CAVAN GAA star Gary O’Rourke got an accidental thump from an umpire’s flag at the weekend – with his club joking he is “still wearing it”.
The Ballyhaines goalkeeper was in the net as the Lake County lost 2-22 to 0-20 to Monaghan in their Division 2 football league opener.
At one point in the game, he went to collect a football after Monaghan had successfully kicked a two-pointer.
However, as he did so, the umpire pulled out the new orange flag and inadvertently trapped the goalkeeper in it.
The moment was captured by Ben McShane from Sportsfile and used by RTE as they discussed the five main talking points from the opening weekend of the new rules.
Reacting to the pic, his club Ballyhailes GAA joked that he was “recovering well” from the “bating”.
The club posted: “The club would like to confirm that Gary is recovering well after getting a bating from the new orange flag during the Cavan/Monaghan game on Saturday!”
In the comments, ‘Matty’ playfully asked: “Did he wear the flag for the whole game??” to which the club responded: “He is still wearing it apparently”.
O’Rourke, to his credit, retweeted Ballyhaines’ original post and quipped: “This is what they meant when they said to get a good look at the new rules right ?”
The new rules made their debut in competitive inter-county football during the opening weekend of the 2025 Allianz Leagues.
Former Tyrone joint-manager Feargal Logan was speaking about the new rules on a Sports Law Bar Association podcast recorded before the weekend’s action.
And he pointed to a potential issue concerning the new 40m scoring arc, outside of which points are counted as double.
He said: “Jim [Gavin] helpfully explained that if you’ve one foot planted over the halfway line, you’re deemed over the halfway line in terms of going back.
“But one change that has been curious in my head is if [a player] kicks a winner from outside the arc and, as you expect good kickers to do, both feet leave the ground and both feet or one foot lands inside the arc and the two points becomes one or when does it become one?
“I envisage some car park business after matches on that this year.
“There was a basketball match during The Olympics.
“You saw the French team that had the American ladies team beaten and they scored a three-pointer but the girl’s foot just touched inside the line and didn’t get the three points and they lost.
“They will be contentious because you (might) need two points to draw a game and you fall short, you get your one-pointer.”
That viewpoint was not shared by Galway forward Cillian Ó Curraoin, who revealed he was “licking his lips” at the prospect of playing under the new regulations.
He said: “They’re unbelievable for an inside forward. I was looking forward to it for a long time.
“I watched the interpros and was really licking my lips. It was great to come out in front of a crowd and play.
“Everyone is sussing each other out and we saw that in the first half.
“What are they going to do with kick-outs? What are they going to do with the press?
“It will take a while for everyone to kind of bring their own spin and dynamic to it. It’s exciting.”
