Louth boss Brennan welcomes rule change - but calls for another to be scrapped
Louth boss Ger Brennan has welcomed the rule change around the kickout mark - but he also wants the two-point free binned.
From this weekend's preliminary quarter-finals, including Louth's tie with Donegal, any perceived impediment of a player who has made a clean catch on a kickout will simply result in a free from where the incident occurs.
Previously, it resulted in a 50-metre penalty, which often resulted in teams kicking a two-point free for what was often an unavoidable collision.
'It's the right thing to do,' Brennan told LMFM. 'It's been tough for referees to make a decision there and then the players then themselves - if the ball is thrown up between me and you, you grab a hold of it and I'm landing on the ground, like I can't get out of your way as quickly as the initial rule would like to think a player could do.
'So from that point of view I think it's hugely positive.'
Brennan maintains that the two-point free has to go too, though the counter-argument is that it would incentivise fouling outside of the 40-metre arc when a player is shooting for a two-pointer from play, as kicking the ball over the bar from the subsequent free could only result in a single point being awarded.
Brennan added: 'Two points from a free kick outside the arc is just nonsense for me at inter-county level, it's far too punitive of a punishment for opposing players and I've said that from League game one.
'I've mentioned one of the best free-kick takers in the country in Sam Mulroy and surely he has to be in the conversation for All Star selection this year given how well he's been playing for Louth, so from that point of view I would get rid of the two points from a free and I think everything else has brought a whole freshness to Gaelic football.
'The rules have brought a breath of fresh air and they have the hurling fraternity on their toes now too so that's good as well.'
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Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
'We let ourselves down a little' Cavan hero on opportunities missed with Kerry
With the week that's in it, it was apt that the RTE series, Hell For Leather - The Story of Gaelic Football, landed on the 1947 All-Ireland final last Monday night. It recalled how the novel idea of staging the GAA's showpiece event in New York, to mark the centenary of the worst year of the great famine, came from the Clare county convention. The motion was resisted by the GAA's top brass before it came to Congress but Clare delegate Canon Michael Hamilton spoke passionately. 'They'll never see their homeland again,' he said of the Irish that had been scattered to America, 'and are you going to deny them this bit of Ireland?' The motion passed. Kerry and Cavan qualified for the final at the Polo Grounds some months later, with Cavan scoring their greatest victory in the most unique All-Ireland final of all. 'Cavan glorious and happy in victory,' surmised Micheál O'Hehir on the highlights reel as the players celebrated. 'The greatest chapter in Irish sporting history came to an end.' The links to 1947 have invariably endured in Cavan teams since. Current full-back Killian Brady is the grand-nephew of Phil 'The Gunner' Brady, who played at midfield in 1947, for example. Cormac O'Reilly's grand-uncle was John Wilson, wing-back 78 years ago and a long-time Fianna Fáil TD who would serve as Tánaiste. O'Reilly's father, Damien, has no direct familial links, but was a key player for Cavan when they played Kerry in two landmark fixtures in 1997, 50 years on from their last Championship victory over them. The first was an All-Ireland semi-final, Cavan's first in 28 years having ended their famine in Ulster, and a game that still rankles all these years on. Cavan competed well for the most part and Fintan Cahill's first half goal gave them impetus. However, Maurice Fitzgerald's brilliance proved too much as Kerry finished strongly to win by seven points. But O'Reilly views it as an opportunity missed. Ulster teams had done well in Croke Park since 1991. Kerry hadn't won an All-Ireland in 11 years and had been well beaten by Mayo the year before. 'I just feel that we let ourselves down a little,' says O'Reilly. 'It was much different in Ulster because in '95 we had been in the Ulster final and in '96 we'd been in the Ulster semi-final and all the lads would say, because I retired shortly after that and Stephen King did as well, but we nearly knew we'd win Ulster in '97. 'We were that confident of winning it that we all stayed on and I don't think we just had that same belief when we got to Croke Park and as well as that, to be fair, when you're not there year in, year out it's different. It's difficult. We probably should have won the All-Ireland that year because I believed we were as good as the other teams. We were as good as Mayo as well that got to the final and I believe we were as good as Kerry.' Long before that All-Ireland semi-final, the counties had been slated to play their opening round League game against each other, in October 1997, in New York to mark the 50th anniversary of the Polo Grounds final. Martin McHugh had already stepped down as Cavan manager and selectors Michael Reilly and Donal Donoghue took charge of the side for a game attended by some 10,000 at Denning Stadium on Randall's Island. Fitzgerald had been imperious once again in Kerry's All-Ireland final win over Mayo three weeks earlier, and his levels hadn't dropped as he spearheaded another victory. O'Reilly has fond memories of 'an amazing trip', with several of the 1947 team on board, including Wilson, his wife's uncle, but he wished they could have given the sizeable Cavan diaspora in New York something more. 