Fairly Foul

Brendan Cole, on RTE.ie, has published an interesting collection of thoughts on the obvious discipline problems in Gaelic Football. Exercising his creating muscle, Cole suggests a number of changes to the rules of the game which may serve to discourage the type of on-field pulling and dragging that has made the sport into a fairly unappealing, and largely ugly sibling of the beautiful game with sticks. Among his controversial suggestions are the awarding of two points for frees inside the 45m line, and for scores from play outside the same line - thus discouraging interference with attackers close to goal, and rewarding of kicking skill from distance. He also proposes a fifth foul rule, whereby, following the fifth personal foul by a team, the opposition are awarded a free from the 45m line in front of their opponent's goal.

Undoubtedly, Gaelic Football needs something. True, we'll all fill the stands when our county is playing and tune in to Spillane and co. that evening. We do this, however, not for the beauty of the game being played, but for the tribal allegiances that being born on one side or other of a county boundary obliges us to adopt. In truth, Gaelic Football is not an attractive sport, at least most of the time. This, in the shared opinion of many, is due the the tragic reality that in Gaelic Football the foul is widely and regularly used as a tactic.

The main reason why it is used as a tactic is that there is practically no other way to dispossess a player due to the neglect of the tackle in the rule book. If you'll indulge me for a moment, I'll take you on a windy traversal of the Gaelic Football rulebook, for the purpose of understanding why tackling invariably results in a foul.

Rule 1.6 states, fairly, that "Player(s) may tackle an opponent for the ball", meaning at least that we can expect a game that is more physically competitive than, say, tennis. The definition section of the rule book adds that the tackle is "Any attempt to dispossess or reduce the advantage of an opponent within the Rules of Fair Play. With the exception of the charge (fair), the tackle is aimed at the ball not the player". The only rule that says anything about getting the ball from an opponent is rule 1.4 which concludes with "The ball may be knocked from an opponent's hand(s) by flicking it with the open hand.".

So, if you're a defender and an attacker is running at you, then you can shoulder him, and, hoping that this knocks him off balance, or distracts him sufficiently, you can flick the ball out of his hands. You can't pull down the attacker (rule 5.8), trip or jump at him (5.9 and 5.10), push or hold him (5.16) or use a fist anywhere around him, even on the ball while he's holding it (5.17). So the only things you can do is charge shoulder to shoulder, and/or flick the ball out of his hands. Just about everything else is a foul. Even if you were to "wrest" the ball (that's "attempt to dispossess an opponent who already has a (firm) hold on the ball, by grabbing the ball to take it from him" - note "attempt", even just attempting to do this is a foul), you're entitled to be penalised.

The rules say nothing about blocking players, bunching around players etc, so given that you're not allowed do anything else (flicking aside), all you're left with is getting a few of your team mates, surround the player and hope that he can't get the ball to another opponent before you get your flicking opportunity, or until he's held the ball for "longer than the time needed to take four steps". Then, however, all you'll get is a free. Another free.

What audiences want to see is free flowing, end to end football. We want to see skillful scoring, passing and tackling. The trouble is, while the rules deal handsomely with the first two, the third has evolved into a black art that no body can define, but they'll recognise it when they see it. In 2003 when Tyrone experimented with their brand of "puke football" nobody even knew if what they were doing was legal or otherwise, what with all the players surrounding their opponent flicking like mad. Just flicking though. We didn't recognise it, and recognition was the only definition that we had for the tackle.

All this leads us to is the undeniable fact that Gaelic Football needs a more comprehensive definition of the tackle - and a change in the rules to allow players to challenge each other for possession while knowing what is allowed and not allowed. This needs to draw on the existing rule book, and the reality of how the game is played. What cannot continue is the stop-start game based on the personal foul. Australian Football, American Football and Rugby League are often criticised by supporters of our own game for their regular breaks following marks and tackles, but in none of those cases are those intervals triggered by illegal behaviour. In all those cases the game is stopped due to an act of skill by the fielder or the tackler, giving an opportunity for the neutral crowd to admire the behaviour rather than chut at the cynicism or wink at the cuteness.

I don't think penalties such as double scores or team fouls will improve Gaelic Football. I'm sure that most players, if given the option, would prefer to take the legal route rather than the illegal alternative. This is true of hurling, which derives its customs from the same culture and population as football. At some point the rulemakers need to be fair and define a legal tackle, rather than just list violations of the rules. For everyone's sake.

As a final point, if discouragement were needed for choosing the foul, my ill-considered suggestion would be for the fouling player to be forced to leave the field of play until the resultant free kick has been taken. If he fails to do so he automatically gets a yellow card. Clear, simple and unambiguous. Free awarded. The referee signals that it's a free for a personal foul (rather than the technical version). The fouling player then knows that he must run for the sideline and not reenter until the free it taken. The fouled player can proceed as soon as he's fouled by taking the quick free kick, even while the fouler is making his journey to the sideline. Once the sideline is reached, and the free has been taken the fouling player reenters play. Any interference with play prior to that and he's shown yellow.

To be fair to players though, the various powers that be need to take a longer look at what is allowed and not allowed on the pitch when your opponent has the ball. Or else we need to start coaching the open-handed flick from an early age. If anyone knows what on earth it is.