Analysis: The proposed new rules will mean increased physical and mental demands on referees as well as players
Over a weekend in October, Gaelic football fans were treated to the return of the Interprovincial series, where players from Munster, Leinster, Ulster and Connacht lined out for their respective provinces at Croke Park. What sparked most excitement was a first chance to see the proposed new rules for Gaelic football.
Based on the work of the Gaelic Football Review Committee (FRC), these new rules comprised seven core enhancements designed to transform Gaelic football as a spectacle. In addition to these core enhancements, there are also proposed changes to reduce tactical/delay fouls, certain aggressive fouls, and dissent toward referees from players and team officials alike. When discussing these latter rules, FRC chairperson Jim Gavin highlighted a need to reduce verbal abuse directed toward referees, something which, unfortunately, has been all too prevalent in Gaelic games.
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From RTÉ Sport, GAA president Jarlath Burns discusses the proposed football rule changes on RTÉ Radio 1’s Sunday Sport
Anyone who has ever attempted to officiate in sport knows how difficult and demanding the role of referee can be. Refereeing is a complex task and involves much more than simply knowing the rules and regulations of a game. Decision-making also relies on judgements in the context of a game, such as whether physical contact is accidental, impacts the play, or is of sufficient force to be deemed a foul.
Referees also guide a game based on their judgements and by their communication with players and coaches. One hugely enjoyable and insightful aspect of the interprovincial series in October was the open “ref mic” – not part of the new suite of rules – but an innovation that allowed TV audiences to listen in on the referees’ communication and to gain a greater understanding of decisions made during the games. Alongside effective communication, good physical fitness and positioning allows referees to be in the right place at the right time to penalise infringements, resolve conflicts, and, in doing so, create a presence to manage the game effectively.
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“Badly needed”: Tyrone’s Niall Morgan gives his verdict on the new rules to RTÉ Sport’s Damian Lawlor
It was widely acknowledged after the Interprovincial games that the proposed new rules for Gaelic football will pose many challenges for players. Some have highlighted the increased fitness demands, for example. Tyrone’s Niall Morgan reflected that goalkeepers “are going to have to be a lot fitter”. Ulster physiotherapist Frank Quinn suggested that the new rules meant all players were required to do more repeated sprints, more accelerations and decelerations and more high speed running.
But what impact will these new rules have on the physical demands for referees? What we already know is that Gaelic games are amongst the most physically arduous sports to officiate. A 2023 study led by Aidan Brady at DCU found that Gaelic football referees cover 9.6km on average during championship games, with 11% of that distance covered at high speed.
The total distance covered by Gaelic football referees in a game was 33% more than professional rugby union and rugby league referees and was equivalent to Premier league soccer referees. Perhaps even more telling was that the total distance covered by Gaelic football referees per minute of a game (123 metres) was 6% more than the 116 metres, on average, covered by players, albeit at a lower intensity.
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From DCU, Aidan Brady talks about his PhD research into the match fitness of GAA referees
What this highlights is that inter-county Gaelic football referees already require considerable physical fitness to ensure that they are well positioned to make correct decisions during a game. If the proposed new rules speed up the game, and increase the fitness demands for players, then surely the same must be said for our referees. A priority, then, must be to support referees through appropriate strength and conditioning training and guidance to meet these increased physical demands.
Alongside the physical demands, refereeing is also a mentally demanding activity. Referees monitor players’ movements, read the game, make judgements in specific situations, enforce the rules of a game, and communicate with other match officials and with players. These tasks require intense focus and composure throughout the duration of a game.
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From RTÉ Brainstorm, why referees are quitting Gaelic games
We saw during the Interprovincial games that the new scoring system trialled then challenged everyone’s mental arithmetic capabilities. Armagh’s Rian O’Neill admitted that he struggled to figure out what the combined score was during the game with a new scoring system meaning that goals were worth 4 points, points from outside a new 40 metre arc were worth 2 points, and points from inside that arc were worth 1 point. While the GAA’s Central Council has since decided to retain the existing 3 points for a goal system, each of the new rules that are implemented will, for a time at least, add to the mental demands for both players and referees.
In psychology, cognitive load theory helps to explain this effect. Cognitive load is the amount of information we can manage and process at one time. Unfortunately, our capacity to do this is limited. Too much information – in this case trying to learn and remember new rules, compute scores, and play the game at the same time – can cause overload and performance on any one task to suffer. The added stress and pressure of more competitive National League and Championship games adds to this mental load and means that the performances of both players and referees are likely to suffer in the short-term.
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From RTÉ Sport, how fouls and dissent will be punished under the proposed rule changes
We need to acknowledge and support our referees here too. For both referees and for players, managing cognitive load means allowing sufficient time to fully learn the new rules and to apply these rules in different game scenarios to arrive at the correct decision. This might mean introducing some rules in a phased manner after others have been embedded to avoid overload. Perhaps more important – for all of us watching – is to accept that mistakes will be inevitable as we progress through the implementation of these new rules and the expected period of learning needed for referees and players alike.
The one proposed rule change most frequently discussed is the new 3v3 structure and the impact this rule might have on referees. The 3v3 structure requires teams to always keep at least three players in the opposition half. This means that a referee must monitor the movements of players in one half of the pitch and be aware of the movements and actions of at least 6 other players in the opposite half of the pitch. This “eyes in the back of your head” challenge means that for both players and referees, some existing habits will be forced to change.
One such behaviour is an increased need to visually scan all areas of the pitch during periods of play. Scanning – looking around to analyse the surroundings before receiving the ball – is something that the best players in football do more frequently than lesser skilled players. The very best players scan about 6-8 times in the 10 seconds before receiving the ball. Scanning allows players to take in more information about the position of teammates and opponents before deciding what to do when they get the ball.
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From the Sunday Session Show, Prof Geir Jordet from the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences on scanning in elite soccer and how it can be coached
Interestingly, studies in soccer have shown that elite referees, unlike their sub-elite counterparts, have learned to anticipate passes (and the possibility of fouls) to ensure they only scan before or after a pass takes place, but not during. What this means is that scanning is crucial for effective decision making and is a skill that separates elite players and referees from those at a lower level.
But, like any skill, scanning can be developed with appropriate training. The change in the 3v3 structure, alongside other new rules such as the advanced mark or the goalkeeper backpass, means that our referees may need to be trained to scan more and to scan at the right time to avoid missing key game moments. This highlights not only the challenges these new rules bring for referees, but also the importance of supporting and upskilling our referees with new strategies to meet these additional demands.
Clearly, the new rules proposed for Gaelic football – regardless of which are ultimately retained – will place additional physical and mental demands on both players and referees. Both will need training and time to adapt to these new demands. While many players will be guided by knowledgeable coaches, and experts in strength and conditioning, sport psychology, and performance analysis, our referees must be equally supported through this transitionary period and beyond. For all of us eagerly anticipating the introduction of these new rules, and the changes they might bring to Gaelic football, spare some empathy for the referee who, perhaps, has the most challenging task of all to adapt to this new version of the game.