'Like, we got two chances at Kerry within a few months of each other and both times we weren't successful so that's what I look back on - the disappointment, and I think that's where sometimes teams let themselves down. There's that extra bit of belief because I know you hear all the quotes of 15 versus 15 and so on and so forth, but I think if you have a little bit more belief… 'I'd love if we had to win in New York just for the Cavan people out there. I wish we had but we didn't.' The links with those games 28 years ago to 1947 were obvious. And as much as we might like to romanticise, it would be stretching it to draw parallels with this afternoon's preliminary quarter-final in Killarney between two sides who come into the fixture on the back of heavy defeats, despite the lineage that is there. 'I don't think it'll come into conversation at all now, no,' says O'Reilly. He is frustrated by the current team's inconsistency throughout the League and Championship, but their performance in beating Mayo recently offers hope. 'Cavan were very, very good and then you come out again and then you put in a good 20 minutes against Donegal at Breffni Park. We were against a strong breeze and we're within two points of Donegal coming up to half-time and then we conceded a goal and then the second half was a disaster and then very poor again last week so it's very difficult to know what to expect.' And Cormac, who's having his best year yet with the county, wouldn't be giving him the inside track either. 'He tells you absolutely zero about Cavan or what's going on or who would be playing. You'd read more in the paper than he'd actually tell you about what's happening in camp but after a match I would have a chat with him. 'We're up against it obviously but I suppose there's absolutely no pressure on Cavan. There is a bit of pressure on Kerry now after being beaten by Meath. 'They're in Killarney, they should beat us - but you never know.'
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Sam Mulroy: 'Families, lives, work and holidays need to count. We're not paid for this thing'
Sam Mulroy got a message from his clubmate JP Rooney earlier this week. It was a picture of the former Louth player's son playing football in the backyard. Before Louth's victory in last month's Leinster final, which sealed their first senior provincial title in 68 years, it seemed the apple had fallen far from the tree. 'His young lad John was never in love with football until he came and watched Louth playing in a Leinster final a few weeks back,' explained Mulroy at the All-Ireland knockout stages launch. 'It was very nice to see that you're inspiring the next generation of players. 'Louth is a small county with two massive towns and two massive soccer clubs in Dundalk and Drogheda. It's been a battle over the last while, especially with Dundalk's success in recent years in Europe. There's definitely more Louth jerseys floating around on kids these days.' Three years ago, Mulroy appeared on the BBC's The GAA Social podcast and said winning a Leinster title in the next five or six years was a realistic ambition for Louth. He took flak for his comments. To some, it seemed fanciful. Dublin's All-Ireland juggernaut might have been halted the previous year, but they still looked unstoppable in the province. After losing the Leinster finals of 2023 and 2024 to Dublin, Mulroy's prophecy came through. He had stopped just short of saying 'why not?' when asked on that podcast if Louth could win the All-Ireland. Now he's edging closer towards it. 'Last week Meath beat Kerry, and they've beaten Dublin, and there's games, there's results that you wouldn't be calling, maybe last year, that are happening this year,' said Mulroy, top scorer in the championship with 4-34. He believes Gaelic football's new rules have made the game more open. That's not to say he loves every one of them. He doesn't like that the kickout has to go beyond the 40m arc or having to hand the ball to an opposition player after a foul is committed, but what annoys him most is the altering of the rules during the season. 'It's 11 v 11 instead of 15 v 15, there's space to get shots off; players are expressing themselves a little bit more because the game's so fast, and there seems to be a lot more plays happening,' he said. 'Each play doesn't seem to be as important, whereas last year, if you turned the ball over, you could go without the ball for three, four, five minutes.' Louth face Donegal in a preliminary quarter-final on Sunday in Ballybofey. Mulroy knows Donegal manager Jim McGuinness well. McGuinness was involved with Mulroy's club when they won the Louth SFC in 2020 and 2021, the former being the first time Naomh Mairtín claimed the senior title. 'Jim was immense when he was with us, and a gentleman, and always very good with his time,' said Mulroy. 'I've got an awful lot of respect for Jim and what he's done for the game, for Donegal and our club. That was our first ever senior title in the club, so it was very special. I'll never forget that and the help he gave us. 'I was captain in 2021. He was very big on leadership and driving the group on. He would have spoken to me individually. I learned an awful lot. Just on the training pitch, how he spoke to players and got us to bring up our levels - you can see why he's been so successful.' GAA president Jarlath Burns said earlier this month that moving the All-Ireland finals to August from 2027 on would have his support. It would not have the support of Mulroy, who enjoys the split season as it stands. 'It gives a bit more time for those county players to get a little bit of a rest before they go back to the club,' he said. 