Mickey Harte had a great piece in the Irish News where he too two 'great' game from years ago and compared them to two more recent matches. The long and short of it was there was very little difference in the number of hand passes and while the recent game had less kick passes they were much more accurate. Older generations make themselves to be purists but in reality all they done 'back in the day' was lump 50/50 balls onto of big men to fight for it. The standard today is infinitely better, we are just exposed to much more games rather than the all ireland final being the only game people seen. The rules don't need changed, just the pundits who spout the rubbish that too many believe.

speedy12 (Fermanagh) - Posts: 592 - 14/05/2012 16:56:23    1172058

Exactly

bernardmessi (Dublin) - Posts: 182 - 14/05/2012 18:19:07    1172186

Unfortunately people are voting with their pockets, you can have all the hand-passes you like and defend the chaotic mill that passes for defending, both go hand in hand and the more we see this crap the less likely people are to pay to watch it.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4968 - 14/05/2012 18:46:01    1172218

Arock it pains me to say it as a fermanagh man but the same man tore the league attendances apart simply by high lighting how the teams involved contributed to the high attendances of a few years ago. McKenna cup crowds were up this year so all must well??? Or may e people have less money and dropping the prices will help

speedy12 (Fermanagh) - Posts: 592 - 14/05/2012 20:58:45    1172332

Did he also say that they are less players behind the ball nowadays?

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 14/05/2012 21:20:30    1172359

arock
County: Dublin
Posts: 711

1172218 Unfortunately people are voting with their pockets, you can have all the hand-passes you like and defend the chaotic mill that passes for defending, both go hand in hand and the more we see this crap the less likely people are to pay to watch it.

I disagree with you on your whole comment.
Fans dont care what way their team plays, as long as they are winning. A team that starts out very defensive, will likely evolve naturally in time into a more fluent and free flowing football side. Tyrone were more defensive winning their first All Ireland, than their 2nd and 3rd. As a young teams confidence grows, they naturally play a more swagger or open style.
With regards voting with their pockets, people generally only follow their own team/county, and rarely splash out on tickets to see another county play. And if your county is in an All Ireland final, i think tickets will sell out regardless of who they are playing. I believe the All Ireland semi final between Monaghan/Kerry 1979 was one of the lowest attendances ever. And that was the great Kerry team, the purists of football.

I think your comment is aimed at Donegal, who before the Mass defence tag were known to be over reliant on the hand pass from 2002 -2007. Whether you like them or not, it is competitive sport and tactics should not be limited. Generally those who are most opposed to defensive tactics, are those from counties who dominated the sport for way too long and in the process damaged Gaelic football.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3057 - 18/05/2012 21:54:12    1175643

GaryMc82
County: Derry
Posts: 40
In my opinion swarming is illegal, you have to physically impede the player, and then force him to realise it, its closer to Rugby than Gaelic Football, and Deegan from Louth is spot on with the hand-pass and his other comments.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4968 - 19/05/2012 09:19:16    1175659