Dublin manager Mick Bohan thinks that the playing rules of ladies football stating that there "shall be no deliberate bodily contact" does not make sense.
"I think this is really important from a coaching aspect," Bohan said at an AIG-LGFA media day.
"I've been involved in coaching for 35 years and I'm well-equipped to see what has changed in the men's game and the women's game over that period of time.
"Ultimately, what we have now is better athletes. They're better developed, they're more conditioned, and the tackle still states that you can only tackle the ball when it's taken out of the body for a hop or a solo. That is just not feasible to do.
"Just watch it in action. So, essentially, if you bear down on the 13m line towards goal, I cannot touch that football until you go to play it. Now, how in the name of the Lord is that a rule that makes sense?
"Ultimately as well, and this has happened so many times in the game I've seen over the last couple of years, two players go for the ball with no intentional contact but because there's contact and one is stronger than the other, they're deemed to have fouled. That's not the rules."
Dublin manager Mick Bohan, left, and Meath manager Eamonn Murray during an AIG-LGFA media event. They are looking forward to welcoming 40,000 fans into Croke Park for Sunday’s All-Ireland final. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Bohan - whose Dublin side take on Meath in this weekend's All-Ireland final - said that he has asked the LGFA to "look at the rules and make them fit for purpose considering the athletes have now changed".
"What the LGFA will say is that if there's a change of rule it has to suit all the people playing ladies football," said Bohan.
"But if you look, for example, at the rule in the men's game now with the delivery of the ball from outside the 45 for a mark to be taken, well that hasn't transferred into juvenile football.
"So why can we not make a rule that's fitting for the athlete at a higher level? And I mean, age-appropriate. That's all I've said. That's not a slant on the Association.
"It's a little bit like basketball defining the time in which you take a shot because otherwise it becomes a very defensive game. Or the try being increased from a four-point to a five point score to try to encourage that.
"Or the tackle being changed in clearing out the ruck in rugby because the game changed so they had to look at it. That's all I've asked for."
AIG is the official insurance partner of the LGFA and also announced a new 15% discount off car insurance for all LGFA members at www.aig.ie/lgfa.
Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
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