Leading goalkeeper dismisses rule changes and says he won't play in trial games

Former Dublin manager Jim Gavin and his Football Review Committee are in the process of drawing up rule changes with interprovincial trial games, which will be shown live on TV, to take place at Croke Park on October 18/19 but Galway netminder Connor

By: irishmirror.ie

Sep 27 2024
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Leading goalkeeper dismisses r

Galway goalkeeper Connor Gleeson has poured cold water on proposed rule changes to Gaelic football, insisting the game is fine as it is.

And Gleeson has said he would have no interest in lining out in next month’s interprovincial trial games at Croke Park, which Jim Gavin’s Football Review Committee is staging before finalising what rule changes will be voted on at Special Congress on November 30.

Gavin and Co are still poring over a range of possible changes, some of which will impact the likes of Gleeson directly, with one proposal seeking to only allow goalkeepers to take possession in open play while inside the penalty area or in the opposition half of the field. There are seven core rule changes mooted in all and several others around more peripheral issues, though Gleeson is not in favour of any tinkering.

He said: “I’m happy the way it is. To be honest, I don’t know, maybe other people want more attacking, quicker football. I suppose when you’re playing you don’t mind. As a spectator maybe it’s hard to watch at times but I don’t think there’s a need for rule changes, I think it’s fine the way it is to be honest.”

The first half of this year’s All-Ireland final, in which Gleeson played, was a particularly dour spectacle and, for many, underlined the need for the work being carried out by Gavin and his committee.

“I wouldn’t be conscious of that, you just play the game that’s in front of you,” said Gleeson. “I know it’s probably tough but you’re there to win the game. I know everyone will want to say we’re there to put on a show but everyone’s there to win the game.”

Indeed, the fact that Gleeson only had the company of a lame seagull in Galway’s half of the field for stretches of the first half brought a comical element to the commentary on the game, though he insisted: “I honestly didn’t see it until I was shown a few days later online but apparently it was a big talking point. I didn’t see it until someone mentioned it.”

The Dunmore MacHales man said he hasn’t been contacted to line out for Connacht in next month’s rules trials and wouldn’t be interested if he was.

“For rules? No,” he said.

So, with the likelihood that at least some of the proposed rules will be introduced for 2025, the first exposure that Gleeson will have to them in a competitive match setting will be with the resumption of the League in late January, with the pre-season competitions parked for next year.

“I played my first game in the FBD in MacHale Park and there was 10,000 people at it so in games like that I think there was value to it. As brilliant as the dome (Connacht GAA Air Dome) is, I don’t know does it get the same feel as a full-on competitive match, if you get me. We’ll see, maybe it’ll help with injuries but I don’t know.”

Pinergy Brand Ambassador and Galway goalkeeper, Connor Gleeson at the University of Galway Connacht GAA air dome as Pinergy have announced a game-changing energy partnership that will see Pinergy become the official energy partner of Connacht GAA. (Image: ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo)

Gleeson conceded just two goals in this year’s Championship, both to Armagh, with Aaron McKay’s fisted finish in the All-Ireland final particularly crucial to the outcome though he says he hasn’t dwelt on it.

“Yeah, it is one of them that I wouldn’t have looked at it until a week or two later. When you are analysing it you want your head to be good and fresh. Obviously, we were out for a few days afterwards and I let it all die down, analysed it a bit and will analyse it again with my goalkeeping coach when I get back.”

Galway boss Padraic Joyce is on the lookout for a new coach after Cork-based Cian O’Neill stepped aside to take up a similar role with Kerry, who he was involved with when they won the 2014 All-Ireland.

“I think this was going to be his final year. I’m not sure was it decided but I think this was going to be his last year. Travel commitments were a lot – I don’t know was that part of the reason. But that was going to be it for Cian and us.

“I got on really well with Cian over the last few years and he helped me a lot so he’s going in with Kerry this year and he might have a bit of knowledge on us that could go against us if we come up against them but that’s all there is, there’s no hard feelings.”

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