Peter Canavan: Goals likely to be back on the menu in 2025

RTÉ GAA analyst Peter Canavan believes that the introduction of the new rules in football will see a return to green flags becoming a regular occurrence in the latter stages of the All-Ireland Championship.

In 2024, from the All-Ireland quarter-final stage onwards, only one team – eventual champions Armagh – managed to score more than one goal in a game when Barry McCambridge and Conor Turbitt netted against Roscommon. Only one game, again involving the Orchard County as they defeated Kerry in the semi-final, saw both sides find the net.

Of the eight counties involved in provincial finals, only three managed to score goals – two of those being losing sides Clare and Louth in Munster and Leinster respectively.

"I was just checking through some of the scorelines in last year's championship and so many of the big games, the provincial finals, the quarter-finals and so on, were devoid of goals," the Tyrone legend told RTÉ Radio 1.

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"The defensive structure in so many teams involves getting 14, 15 players behind the ball leaving it very difficult for teams to penetrate and you get a lot of this sidewards passing of the ball that really frustrates so many players and supporters alike.

"At least with the new rules it’s going to be different and it’s going to take a bit of time, there’s going to be a bit of tweaking required. But I think it’s for the better."

Looking specifically at who could make the most of the radical changes, Canavan believes that the return of Michael Murphy to Donegal – reported to have been a goalkeeper in recent challenge games – could see the Tir Chonaill County take full advantage.

"If you look at two of the main rules, one of them involves playing three up, you