COUNTY teams are more likely to spend the spring months hatching plans to work around the mark rather than use it to their advantage, reckons former Donegal star Martin McHugh.
The 1992 All-Ireland winner, through his role as manager of Ulster University, has been an interested participant in a dry run of the new rule throughout the Higher Education Ryan Cup in recent weeks. Having been passed by Congress earlier this year, the mark is set to be officially introduced on January 1, 2017 – in time for Gaelic football’s pre-season competitions at inter-county level.
Under the new rule, which was also trialled in 2010, a player catching the ball cleanly from a kick-out after it has travelled at least as far as the 45-metre line without touching the ground has the option of taking a free-kick or playing on.
Six marks were taken during UU’s Ryan Cup quarter-final win over Maynooth University last week, with towering Antrim midfielder Niall McKeever getting his hands on three kick-outs for the Belfast-based outfit. Not bad considering the slippery conditions at Jordanstown, but neither McHugh or his Maynooth counterpart - ex-Kildare scorer-in-chief Johnny Doyle – were getting too excited about the introduction of the new rule.
“We saw plenty of high-fielding out there,” said Doyle.
“If there was no reward for it, would the ‘keeper have done the same? He probably would given the quality in both midfields, where both teams had good fetchers.”
And McHugh also remains to be convinced that the mark will pave the way for a return to Gaelic football’s high-fielding ‘glory days’, with the Kilcar man predicting that teams will devise plans to limit its effectiveness.
“I just think the players have to get used to it, and maybe we haven’t done enough work on it,” said McHugh, whose UU side take on IT Tralee in the Ryan Cup semi-final in Ballykelly on Monday night.
“Probably, most teams are taking the mark and waiting for the referee to blow the thing, but what really happens is that when the mark’s given you can still play on. Maybe we need to start doing that. I don’t think it’ll make any difference in Gaelic football because what you will have now is everybody boxing the ball away in midfield so you’re going to have very little catching.
“I’d say by the time the summer comes around and the mark’s there, it’ll be all breaking ball. Instead of teams coaching catching, they’ll be coaching picking up breaking ball and that’s maybe the disappointing thing. But look, it’s in and we have to deal with it.”
Allstar forward Doyle regularly featured at midfield towards the end of his playing days with Kildare, but the former Lilywhites ace feels the introduction of the mark is an unnecessary addition to the referee’s workload.
“It probably is,” said the Allenwood man.
“To change or introduce a rule, you want to see something very positive coming out of it. I haven’t seen that so far, maybe it needs a bit more time, but from what I’ve seen of it so far I wouldn’t be getting too excited about it.
“You wouldn’t be dancing around saying ‘God, this is a revelation’. It just gives the referee another job to do and, in the heat of battle, I think the referee has enough to do.”
