Five things we learned from the GAA weekend: Connor Gleeson's fingertip touch shows up a glitch in the new rules

Irish Times

05-05-2025

A two-pointer becomes a one-pointer
The real problem is the rule, not the consequences.
One of the main talking points
arising from Sunday's Connacht final
was Connor Gleeson's fingertip touch on Ryan O'Donoghue's kick from outside the 45-metre line. Firstly, Gleeson deserves huge credit for his awareness in the midst of what was a frenetic game – and during a period when
Galway
were taking on water – for realising he could limit the damage by getting a touch on the ball.
By doing so a
Mayo
two-pointer became a one-pointer. Magic!
In the aftermath of the game much of the analysis around that incident centred on whether the ball was actually over the crossbar by the time Gleeson got his hand to it.
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But all of that misses the key point ... so to speak.
The main issue here is that O'Donoghue's effort highlighted a glitch in the system, a fly in the ointment, a needless splodge of small print in the rule. If a player has the talent to kick a ball over the bar from outside the 45-metre line, surely the merit of that skill should not be sliced in half because a goalkeeper got a fingertip on the ball as it dropped over the crossbar.
Several members of the Football Review Committee have said their remit is to make the game more exciting, more entertaining – rewarding a player for touching a ball that has been kicked from over 45 metres away doesn't seem commensurate.
Just amend the rule.
If a player kicks a ball over the crossbar from outside the arc then it's worth two points – irrespective of whether an opposition player gets a touch on it.
After all, if a player drills a ball from the 20-metre line and the goalkeeper touches it on its way to the back of the net it doesn't diminish the worth of the goal.
– Gordon Manning
There is life in Limerick's old guard yet
Limerick's Cian Lynch and Dan Morrissey with Michael Kiely of Waterford. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
One of the subplots of the season has been Limerick's gradual but deliberate separation from the team that won their breakthrough All-Ireland in 2018. It was clear after last summer that there needed to be an element of renewal and it was apparent during the league that the material existed for such a plan.
In the opening round against Tipperary, Limerick fielded only eight starters from the 2018 All-Ireland final, the fewest number for any championship match since that All-Ireland. On Saturday against Waterford that number climbed to 10, with Darragh O'Donovan also coming off the bench.
But others are struggling to get a look in. Seamus Flanagan wasn't on the panel for the Tipperary match and didn't come on against Waterford, even though Limerick used five subs; Declan Hannon hasn't been on the panel for either match; Dan Morrissey and Séan Finn started against Waterford, but were unused subs against Tipp.
'I think there'll be a lot of lads that are very disappointed, didn't make the team, didn't make the panel today, that are really going to be pushing hard the next two weeks. So I'm looking forward to seeing that,' said Kiely after the Tipp match.
But it is not a revolution either. Of the young players who have made an impression over the last 12 months only Shane O'Brien and Adam English would appear to be nailed-on starters. Colin Coughlan was given his first start against Tipp, but he is basically the first sub for the half-back line and Fergal O'Connor is the first or second sub for the full-back line, depending on circumstances.
In attack, Aidan O'Connor and Donnacha Ó Dálaigh are still regarded as impact players, in that order.
On Saturday, the old guard ran the show. The blending process will continue.
– Denis Walsh
Mayo need more from their biggest names
Mayo's Aidan O'Shea reacts to a missed chance. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho
That Mayo don't have the star power they used to is obvious to everyone. Their problem against Galway though was more that they didn't get enough out of the best they have on offer. They were able to start three players yesterday who have won All Stars in the past – Aidan O'Shea, Ryan O'Donoghue and Mattie Ruane. Each had their own version of an ill-starred afternoon.
To be fair, Ruane had one of his better outings but still, there seemed very little rhyme or reason in the fact that he was the one taking the last-gasp attempt to send the game to extra-time. Every team knows that these incredibly tight games are going to need a late two-pointer but Mayo basically played pass-the-parcel until Ruane found himself free on the right with a very difficult kick. It all seemed so ad hoc. That can't have been the plan, surely.
O'Donoghue finished the game with 0-9, 0-3 of it from play. He scored as much from play against Johnny McGrath yesterday as he had in five previous encounters combined. That said, he and the Mayo management appear to have been spooked by McGrath's record, leading O'Donoghue to play much farther from goal than usual. The Galway defender got up the pitch to win the first-half penalty. Would he have done so had O'Donoghue been playing as an inside forward?
As for O'Shea, it was another day to forget on the biggest stage. Though took his usual amount of punishment and laid on plenty of scoring chances for the players around him, he was either dispossessed or done for overcarrying several times in the first half when Mayo couldn't afford turnovers. He drew a blank on the scoreboard again – that's 14 of his last 15 games against Galway in league and championship where he has failed to score.
Mayo did plenty right yesterday. But they need more from their biggest names.
– Malachy Clerkin
Banquo's ghost still able to receive a handpass
There are more handpasses in this year's championship. Photograph: John McVitty/Inpho
