Yellow card may lead to sin bin

Initially, the changes will be confined to low-key competitions in Leinster, Munster and Connacht — Ulster have declined to adopt the new rules for the McKenna Cup. However, they will be mandatory for the National Leagues in both codes, which get under way in February. After that, it will be up to April’s Congress to decide whether any or all of the experiments will be written into the rule book.
There have been calls for a sin bin similar to that in vogue in rugby for some time, and Mick O’Dwyer, the Laois manager, who is a member of the Football Work Group, which recommended the changes, said he was in strongly in favor of players spending 10 minutes off the pitch on receipt of a yellow card.
“If fellas are going to be fouling, then they deserve to be put in the bin, but let’s try it and see how it goes,” he said.
O’Dwyer also emphasized the importance of the pick-up change, which will be confined to football.
“There was a big gray area around the pick-up, so I think it was about time that was cleared up,” he said. “Fifty percent of them are let go and 50 percent are penalized, but it’s one at the end of a game that can make a difference to a team.
“We’ve been trying it in training and it has speeded things up no end. A lot of people will tell you that it’s a skill that’s been taken out of the game, but going down in rucks and trying to pick the ball up is something that needed to be cleaned up.”
The changes were devised by two work groups, with the football section chaired by Tommy Moran of the Connacht Council, while hurling was overseen by Moran’s Leinster counterpart, Nicky Brennan.
“It’s important that we continually examine ways in which we can improve our games,” the GAA president, Sean Kelly, said. “It’s important to remember that the changes can only be fully assessed in a competitive game scenario.”
The following are the changes:
? Footballers will be permitted to lift the ball off the ground.
? The sin bin will see players sent to the bench for 10 minutes on receipt of a yellow card.
? Linesmen will, where possible, draw the referee’s attention during play to any fouls that merit a red or yellow card.
? Goalkeepers in football will use a plastic tee when taking kickouts.
? In hurling, two points to be awarded when the ball is struck over the bar from a sideline cut provided the ball is not touched while in flight by any member of the team taking the sideline cut.