Central Council Delegate Hurl gives cautious welcome to changes

TYRONE’S Central Council delegate Benny Hurl broadly welcomes the changes that will be tabled at a Special Congress on Saturday, though he harbours very real concerns that they could apply even more pressure on already beleaguered referees at club level.

A Special Congress will take place this Saturday to determine whether Jim Gavin and his Football Review Committee’s proposed rule changes aimed at improving Gaelic Football as a spectacle will be introduced for the 2025 season.

The rules have been thoroughly road-tested – and even saw a fleeting return of the idle interprovincials – and we’ll find out this weekend whether they’ll be formally brought in for next year.

Delegates will have their say on nearly fifty motions, grouped into eighteen different batches for voting purposes with a 60 percent majority required on each occasion.

Benny Hurl is one of a six-man delegation that will represent the Red Hand County, and he is broadly welcoming of the changes.

“The general consensus is that football needed fixed. In saying that, there have been a lot of very good examples of some very, very good games, but those have been the exception rather than the rule.

“And all of this defensive coaching has filtered down not only to our clubs at adult level, but underage as well.

“ Jim Gavin was appointed by the new Uachtarán Jarlath Burns to look into the whole thing and I see a lot of very positive changes.”

Hurl is concerned however that referees won’t be able to keep up, both figuratively and literally, with the radical changes to the game.

“The issue I would have, and I know a lot of other people feel the same, is that we’re not equipped at club level to deal with the proposed new rules.

“It shouldn’t be a problem in Tyrone Championship games as there’s a full complement of officials, but referees could find themselves under serious pressure if he’s going to an All County League match or an underage game on his own.

“I think he’d nearly need eyes on the back of his head to implement all the rules properly.”

He continued: “We talk about a crisis of refereeing in Tyrone. If you look at all the rule changes, they’re designed to make the game more entertaining, faster and more high-scoring, and it’s going to be difficult for players and referees to keep track of scores.”

One of the core rule changes that will be tabled at Congress is the stipulation that teams must have at least three outfield players on each side of the half-way line, aimed at freeing up space for inside forwards accustomed to being drowned out by mass defences.

That’s all well and good but Benny is worried about what that could be mean for the elder referees among us.

“The game’s going to be a whole lot faster. In the sandbox games, the GPS data revealed that there was a lot more running overall, including more sprinting.

“That’ll impact on referees as well as they’ll be up and down the field. I’d have concerns for the older cohort of referees who are very much important to us.

“Look, it might all work out in the end, and I really hope it does, but I think the impact on referees at club level hasn’t been fully measured and hopefully the GAA can do something about that.”