TV View: Here's how the new rules looked on weekend one of the Allianz League

General Judgement on Referees 
It was pretty clear in most all games that referees are now being put under severe pressure, largely because of the number of changes that they are being asked to police.


After just one week, it is easy to see that policing the three-up, three-back rule is pretty easy to manage provided you have your full complement of officials, a referee, two linesmen and a fourth official. It is even more clear that trying to police this rule at club level with no backup would be impossible unless referees have suddenly been equipped with eyes in the back of their heads.
Interestingly, referee Maurice Deegan, who was working from Omagh with BBC and GAAGo said that he can only advise referees to “officiate what’s in front of them,” which backs up the “eyes in the back of their heads” theory.

The new advantage rule could also be a headache for the man in the middle, given the distance between the 45 and the 20m line and having to watch all the other issues as well.

~The 40m arc rule which gives teams the chance to hit two-pointers would seem to have been a success on its first showing.
Mark Sidebottom on BBC asked “Could these work at a Division 3 hurling game in Antrim?” before correcting himself to acknowledge the new rules are not for hurling. One step at a time, Mark!