AROUND THIS TIME last year, the suck it and see-ers weren’t even calling what had become their weekly penance ‘Gaelic football’.
It was instead, ‘The New Rules’.
And everywhere it went, it provoked bemusement to exhilaration.
The bemusement didn’t stop with the hardy soul on the terrace that mightn’t have been inclined to swot up on the changes (the podcasts are a nuisance and don’t get them started on Insta).
Early signs were ominous. Big leads wiped away. Kerry going bananas for goals up in Derry. A Tyrone relegation, despite new manager Malachy O’Rourke having been on the FRC.
Mayo – daring bravehearts that they were – being scared to have a dig at a two-pointer. Logic was on its head. Anything could happen.
You wouldn’t go as far as to say that some defeats were forgiven as managers and players had to wrestle their way through the battle of changing ingrained habits.
But all along, there was the expectation that summer would tell another tale. The ball flies higher and further through the air in the different atmosphere. The turf itself, a surer footing.
The high point was the Meath win over Offaly in the Leinster championship. In old money it would have been, and still largely is, reported as 1-26 to 0-21.
Advertisement
Now, with an additional scoring column for two pointers, it should read 1-8-9 to 0-5-11. No fewer than 13 two-point scores.
But as the summer went on, it’s impossible to make the argument that a two-pointer became a psychological weapon.
The most famous two-pointer of 2025. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO
Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO
The nature of games, with big margins overturned in quick-smart time with the accumulation of a couple of two-pointers, left no margin safe. It was a weapon where nobody was safe.
No team managed a lead with the increased space. The only option was to go out and make that lead even bigger. Eyeballs out for as long as you could manage. Of the 214 games played in last year’s league and championship, 209 featured at least one two-pointer.
Whereas a long-distance shot could have been enough to get a player substituted before, now it was encouraged. In the championship, 18% of shots were attempts at a two-pointer. The really interesting thing is how, even from that tally, two-pointers became 42% of total scores.
It made the game so much better. Or at least that’s what many thought.
There were dissenters. In an interview with The 42, the former Derry player and now county selector Chrissy McKaigue spoke of his frustrations.
“There is a perception out there at the minute that, if you are not jumping onto the angle of thought that they are unbelievable, they are perfect and everything is positive, that you are almost seen as anti-football,” McKaigue said.
“For a long time, the game has gone a certain way: overly defensive, but that’s down to good coaching, it’s down to teams being meticulous in their preparation and wanting to win.
“I haven’t heard it once mentioned about the evolution of the game. The level of coaching and preparation has never been mentioned. It’s just been that football is a certain way and people can’t watch it.”
To McKaigue, he felt a kinship with Kieran McGeeney’s belief that Gaelic football’s problem was a public relations one, that too many were too quick to talk the sport down.
After the first season, that opinion might not have aged well. The general public is more gripped and engaged with the spectacle. If some like McKaigue felt the nuances of defending weren’t being appreciated, then there can be no excuse now as defenders are actually forced to defend.
The zonal defence died an agonising and public death on All-Ireland final day. Jim McGuinness, the pioneering figure of the movement, might have turned emotional when invited to wonder if it could ever land a Sam Maguire.
But the shortcomings were obvious to all, even those cold, timid souls without an All-Ireland to back up their opinion.
As a sample size, this being unmistakably a winter football phase, we have compared the opening three rounds of Division 1 this year to last year.
There is no great jump in two-point scoring rates. As a matter of fact, there has been one fewer (37) two-pointer from play than there was last year after three rounds (38).
It has to be occupying minds. For example, Dublin have hit four two-pointers from play so far. Con O’Callaghan has accounted for three of them, with Cormac Costello the other.
Imagine the same team with the likes of Paul Mannion, Dean Rock and Bernard Brogan licking their chops over the two-point arc.
Those in Tralee last Saturday night were struck by how Kerry and Galway’s draw was an echo of Kerry’s loss to Dublin last year.
Never mind the same venue and the same goal Kerry were defending in the second half, but last year, they were 12 up and lost by one, Dublin scoring four two-pointers in the second half. On Saturday, they were also 12 up and ended drawing, Galway scoring three two-pointers in the second half.
Despite having two-point machine Steven Sherlock and a stiff wind at their backs in Tullamore, Cork registered no two-pointers in their win over Offaly and are sitting top of Division 2.
Meath have been a joy to watch with the two-point arc and Jack Flynn’s winner over Cavan was so sensational, he went and did it all over again against Louth.
Related Reads
With 3-18 across three games, Murtagh shining as Roscommon's shooting star
7 games to be broadcast as part of GAA league schedule next weekend
Roscommon endure Armagh's second-half comeback to take big step to securing top-tier status
The big story of the weekend, however, is Glencar-Manorhamilton’s Barry McNulty.
Sent on at half-time of Leitrim’s visit to London, the visitors were a dozen points behind at one stage.
