JUST seven weeks into the new season, the Gaelic football goalkeeper is being tasked with getting to grips with a new ball game for the second time.
By acting as a plus-one in attack thanks to a quirk of the new rules, keepers played a defining role in the first five rounds of the National League.
But that loophole is now closed after the Football Review Committee’s latest suite of changes, which were approved by the GAA’s Central Council on Monday.
The door to the opposing half will not be completely shut on goalkeepers as long as four of their team-mates occupy their half of the field.
But having been stripped of their licence to provide a numerical advantage in enemy territory — and given they can only receive a pass inside their own box — is the era of the roving goalie over?
Former Kerry keeper Brendan Kealy told SunSport: “It’s going to depend on who you have in goal.
“Is he going to offer you more than an outfield player coming forward? In some cases that might be the case and maybe teams will alternate between having a goalkeeper or a defender going up.
“But you’d have to imagine that it’s going to curtail it quite a bit.
“It seemed like every team was at it until now. Everyone was playing around with bringing the goalkeeper up as an extra body but it won’t happen now — certainly not to the same extent.
“By and large, I think the rules have been great and they’ve made the game more exciting. The goalkeeper has become a pivotal position over the last few years with kickouts and everything else. All of a sudden now it’s being dumbed down.
“The role of the goalkeeper seems to be to stay in the box and kick the ball out long to let other lads play football.”
While the impact of the latest tweak remains to be seen, the scope for a goalkeeper to affect a game looks set to be narrowed considerably.
Amid the scaling back of a goalie’s duties, Kealy shares the recent concerns expressed by Tyrone’s Niall Morgan about how attractive the position will be to future generations of players.
But the 2015 All-Star’s main grievance from revamped rules relates to kickouts, which must now travel beyond the new 40-metre arc.
The move has had a significant impact on restarts. In the most recent round of NFL fixtures, 62 per cent of kickouts were contested. That figure stood at just 24 per cent for last year’s Championship.
But Kealy, who was Kerry’s goalkeeping coach for their 2022 All-Ireland win, said: “I think if they left the kickout alone, the whole thing would be more appealing.
“The skill and technical level that goes into that when there’s a press on is huge.
“It became such a big part of the game. You’re nearly in a straitjacket as a goalkeeper having to go long every time. It has taken a huge tactical thing away. If they left the kickout as it was, I wouldn’t be too bothered about the 12-v-11 being gone. I’d actually prefer it. But it didn’t even seem to be on the table.
“The 12-v-11 thing didn’t sit entirely comfortably with me. But you were also wondering what else could the goalkeeper do if it’s not there.
“The kickout had become such an art in the last few years, going short, finding pockets. The work that went into it, individually by goalkeepers but also collectively as a team, was huge.
“When it comes off in a game it might not look like much but the amount of hours that go into it was massive.”
GETTING STUCK IN
Although he stepped away from the Kerry panel in 2017, Kealy, 39, is still playing club football with Kilcummin.
He added: “At least the 12-v-11 was some aspect for a goalkeeper to get his teeth stuck into.
“I know myself even from training with the club, it brought a bit of novelty and excitement. Now it’s more or less gone.
“Hopefully we’ll still see plenty of goal chances because if they start to dry up, how appealing is the role of the goalkeeper actually going to be?
“It’s one of the reasons soccer was my first love as a goalkeeper because you were always more involved in the game.
“We’ve all spoken in admiration of guys like Stephen Cluxton, Niall Morgan and Rory Beggan because they’ve brought a serious level of skill and flair.
“But that’s essentially gone now if these rules stay in place as they are. Changing the game has been great but there seems to be a culture in the GAA where we want the goalkeepers to stay back and keep quiet.”
If there is one keeper equipped to defy the latest changes by continuing to have an influence in the opposing half, it is likely to be the man Kerry will face this evening at Austin Stack Park.
In his four starts between the posts this season for Armagh, Ethan Rafferty has kicked 0-12.
A fourth defeat of 2025 would leave the Kingdom — who conclude their campaign against Galway next weekend in Salthill — in grave danger of dropping down to Division 2.
Kealy was still a member of Jack O’Connor’s backroom staff last summer when the Orchard won against Kerry after extra-time.
He said: “Regardless of what you want to get out of the league, you always want to do well to keep a positive spin on everything that you’re doing and trying in training.
“It keeps a level of positivity among the supporters and panel.
“In saying that, when Armagh were so dejected after losing the Ulster final last year, there weren’t many people who thought they’d go on from there to win an All-Ireland.
“Kerry will be keen to stay up and get as much as they can from the rest of the league but I wouldn’t write the season off or chalk anyone down as winners based on how the league ends.
“But this is definitely an important game because teams tend to start finding out where they’re at towards the end of the league.”
