Brandon Scott
Fr Derek Ryan A priest who also dons the black shirt and whistle as a Gaelic football referee has said that he hopes the recent rule changes to Gaelic football, employed at last week’s league games, will speed up play that he notices “has slowed down” games he’s officiated over the last number of years.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Fr Derek Ryan curate in St Mary’s Parish Drogheda, who officiates games in Co. Meath, said that the new rules are “positive” and although there may be a bit of confusion surrounding certain modifications, this will disappear in time.
“From an official’s point of view it’s all very positive,” he said. “We would say, speaking amongst ourselves as referees and from the information we’ve received from Croke Park, that it’s all very clear. At times there can be some grey areas that emerged during a game and some of those areas emerged during certain games over the weekend so it’ll take a little bit of time for everybody to get used to the rules.
“Overall it was a very exciting weekend for football. Some of the scorelines reflect increased scoring power now and greater encouragement of players moving forward. Yes, there was confusion but the confusion will disappear in time.”
The slower pace of Gaelic football has become a topic of conversation all across the country, with observers complaining that the formations and tactics have become risk averse and more defensively minded and this is something Fr Ryan has noticed when overseeing club games in Meath.
“This is my sixth year refereeing. I have seen over the past couple of seasons where you begin to notice that you’re not running as much in a game on your GPS,” he said. “Teams are not moving forward – they’re moving from side-to-side almost like a basketball game and are picking their moment to attack. So there was not as much running in a game, it’s more like a game of chess … it certainly slowed down some of the championship games I refereed over the past couple of seasons.
“At times you have to remind yourself that this is a championship game, a Senior Club Championship game in Meath and you’re saying to yourself, where is the intensity sometimes? Sometimes players were afraid to take risks on the pitch.
“These new rules are encouraging: Moving forward, the solo and go, the three up front – it’s all very, very positive,” he said.