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Tony Scullion reckons his former colleague Eugene McGee would have approved.
Jim Gavin will this morning preside over a Football Review Committee media briefing, where details of the “rules enhancements” in play for the upcoming interprovincial tournament at Croke Park will be outlined, and Scullion is sure the late McGee would have been on board.
The duo were part of the FRC that devised and ultimately pushed through the black card sanction in 2013.
Scullion’s recall is that cynical fouling was the principal blight on the game at the time and makes no apologies for the committee focusing so heavily on that.
“Thank God we did because I really do think it’s helped our game,” said the Derryman, an All-Ireland winner in 1993 and, more recently, the Ulster Council’s football development officer.
According to Scullion, the sort of sweeping rule changes that the current FRC is proposing weren’t required at that time, when former All-Ireland winning Offaly manager McGee was assessing the state of the game.
“Back then, the games hadn’t gotten to the extremes of defensive play that they’ve gotten to now,” said Scullion. “It’s gone far too negative. It’s very, very negative, all about keeping the score down and playing 15 players behind the ball. That is not our game and the quicker we can solve that the better.
“So if you’re asking me would Eugene McGee have approved of this, of all this work the FRC are doing? I would have no doubt in saying yes. He would have been fully behind it.
“We still have a great game. But … this 15 men behind the ball, we have to get rid of it. If we can get rid of that congestion then our game will become so much more popular and enjoyable, which this committee has said is their aim.
“We don’t need to kick ourselves in the teeth all the time about our game but the committee is right that change is needed and I know Eugene McGee would have felt the same way. It’s high time to look at our rules and get our game back again, which I think we will with these changes. Hopefully next year we’ll see a new game.”
Scullion attended one of the FRC regional meetings in Ulster to offer his tuppence. Donegal great Michael Murphy was there on behalf of the FRC, to take on the feedback. Scullion likes the proposal about keeping three players up the field, about two points from a long-range score and four for a goal. He feels that if they come in for the intercounty game, they must come in at club level too.
“I really do think it’s possible to do the two as long as referees get the support they need,” he said.
He had his own suggestion for the FRC too.
“I firmly believe that games at club level should be 35 minutes each way, the same as county games,” said the four-time All-Star and former Derry captain. “I think the level of fitness now of players at that level, it’s incredible. I’d be totally for that, across the board, 35-minute halves.”
Scullion got the Laochra Gael treatment earlier this year from TG4. The life story of the Ballinascreen was one of devotion to Gaelic games. Along the way he both played for Ulster and was a selector for the province in the Railway Cup, the vehicle that the FRC has chosen to showcase the new rules to the public across October 17th and 18th. The games will be live on TV. Scullion will be glued to it.
“I certainly will,” he smiled. “Even in the last few weeks, I’ve been looking at a lot of games in different counties. A thing I’ve noticed is that the day of the high-catching full-back is gone. I played there myself. What you’re actually seeing is teams pumping long balls into the square and getting last-minute goals because there’s just total confusion. It’s, ‘How do we deal with this?’ Because they’re just not used to it. Nobody kicks high balls in any more because they don’t want to lose possession.
“I think a lot of defensive skills have been lost generally because it’s not the man-on-man, one-to-one game it used to be. There’s so much defensive cover. This is an opportunity now for us to get all of that back, to get our game back essentially. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”