Last weekend we saw the new proposed rules in action for the first time during an inter-provincial competition to showcase how they could work.
It proved to be a very interesting watch, and certainly opened the door for some debate and discussion, but if the overall goal is to make the game better to watch, then based on those two games, you would have to say that the new rules did that.
However, there were rules that didn't sit well with many, and Joe Brolly is one of the main critics, claiming that the FRC have missed the real problem.
Packed defences and zonal marking have meant that the game has become slow, pedestrian, and at times, very boring to watch, so the new rules state that you have to leave three players in the opposition half at all times, meaning that there is a lot more space and less of an opportunity to mark zonally.
However, the fact that 11 players can still do this suggests that zonal marking, although not as effective, will still be a big part of the game.
In Brolly's Irish Independent column, the Derry legend says that Gavin actually told him in a previous discussion that they purposely kept in elements of zonal marking, to help weaker teams.
READ HERE: Michael Fitzsimons Inspires Cuala To First Dublin Title After Con O'Callaghan Red Card
READ HERE: County Final Results As Storm Ashley Causes Disruption Around The Country
I raised this fear with Jim. He agreed — as he must — that their proposals leave the zonal defence intact. I asked him what the point of all this was then?
"He said it weakened the zone by reducing the number of potential defenders from 14 to 11, but that the view of the committee was that to remove zonal defending would lead to mismatches.
"That permitting a watered-down zone would allow lesser teams to compete. Which is, of course, a fallacy.
"Under the current rules, which allow a 14-man zonal defence, lesser teams have remained lesser."
Brolly went on to state that the beginning of this type of football was in 2011/12 when Jim McGuinness' Donegal side won the All-Ireland.
He goes on to state that since then only Dublin, Kerry, Tyrone and Armagh have actually lifted the Sam Maguire, meaning that the sport isn't as competitive, even when teams can use zonal marking.
