National Forum

Tomsmiths New Rules Suggested Improvements

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Tomsmith here

I will post this and hope fully the new rule committee will read and learn from my suggestions so herer goes

No1 That the rule that the player not handing back the ball be amended to ... THat all players drop the ball once the Referee blows his whistle .
No 2 That the 3 up breach be penasised with a free from halfway line
No 2 That alleged back chat or in subornation towards an Official be penalised with a free from Half way line or where the infraction occurred
That no two two pointers be awarded if it means securing a victory

tomsmith (Cavan) - Posts: 4134 - 06/01/2026 10:53:42    2650010

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Replying To tomsmith:  "Tomsmith here

I will post this and hope fully the new rule committee will read and learn from my suggestions so herer goes

No1 That the rule that the player not handing back the ball be amended to ... THat all players drop the ball once the Referee blows his whistle .
No 2 That the 3 up breach be penasised with a free from halfway line
No 2 That alleged back chat or in subornation towards an Official be penalised with a free from Half way line or where the infraction occurred
That no two two pointers be awarded if it means securing a victory"
May as well get rid of those particular rule changes altogether then. What earthly good, or incentive, is a free from the halfway line?
And the whole point to handing it back is to give the fouled team the opportunity to take the free quickly, instead of the old fashioned delaying the game by throwing it away, or dropping it where you were, which was unsportsmanlike cheating behaviour in the first place .
And why shouldn't a team win a game with a 2 pointer?

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17938 - 06/01/2026 11:57:32    2650025

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Replying To Viking66:  "May as well get rid of those particular rule changes altogether then. What earthly good, or incentive, is a free from the halfway line?
And the whole point to handing it back is to give the fouled team the opportunity to take the free quickly, instead of the old fashioned delaying the game by throwing it away, or dropping it where you were, which was unsportsmanlike cheating behaviour in the first place .
And why shouldn't a team win a game with a 2 pointer?"
Agree with Viking here. Those rules were brought in for a reason.

The only thing that does annoy me is the two pointer free. I dont think a free hit at a goal should be two points, I dont think that is going to change unfortunately.

alwaysasub (Wexford) - Posts: 581 - 06/01/2026 12:43:59    2650032

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Replying To alwaysasub:  "Agree with Viking here. Those rules were brought in for a reason.

The only thing that does annoy me is the two pointer free. I dont think a free hit at a goal should be two points, I dont think that is going to change unfortunately."
Agreed on the 2 pointer. When the ball is moved up for dissent it is placed on the 21. That's where it should be taken from and not moved back to outside the D for a 2 pointer.

Freethinker (Wicklow) - Posts: 1999 - 06/01/2026 13:19:54    2650036

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Replying To tomsmith:  "Tomsmith here

I will post this and hope fully the new rule committee will read and learn from my suggestions so herer goes

No1 That the rule that the player not handing back the ball be amended to ... THat all players drop the ball once the Referee blows his whistle .
No 2 That the 3 up breach be penasised with a free from halfway line
No 2 That alleged back chat or in subornation towards an Official be penalised with a free from Half way line or where the infraction occurred
That no two two pointers be awarded if it means securing a victory"
Another year, another random post with daft ideas to bait people into responding.

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1650 - 06/01/2026 13:36:02    2650041

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Replying To tirawleybaron:  "Another year, another random post with daft ideas to bait people into responding."
Paranoia. ??

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 3339 - 08/01/2026 11:02:00    2650244

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How did Fr. Ted get in with fixing the dent on the bonnet?!

We've been treated to great intercounty and club games since the end of last January. It has been fantastic! The greatest game in the world! Rugby and soccer are besieged by problems.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 9332 - 08/01/2026 13:05:23    2650256

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Replying To legendzxix:  "How did Fr. Ted get in with fixing the dent on the bonnet?!

We've been treated to great intercounty and club games since the end of last January. It has been fantastic! The greatest game in the world! Rugby and soccer are besieged by problems."
Greatest game in the world is stretching it, its not even the greatest game in Ireland. Its still much better than it was. If we can somehow make it harder for teams to keep the ball for minutes on end it will be pretty near perfect.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 17938 - 08/01/2026 13:37:48    2650261

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Replying To tomsmith:  "Tomsmith here

I will post this and hope fully the new rule committee will read and learn from my suggestions so herer goes

No1 That the rule that the player not handing back the ball be amended to ... THat all players drop the ball once the Referee blows his whistle .
No 2 That the 3 up breach be penasised with a free from halfway line
No 2 That alleged back chat or in subornation towards an Official be penalised with a free from Half way line or where the infraction occurred
That no two two pointers be awarded if it means securing a victory"
There must be two moons in the sky, I agree with Tom on 1 of his points. The rule where a player breaches the half way line, the halfway line is where the breach occurred so the free should be from there. On taking the ball outside the 2 point scoring zone to win a match, if the player has the spuds to give up a tap over for a draw or take the ball out to win the game , good on him. Looking forward to another mighty year's football no matter who wins the All Ireland.

Saynothing (Tyrone) - Posts: 2533 - 08/01/2026 15:58:48    2650290

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Replying To legendzxix:  "How did Fr. Ted get in with fixing the dent on the bonnet?!

We've been treated to great intercounty and club games since the end of last January. It has been fantastic! The greatest game in the world! Rugby and soccer are besieged by problems."
As T T would say, "remind me of who you are again."
The only problems facing Rugby & Soccer is the growing demand for tickets.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 3339 - 09/01/2026 08:45:28    2650343

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Replying To Saynothing:  "There must be two moons in the sky, I agree with Tom on 1 of his points. The rule where a player breaches the half way line, the halfway line is where the breach occurred so the free should be from there. On taking the ball outside the 2 point scoring zone to win a match, if the player has the spuds to give up a tap over for a draw or take the ball out to win the game , good on him. Looking forward to another mighty year's football no matter who wins the All Ireland."
There are 2 types of 3-up breech - if the defending team has extra men back then it should be a tap over free (it shouldn't be allowed to be taken for 2 points); if the attacking team has an extra man up then a free from the half way line is more appropriate.

While improving discipline was certainly important - my heart really went out to Sallins at how they lost their intermediate club semi-final. Player overcarrying falls to the ground just outside the 45 in the An Ghaeltacht half; can't hand the ball over as he's on the ground; ref deems this to be a breech of the rule - so moved up to 35 meters out; An Ghaeltacht decide to move the free back outside the 40 for the 2 pointer to win the game. That's 2/3rds of a goal and the decisive score in the match for an over carry in the opposite half of the pitch! To fix this - I'd make a technical foul an indirect free - it could be brought up but not give a direct shot at goal.

brianb (Kildare) - Posts: 485 - 09/01/2026 14:06:51    2650404

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