Gaelic football's new rules were given their first competitive airing on Saturday evening with the launch of the Allianz National Leagues. It wasn't the radical change - or the chaos - that many had expected but there were signs of some progress. One of the most interesting tests of the new rules came 11 minutes into Derry's visit to Tyrone in Healy Park.
After Tyrone's Brian Kennedy won a free, he handed the ball off to teammate Shea O'Hare. However the ball skipped from O'Hare's hands, and almost reflexively, Derry's Declan Cassidy toe-boked the ball out of reach of the Tyrone men, stopping a quick attack.
Ref David Coldrick - implementing the new GAA rule that says "A player who concedes a free must hand the ball to their opponent promptly and respectfully. Failure to do so will result in the free being moved forward 50 metres." - brought the ball way up to the 21 metre line and the incident turned into a simple point for Tyrone's Ronan Cassidy.
It was a foul in a non risk position which resulted in a 21 yard free for a silly, needless kick away….
Bloody brilliant! The risk is now far too great to be daft pic.twitter.com/mZqXcStODs— G. A. A. Sports Tracker App (@GAAtrackerAPP) January 25, 2025
Derry great Chrissy McKaigue retired after the 2024 season and was in the punditry box for the BBC Northern Ireland tonight. His reaction to the infraction was pretty interesting.
"That's a harsh, that's a harsh infringement for that."
Derry's Paddy Tally on new GAA rules
New Tyrone boss Paddy Tally had plenty to say about the new rules after the game when speaking to reporters and was particularly anguished by the 50m rule.
"It's a very draconian punishment for something so simple at times. There was one there I don't even know if the ball was touched and knocked away, the players weren't too sure what it was for, so I think it's a hard one on the players.
Tyrone seemed the much more polished team this evening, and perhaps it was no surprise considering new manager Malachy O'Rourke sat on Jim Gavin's Football Rules Committee.
Tally also had some strong criticism of the 12 v 11 rule, which Tyrone's Niall Morgan predictably exploited. You can read all of this thoughts here
Speaking to the BBC after the match, player of the match Michael McKernan discussed the change in discipline required from players.
"You have to respect everyone in the game. Referees, everyone who's involved with it. It's more discipline maybe than there was the last few years. You have to watch it, things like handing the ball back. It's simple things, maybe giving a bit of respect to the other team and the officials so it's all good, yeah."
SEE ALSO: Tomás Ó Sé Thinks GAA Missed A Trick With Introduction Of New Rules
