Diarmuid O'Connor: New rule on handing the ball back after a foul is 'unnatural'

A great leap into the unknown awaits.

Jim Gavin and the rest of the Football Review Committee have come up with those new playing rules. It's not a case of keyhole surgery to cure the ills that many saw as sucking the life out Gaelic football, but more a case of open surgery.

The code is being drastically reshaped. With the absence of the pre-season games, the public have been denied an opportunity to see at first hand how the rules are affecting the game. Gathering accounts from the few that have witnessed January action at first hand, the reaction would seem to be positive.

While very much admitting that it will take time for the new rules to fully have an affect on the game, Kerry midfielder Diarmuid O'Connor sounded a positive note on his experiences so far, when speaking at the launch of the Lidl Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé 2025.

THE CHANGES EXPLAINED

"We are all excited to get back playing competitive football and these new rules will definitely benefit the game from a spectator point of view," O'Connor said.

"The easiest way for teams to win was to set up defensively but with the new rules you have to be more offensively minded in keeping the three up. That will have benefits in terms of kicking and long kick-outs. Overall, it will makes thing more competitive.

"People say that these changes will particularly benefit the likes of Kerry and Donegal, but I think it will benefit any team with good forwards. It certainly widens the net; I can see a 10-team competition in terms of the All-Ireland and anyone of that 10 could really make a go of it. When I started playing initially, Dublin were top and they were a couple of teams just below them. It's much different now."

So what type of Kerry are we likely to see in the next