'It's our job to present the evidence'

October 09, 2024

Jim Gavin Chairperson of the Review Committee and GAA President Jarlath Burns ©INPHO/Bryan Keane

Jim Gavin is looking forward to seeing the Football Review Committee’s proposed rule changes being put to the test in next week’s interprovincial series.

In shades of the old Railway Cup, teams from Leinster, Ulster, Munster and Connacht will face off in the so-called ‘sandbox games’ at Croke Park on Friday, October 18 and Saturday, October 19. Speaking to Shannonside Radio’s Damien Donohue after the ‘enhancements’ were trialled in a challenge match between Kildare and Cavan in Mullahoran last Sunday, Gavin commented: “The challenge we all have is, when you put a rule in isolation, you try and see it conceptually. You try and see in your mind’s eye how it would work in the current game.

“That’s the importance of testing it in an environment like this.

“That’s why we need to showcase these (changes) in the interprovincial games, so that the people who will make the decision. it’s not our job to convince them. It’s our job to present the evidence.”

“We’ve done a body of work. We’ve come up with these proposals. We had over 7,000 responses to the survey – which is phenomenal, double the amount they got in 2014.”

The FRC chair added: “Over 5,000 bits of individual texts, be it in letters or emails. And the top five things people want to see – which is no surprise – are: kicking passing, high fielding, long range scores, goal scoring and one-to-one contests.”


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