McNulty kicked six two-pointers, five from play, as they snatched the win. Leitrim collected the full league points on offer, and McNulty landed the GAA Player of the Week title.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Fortune favours the two-point braves in Gaelic football. Long may it continue.
LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago
AROUND THIS TIME last year, the suck it and see-ers weren’t even calling what had become their weekly penance ‘Gaelic football’.
It was instead, ‘The New Rules’.
And everywhere it went, it provoked bemusement to exhilaration.
The bemusement didn’t stop with the hardy soul on the terrace that mightn’t have been inclined to swot up on the changes (the podcasts are a nuisance and don’t get them started on Insta).
Early signs were ominous. Big leads wiped away. Kerry going bananas for goals up in Derry. A Tyrone relegation, despite new manager Malachy O’Rourke having been on the FRC.
Mayo – daring bravehearts that they were – being scared to have a dig at a two-pointer. Logic was on its head. Anything could happen.
You wouldn’t go as far as to say that some defeats were forgiven as managers and players had to wrestle their way through the battle of changing ingrained habits.
But all along, there was the expectation that summer would tell another tale. The ball flies higher and further through the air in the different atmosphere. The turf itself, a surer footing.
The high point was the Meath win over Offaly in the Leinster championship. In old money it would have been, and still largely is, reported as 1-26 to 0-21.
Now, with an additional scoring column for two pointers, it should read 1-8-9 to 0-5-11. No fewer than 13 two-point scores.
But as the summer went on, it’s impossible to make the argument that a two-pointer became a psychological weapon.
The nature of games, with big margins overturned in quick-smart time with the accumulation of a couple of two-pointers, left no margin safe. It was a weapon where nobody was safe.
No team managed a lead with the increased space. The only option was to go out and make that lead even bigger. Eyeballs out for as long as you could manage. Of the 214 games played in last year’s league and championship, 209 featured at least one two-pointer.
Whereas a long-distance shot could have been enough to get a player substituted before, now it was encouraged. In the championship, 18% of shots were attempts at a two-pointer. The really interesting thing is how, even from that tally, two-pointers became 42% of total scores.
It made the game so much better. Or at least that’s what many thought.
There were dissenters. In an interview with The 42, the former Derry player and now county selector Chrissy McKaigue spoke of his frustrations.
“There is a perception out there at the minute that, if you are not jumping onto the angle of thought that they are unbelievable, they are perfect and everything is positive, that you are almost seen as anti-football,” McKaigue said.
“I haven’t heard it once mentioned about the evolution of the game. The level of coaching and preparation has never been mentioned. It’s just been that football is a certain way and people can’t watch it.”
To McKaigue, he felt a kinship with Kieran McGeeney’s belief that Gaelic football’s problem was a public relations one, that too many were too quick to talk the sport down.
After the first season, that opinion might not have aged well. The general public is more gripped and engaged with the spectacle. If some like McKaigue felt the nuances of defending weren’t being appreciated, then there can be no excuse now as defenders are actually forced to defend.
The zonal defence died an agonising and public death on All-Ireland final day. Jim McGuinness, the pioneering figure of the movement, might have turned emotional when invited to wonder if it could ever land a Sam Maguire.
But the shortcomings were obvious to all, even those cold, timid souls without an All-Ireland to back up their opinion.
As a sample size, this being unmistakably a winter football phase, we have compared the opening three rounds of Division 1 this year to last year.
There is no great jump in two-point scoring rates. As a matter of fact, there has been one fewer (37) two-pointer from play than there was last year after three rounds (38).
It has to be occupying minds. For example, Dublin have hit four two-pointers from play so far. Con O’Callaghan has accounted for three of them, with Cormac Costello the other.
Imagine the same team with the likes of Paul Mannion, Dean Rock and Bernard Brogan licking their chops over the two-point arc.
Those in Tralee last Saturday night were struck by how Kerry and Galway’s draw was an echo of Kerry’s loss to Dublin last year.
Never mind the same venue and the same goal Kerry were defending in the second half, but last year, they were 12 up and lost by one, Dublin scoring four two-pointers in the second half. On Saturday, they were also 12 up and ended drawing, Galway scoring three two-pointers in the second half.
Despite having two-point machine Steven Sherlock and a stiff wind at their backs in Tullamore, Cork registered no two-pointers in their win over Offaly and are sitting top of Division 2.
Meath have been a joy to watch with the two-point arc and Jack Flynn’s winner over Cavan was so sensational, he went and did it all over again against Louth.
The big story of the weekend, however, is Glencar-Manorhamilton’s Barry McNulty.
Sent on at half-time of Leitrim’s visit to London, the visitors were a dozen points behind at one stage.
McNulty kicked six two-pointers, five from play, as they snatched the win. Leitrim collected the full league points on offer, and McNulty landed the GAA Player of the Week title.
Fortune favours the brave now in Gaelic football. Long may it continue.
*****
Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Barry McNulty GAA Gaelic Football Orange flags two points