Jim Gavin insists that 'benefits outweigh negatives' as he allays fears of club refs

Jim Gavin has moved to allay fears of club referees around implementing the new football rules.

While the sweeping changes voted in at last month’s Special Congress will be rolled out in truly competitive fare for the first time in the Allianz Football League at the end of January, concerns have been raised around how difficult it will be for refs to police it at club level, where there is often no official linesmen or umpires to lean on.

Football Review Committee chairman Gavin has held briefings with various stakeholders in recent weeks and admitted that “referees see it as a challenge” at club level, citing the ‘three up’ rule as an example.

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The rule states that both teams must have at least three outfield players in one half of the field at all times. Failure to comply will result in a 13-metre free, right in front of the posts, though club referees in particular have expressed concerns around their ability to pick up on breaches in the midst of a game.

“What I said to them is there's lots of things in the game that you mightn't see, could be a square ball could be a penalty, could be a 45,” said Gavin. “Could be a player lying on the ground and you can hear a big roar from the crowd and Jim’s lying on the ground – how did that happen?

“But if you catch whoever gave Jim the puck, he is sent off.

“You might hear roaring and shouting, ‘Oh, they only have two up,’ and you look around and there's three up: ‘Well I didn't see that’. But if you catch Jim breaking the line, the penalty is so severe - it's a point against - that players will be reluctant to do it.”

Gavin cited the example of a recent regional tournament in Meath where the new rules were applied.

“The players that got used, even over five games, to the 3/3. And they enjoyed the benefits of it. The old corner-forward had no intent to track back. He said, ‘That's up to you now lads!’. So back to the old days. So that's what happens. That's what we saw now.

“So the benefits, in our opinion, so outweigh the negatives that it's worth going for.”

The former Dublin manager explained how there will be in-depth data gathered from League games, with comparisons made with matches from the previous two seasons. This will include GPS readings from players, though data from specific counties will not be furnished.

“I won’t have a clue who it is,” said Gavin. “I’ll just know (for example) in Division One if there’s more distance covered, if there’s less, if there is more high-speed running, more stoppages – whatever.”

Additionally, players, team management, match officials, supporters and media will be able to provide feedback on games through QR codes and, when everything comes together, Gavin said that “I don't think anybody's going to stand on ceremony if something clearly isn't working”.

That means that the rules could be tweaked not just at the end of the League but during the competition. Indeed, that could continue into the Championship although Gavin admitted that this was much less likely.

“Everything is up for review, everything. I mean, that's our job, that's the commitment we have in that motion one. That's why there's so much debate around it.”

At underage level, counties will be encouraged to introduce all of the new rules, though they may be watered down as required.

Gavin explained: “So in this instance the Dublin county board would say, 'Do you know what, under-16, well, the 40-metre arc is probably too much for them’, as in to score.

“We just might leave it to let them have a go, but they might say, ‘Actually just take it away, take it out,’ or definitely at under-14, ‘It's too much’.

“Development committees could say, ‘At under-14 in this county we're not going the arc, but everything else is in’.”

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