Kerry great Pat Spillane believes that the new football playing rules have “banjaxed” Armagh and Donegal.

Both counties exited the All-Ireland senior football championship race last weekend, with holders Kerry and Dublin advancing into this weekend’s quarter-finals instead.

Speaking on the Indo GAA Podcast, eight-time All-Ireland winner Spillane believes that he aforementioned Ulster sides have not adopted to the FRC rule enhancements.

“I'll tell you why I think they're gone. Let’s be honest, the new rules banjaxed them,” he stated.

“The likes of (Kieran) McGeeney and (Jim) McGuinness adopted a safety first approach. What was the safety first approach? It was all about possession, possession was king.

“It was all about short passing, running in pods, no long kick passes, no risk taking, bringing the ball as close to the opposition goal as possible and taking a low risk shot. In that scenario, they could control the controllables.

“Then along came Jim Gavin and his FRC colleagues. What Jim Gavin did was tear up the old game of Gaelic football and bring in a new game of Gaelic football...

“The bottom line is, the boys did not adapt to the new rules.

“For the last two years I've criticised Donegal and Armagh's running game. They haven't adapted to these new rules, they're still wedded to their traditional game.”

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