Kerry-Derry horror show confirms that game needs change

With everything going on, it took me four and a half hours to drive from Westport to Dublin for punditry duty last Saturday.

And watching the Kerry-Derry game the following day, it felt like it dragged on almost as long.

The table of events in Dublin city last weekend was reminiscent of the football championship - too much squashed into too narrow a timeframe.

By the time the draw for the semi-finals was confirmed after the fourth quarter-final eventually finished, it was surprising to learn that Derry still weren't somehow in the thing.

It's fair to say they won't be missed for the remainder of the championship - sad to acknowledge after their electrifying league final performance, which now feels like a long time ago.

The Kerry-Derry game, which was probably the most hotly anticipated of the weekend's matches, confirmed beyond all doubt that Gaelic football needs rule changes of some description.

I thought it couldn't have gotten any worse than the Armagh-Roscommon match on Saturday but I was badly wrong. The game was so bad it could be a watershed.

It was a horrible spectacle, and all the more depressing given the quality available to both sides.

Aside from their defensive framework, Derry seemed to lack any plan to hurt Kerry at the other end of the field. Even as the game slipped out of reach in the final quarter, they remained in their defensive shell and seemed to lack any real ambition to go and win the match. One does wonder if their confidence is still dented from the Donegal game.

I'd be inclined to cut Kerry some slack given the system they were facing. I also suspect they learned heavily from last year's game, when Gareth McKinless got in behind them for a goal very early on. Only for a late surge and Derry's poor