Former Dublin star Ciaran Whelan feels the old style high-fielding midfielder has become redundant in the modern game.

Speaking at 2fm's Game On Live at the Aviva Stadium last night, the two-time All Star winner, who was renowned for a bit of high-fielding in his time with the Dubs, said the growing trend of teams opting to use the short kick-out tactic has changed the game for players in his bracket.   

"The role of a midfielder in Gaelic football has changed, there's no doubt about it," stated Whelan, a six-time Leinster SFC winner with the Metropolitans.

"When Stephen Cluxton started it in 2009, I think, Pat Gilroy was the manager of Dublin at the time and I was in my last year.

"You used to get your sharpness in training, you often had tougher opponents in training, and I remember standing in the middle of the pitch in DCU thinking 'I'm done, I'm gone', because everything was going short.

"Like everything, sport evolves, and Gaelic games became more about power, pace, speed, and midfielders are kind of redundant.

"They're trying to bring it back in, to bring in the mark, but that's not going to work. There's much less contact now, it's all about balance and skill and being lighter on your feet."

On the effect the black card has had since its introduction in 2013, Whelan added: "The GAA has lost the run of itself as well, you give someone an accidental clip and you're black-carded and your game is over.

"It's evolved and that toughness, that playing on the edge, has kind of gone out of it, similar to soccer. It is creeping into it, I don't think it's epidemic yet, most fellas are fronting up.

"But what's happening in GAA now is that the yellow card and the black card rule is encouraging people to stand off a little bit more. They're not tackling as hard as they had done in the past."

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