Would it be an exaggeration to describe the Football Review Committee enhancements as having led to a feast of football? Possibly but the consensus is that matches have been easier to watch and more exciting with the two-pointer in particular proving a formidable weapon for teams looking to get back into matches.
One problem, which is proving intractable is the hardy perennial of the handpass. FRC chair Jim Gavin's instincts on this have always been to question the role of the handpass – as Dublin manager, he was critical of the GAA decision to drop an experimental restriction on it, scheduled to be trialled in the 2019 league.
For many people, the handpass is at the heart of all that has been wrong with football but it has proved most resilient down the years, as successive reviews of the game have deemed addressing the matter to be akin to interfering with football's DNA.
The FRC looked carefully at doing something but concluded two things: having initially considered the matter, they felt that restrictions on handpassing might have an unintended consequence for the attacking team close to the opponent's goal. There was also feedback from intercounty referees, who felt a limitation of consecutive passes would be problematic from implementation perspective.
Overall, these issues were sufficient to warn the committee that to proceed with restrictions might be divisive – something the FRC wanted to avoid for fear unpopular recommendations could become speed bumps for other proposals. This was also seen in the case of the four-point goal.
During the league, the amendment of 3v3 to 4v3 was intended to address the overload that led to a team with an attacking goalkeeper having an outfield 12v11 advantage – a remedy that was hoped would also reduce lateral handpassing.
On Friday, the latest progress report on the changes was released and in general was quite happy with the recommendations. The handpass to kickpass ratio however has continued to rise inexorably.
Eugene McGee, chair of the 2012 FRC, warned that the handpass issue would have to be monitored.
'It is not a core part of the game,' he said at the launch of the report in December 2012. 'That is why we are leaving it as it is but we are also putting in a strong recommendation that this be monitored on an annual basis. It can be clinically monitored. If that ratio were to go back to three or four or five to one then definitely the GAA would have to move.'
Last year's championship had a handpass to kick-pass ratio of 3.4:1. This year's regulation league matches saw that rise to 4.0:1. So far in the 2025 championship, according to Friday's report, it's running at 4.2.
Unlike Banquo's ghost, however, the handpass isn't simply a figment of a guilty conscience. Not only has it not gone away – it's continuing to grow.
– Seán Moran
Kerry's eyes fully focused on an All-Ireland final
Kerry manager Jack O'Connor celebrates after the game with Dylan Casey. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
Somewhere deep in the DNA of every Kerry footballer there is a physical and spiritual inkling towards the fourth Sunday in September. Those who have any predisposition towards playing in an All-Ireland final were simply born that way.
Now that the GAA's split season has messed up that trait, it has required a rewiring of sorts, one which directs that same physical and spiritual inkling towards high July.
When Jack O'Connor won his first Munster football title as Kerry football manager in 2004 – in his first season in charge – the Munster football final wasn't decided until July 18th. That was a week later than originally scheduled, Kerry requiring a replay before getting past Limerick at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney.
Kerry also beat Mayo in the All-Ireland final that same year, played on September 26th.
Now that O'Connor's seventh Munster football title with Kerry is won and over with by the May bank holiday weekend, his thoughts shift to the All-Ireland series, and the target of another All-Ireland title on July 27th. It is still relatively early days, but so far O'Connor's plan towards peaking at that point in the season appears to be working out just fine.
In 2022, O'Connor's first season in his third coming as Kerry manager, they peaked perfectly, beating Dublin in the semi-final, then Galway in the final; they arguably peaked too soon in 2023, appearing tired in that year's final loss to Dublin; then last year, they didn't seem to peak at all, caught by Armagh in their semi-final when another final seemed to be beckoning.
Kerry go into their All-Ireland series group with Roscommon, Cork and whichever team lose next Sunday's Leinster final. The first thing O'Connor noted after Sunday's win over Clare was his goal of topping that group.
'It's very important,' he said, 'because it's very difficult to play the three weekends in a row at this level because of the intensity of the games and the length of them. They're even longer now with the way the hooter is. We'll be endeavouring to go the direct route for sure.'
More importantly for O'Connor, he has several first-choice players to come back, Paudie Clifford missing Sunday's game through suspension, and Diarmuid O'Connor set to return from injury. 'We'd like to think we have a strong panel this year and the lads that missed out today will be chomping at the bit,' O'Connor added.
When asked if he had any fear players might get a bit complacent at this point, given the ease with which they got past Clare, O'Connor referenced the late Bobby Knight, the famed college basketball coach with Indiana University.
'I'll tell you now the best way to keep fellas feet on the ground, there were four or five fellas who missed out today, and they'll all be training next week. Bobby Knight said long ago, if a fella thinks his arse is going to be on the seat, that will focus his mind pretty quick.'
For now at least, Kerry's minds appear perfectly focused on high July.
– Ian O'Riordan