'Taking into consideration the players' downtime is massively important. If you bring the All-Ireland final back to August and then they're still playing their club finals in November, December, when are they going to stop? That has to be a key consideration for everyone that's making that decision: when do the players get time off? Families and lives and work and holidays need to count. We're not paid for this thing, so I think that definitely has to be the big consideration. 'Even if you got a few more weeks between games… It's not as if you get to go and live your life for a few weeks. You're still training like a professional athlete, you're still in the camp, you're still going away on training weekends. If you push the weeks out, you don't get the time off. It's not as if we're going to be let go and go sun ourselves for a few weeks. 'Prolonging the thing adds more volume of training for players. I know it's tight between games right now, but like, Jesus, I love it. I played last weekend, I get to play again this weekend, I'd rather that than having to go train.' The possibilities for Louth in Monday's draw were all tough. It was Kerry in Killarney, Dublin in Croke Park or Donegal in Ballybofey. They would have been underdogs in the first two, and also will be on Sunday, but it's not outlandish to think they could pull off an upset. 'That's my belief, and I'll definitely be putting that message to the players when we go to training, that we're not going up to Ballybofey for the craic, or to fulfil a fixture, we're in a preliminary quarter-final of the All-Ireland Series,' said Mulroy. 'We played in a quarter-final here (in Croke Park against Donegal) last year, so it's a case of, 'let's try to go better again this year, and try to progress as a team.''
Irish Independent
11 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Louth camogs on the winning trail too
Not forgetting the senior hurlers winning Division 4 of the Allianz League or the U17 hurlers winning the Celtic Challenge Cup. Then there's the senior Ladies footballers retaining their Leinster crown…but what about the third sport within the GAA 2027 amalgamation plans? Camogie has also been flying the flag for Louth, if somewhat under the radar. A few weeks ago the U16s lost out in an All-Ireland final to Mayo and just over a week past, the county U14 side won a Leinster Blitz Cup in Wexford, defeating Meath in the final. That win now puts the side into the All-Ireland Blitz series in August. For Sara English (Naomh Fionnbarra & St Anne's), along with her co-management of Maurice Rafferty (St Feckins) and Shane Fennell (St Brides), the cup success was a culmination of months of dedication from the young squad. 'We'd trials in January so they've been training up until the blitz,' explained Sara. 'In between that we've had a few challenge matches, there was a one-off match against Monaghan – that's part of the fixtures for this U14 squad - and we played in a blitz in Cavan winning two games and losing one. 'This was our first big blitz, the Leinster Blitz. It's one where teams have the opportunity to win silverware.' Played in atrocious weather conditions as the heavens opened and stayed opened most of the day as their first match was due to start against Meath, a game they lost, Louth won their next two games beating Wicklow and Carlow to make the semi-final. "It meant that we'd be in a final; if we beat Laois we'd be in the cup final and if we lost we'd still be in the shield final,' she said. ADVERTISEMENT 'But we were going for the cup, there was no shield coming back to Louth. So we went out, beat Laois in the semi-final and then reversed the earlier result against Meath to win the final. They did fantastic and all the girls got to play and get some game time.' The recent success of the county camogs has gone relatively unnoticed, slipping under the radar. The fact is, camogie players don't get the recognition their efforts deserve and people don't realise the work they put in, particularly at county level and, irrespective of whether the results go against them or not, their efforts are equal to what others are doing. Sara acknowledged that was the case however, she was quick to point out that the development of the player as a person, was equally important and that is something they get with their particular squad. 'There are only seven clubs in Louth and we're a really small, and tight, community and these girls play in their leagues with their clubs against each other and it's lovely to see how many different friendships have been formed through the Louth panel and different clubs mixing with each other, little groups of friends,' said Sara. 'They mightn't have been friends on day one or day five or week five, but now they're friends and that's great. 'But the attendance at training has been outstanding. We have a panel of 30 and we've had huge attendance at training every week and that stands to them; it stands to the development of them. And there's the social aspect of it. We ran a half day camp over the Easter period and sure they had great craic at it.' The success too adds to the players own self-esteem, the fact that they have won, Sara agreed, is a boost to their confidence. 'Yeah, they were delighted and they were delighted it was a cup because you know a shield is great too, but I mean, a cup is the big one, even if it's in their own division, it's something to strive for, that we actually won the cup final,' said Sara. 'And now we go in August, to the All Ireland series… an All Ireland Blitz on Saturday August 9 and then to the All-Ireland Camogie Final on the Sunday and we get to march around Croke Park, all of the under 14 development teams in the country get to march around at the half-time break. So we will fly the Louth flag high that day.'
