IN the aftermath of Castlebar where only four measly minutes of stoppage-time were applied, where Mayo players were dropping like flies in the second half clutching their heads, and the ‘unfortunate’ breakages in play that it inspired, you would have thought there were more pressing issues on the mind of the GAA President John Horan than banning passes to goalkeepers.
Rather than addressing the real scourges of time-wasting and feigning injury – certainly not the preserve of Mayo, it must be said – the GAA is dreaming up issues that are, at best, peripheral to the overall health of the game.
And so, just when the emerging art of goalkeeping is taking flight, the GAA is considering clipping their wings.
Quite literally.
No-one’s definitely going to start the de-skilling process of goalkeepers, you understand.
It’s just a thought at this stage. That mightn’t actually require a trial. It's just idle talk.
But, of course, when does the GAA President throw something out there to a dozen or so journalists just for the sake of it?
Not a lot of clarity was given to a follow-up question to Horan in Scotstown earlier this week over whether or not a goalkeeper could receive a sideways pass or a forward pass.
It was passes in general.
And yet, one of the most stunning highlights of last season’s Ulster Club Championship was watching Rory Beggan step forward for Monaghan champions Scotstown, lending the ball to a team-mate before splitting Burren’s goalposts from distance.
Beggan’s courageous move and shot were things of beauty that prompted applause in the Pairc Esler press box.
Equally, watching Niall Morgan bursting forward to score from play is one of the most exciting aspects of the modern game.
Beggan and Morgan – and their coaching teams - are ahead of the game but more coaches around the country will be trying to utilise their goalkeepers in similar fashion.
It’s Gaelic football’s version of soccer’s ‘libero’ – the spare man at the back that could affect the game in the most positive sense.
Beggan and Morgan’s attacking forays are a tactical brainwave.
With each passing utterance from the GAA hierarchy, your faith ebbs a little bit more.
Rarely do you encounter a GAA President who thinks it’s better to stick with how things are, especially in terms of the football championship.
Under Horan, there seems unmistakable haste to introduce Championship tiers before the end of his three-year tenure expires.
To leave a legacy of sorts.
Earlier this week, it was quite concerning to read the GAA were still open to a few nips and tucks in relation to their two-tier model.
You understand they want to get it right, but you would imagine everything would be nailed down at this stage, that every base would be covered.
At his press briefing in Scotstown, Horan was open to the idea that promoted Division Three teams could gain entry to the top Championship tier later that summer and the two relegated teams in Division Two would be condemned to the lower tier.
After all the meetings and brainstorming sessions, there appears more than a whiff of Tommy Murphy Cup about tier two.
The main plank that the GAA is working off is for Division Three and Four teams playing in the lower tier.
The only way they can escape tier two is if they reach a provincial final.
And everyone knows some provincial finals are easier to reach than others.
Talk of tiers certainly feels like the GAA’s ‘Brexit’ moment.
A lot of people are getting decidedly twitchy the closer we get to the revamped 2020 Championship season.
And during this twitchiness, you begin to consider the good things about the current system, not to mention the rave reviews the football Championship is currently in receipt of this summer.
The much-maligned All-Ireland Qualifiers have thrown up their fair share of mismatches (haven't a string of All-Ireland quarter-finals?) but they have provided us with some of the best entertainment.
There are so many compelling narratives that collide in the back door.
For instance, how would Down react to their provincial defeat to Armagh ahead of their Round One Qualifier against an ailing Tipperary side?
How would Mayo do? And Armagh?
Would there be one more kick left in Monaghan?
Balmy Saturday nights have become something of the great unknown.
Everywhere around the country there was intrigue.
Last year Roscommon made a charge through the Qualifiers to reach the Super 8s.
Will it be Clare this weekend? Or will Meath recover from their Leinster final humiliation?
Former Longford boss Denis Connerton once said their Championship began as soon as they escaped the shadow of Dublin in Leinster.
The best atmosphere I’ve experienced so far this summer by a considerable distance was sitting among the Pairc Esler crowd for Down’s All-Ireland Qualifier clash with Mayo.
Over 15,000 crammed into the Marshes. The place was heaving with anticipation. Sean Og McAteer was frantically waving his arms at the gates to say to patrons the main stand was full to the brim.
Under a blistering evening sun there was a happy mania inside and outside the ground.
But Down are in Division Three. They would be classed as a tier two team under the new proposed format.
Tier two would stunt their growth, their squad likely to be ravaged by the lure of playing football in America.
They would almost certainly lose any momentum they built up in 2019.
The reality is Pairc Esler would never be heaving for a tier two match. Tier two wouldn’t be inspiring the next generation.
And you could safely deduct two-thirds of the 15,000 supporters that turned up for the Mayo game a fortnight ago.
In an interview with former Antrim captain Kevin O’Boyle last year, he said he would rather retire from inter-county football than commit to a ‘B’ Championship.
Sometimes the GAA is looking at this issue from the wrong angle and the potential lack of buy-in from players and supporters.
Not only is the GAA in danger of demoralising goalkeepers, they could be doing the same to vast swathes of the country where apathy reigns over the prospect of a tier two.
