THE GAA ARE set to meet with the GPA this week over growing concern amongst the members of the players’ group in relation to the impact of the new experimental rules in Gaelic football.
GAA President John Horan will meet his GPA counterpart Paul Flynn but does not expect the decisions taken at last Saturday’s Central Council meeting to be scrapped or amended.
While GAA players have broadly supported the changes to the attacking mark and sin bin, there is huge opposition to the curtailing of hand passes and also complaints over the new sideline kick rule.
There is also unhappiness to stage the trials of the new rules during the league with players feeling it is too important a competition for such experimentation.
“They’ve asked me for a meeting and I’ve agreed to meet them,” outlined Horan at a media briefing today.
“We’ll finalise that. Obviously I’m going to Philadelphia on Thursday (for the PWC GAA-GPA All-Star tour) but I’ve agreed with Paul Flynn that the two of us will sit down and have a meeting.
“We’ll have a discussion and see but look Central Council have made a decision, we’re not a kneejerk organisation, where Central Council are going to turn around and make an immediate change to decisions they’ve adopted.
“I think if I sit down with Paul, we’ll come to a resolution on all of this, I think it’ll be sorted. I’m not too worried.”
David Hassan, the chairman of the playing rules group, defended the transparency of the process they pursued. Players had been consulted for their view through the GPA in October with about 230 replying.
“David Collins President of the GPA was on the committee (and) also we would like to think that we gave all players the opportunity to make an input into the process.
“I suppose players will always be looking at how rules might impact on their style of play. What I would say is that this was an open, transparent process. People had the option to consult and have an input into that. We were entirely transparent in that regard.”
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