Pat Spillane says Gaelic football's entertainment issue dates back England's Rugby World Cup winning team of 2003.
Clive Woodward's side won the tournament with what was generally deemed a conservative, defensive style, defeating Australia 20-17 in the final.
Spillane feels a defensive revolution took hold of Gaelic football around this time, continuing up to modern times.
He name-checks All-Ireland winning managers Joe Kernan, Mickey Harte and Jim McGuinness as those who initially took inspiration from England's style, applying it to their own teams.
Kernan won an All-Ireland with Armagh in 2002, while Harte won three with Tyrone in 2003, 2005 and 2008.
McGuinness ended a famine for Donegal in 2012, bringing Sam Maguire back to the Hills for the first time in twenty years.
"The tactical approach that Gaelic football coaches started using at that time was borrowed from Clive Woodward’s coaching mantra that won England the Rugby World Cup in 2003," Spillane wrote in his most recent column for The Sunday World.
"It was primarily all-out defending, defending, defending.
"And once England had secured possession, a conservative safety-first and risk-averse attacking play was applied. It was about keeping the ball with the forwards and trying to win penalties and drop goals for Jonny Wilkinson to convert.
"Playing with freedom and flair? Passing along the lines? You must be joking – too high a risk. Sound familiar to GAA followers?
"Of course it does, for it was this game-plan that was enthusiastically adopted by Joe Kernan, Mickey Harte and Jimmy McGuinness.
"It was sadly followed, modified and made worse by hundreds of supposedly modern innovative Gaelic football coaches over the years."
The GAA are actively trying to improve the quality of Gaelic football as a spectacle, bringing in the Football Review Committee.
The FRC, as it's known, is spearheaded by successful and respected Gaelic football minds such as Eamon Fitzmaurice and Jim Gavin.
Their remit is to make Gaelic football 'the most enjoyable amateur games in the world to play and watch,' bringing in new rules to try and improve the sport.
