, and people take a wee bit of time to get used to it,” said O’Rourke.
Gaelic Football Rules New Rules 12Th Man Goalkeepers Paddy Tally Malachy O'rourke Tyrone Derry
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