Referee Colm Gribben believes that the new rules for Gaelic football have been a success this season. Seven enhancements, and a series of disciplinary changes, were revealed by the GAA’s Football Review Committee in the autumn of last year and came into effect for county and club football this season.
Colm said they have improved the game and been quickly implemented, but he admitted that last winter, when he first heard about the enhancements, he was not convinced. “It certainly was daunting at the start when the new rules were coming in. Some refs were thinking of retirement potentially (when they saw the new rules), they wondered whether the new rules were going to be too much to manage.”
The referees were faced with a season where they had to learn the seven core enhancements for the GAA. They included: a 1v1 throw-in, kickouts going beyond a 40m arc, limiting back-passes to the goalkeeper, a 40-metre scoring arc, three players staying inside each half, a solo and go action after a free is awarded, and an advanced mark.
After eight months of refereeing games this year, Colm said that the officials have adapted to the new rules, even though it felt like a challenge at the outset. “Talking to particular refs, it was not as bad as it seemed.”
Having refereed matches at different levels, not solely senior men’s games, Colm said the impact that the new rules have made on the game has been immediate. “There were games last year that I couldn’t wait to be over. I have not had that once this year. To me, it has improved the club game.”
Colm said that the support referees received when implementing the rules was good. They had a Zoom meeting with all referees and officials in Ireland and were taught the seven core enhancements. There were e-learning resources made available and follow-up question and answer sessions.
But it was only when Colm got to referee a game — a friendly in January at Ballykinlar — that he learned how to implement the rules. “I was asked to speak to the two teams beforehand. That was the first time that I realised that there were seven core enhancements coming into club football and I am the man that has to present these core enhancements and put a bit of belief into them. It was when I saw it in practice, I started to realise it was not going to be as bad as we first thought.”
In practice, he found that almost all of the seven core enhancements were able to be implemented by referees, and they also benefitted how the game was played.
In the full article Colm reveals which rules were the toughest to implement, which have improved the game, and the trick he used to get the 3v4 rule to work.
To read the digital edition, download the Mourne Observer app – for apple click here – for android click here
