Experimental puck-out rule could mean end of sweeper system, says Offaly manager Johnny KellyThree players from each team must remain between the 20m and 45m lines for puck-outs from that half of the field. Fri, 11 Sep, 2026 – 07:37John Fogarty
Teams will find it difficult to implement a sweeper system under the new experimental puck-out rule, says Offaly manager Johnny Kelly.
As part of the suite of changes that will be tested in the third level league games next month and November, three players from each team must remain between the 20m and 45m lines for puck-outs from that half of the field.
Kelly, who supports the need to review the rules of the game and has largely welcomed the changes, said he is intrigued to see how they operate in the forthcoming matches.
“One of my questions is will the sweeper system have to go now because you must have three forwards and three defenders inside the 45m line,” said the Portumna man. “You’re not going to leave a wing-back free for the opposition and have a sweeper in your own side of the field.
“It would probably favour teams with bigger target men as opposed to those with smaller ones that need to work the ball out. It’s worth having a look at anyway.
“Maybe you can play a sweeper. Maybe there’s better coaches out there than me that can come up with an innovative way to keep it fairly compact. I can see the three inside forwards stepping back to the 45 to set up a defensive line, knowing well that the goalkeepers can’t go short to the full-back line and have to go long. There’ll be a lot of vacant full-forward lines on opposition puck-outs.”
Kelly wants to see how the limit on successive hand-passes works out. “It’s high time we did something about the hand-pass. I imagine lads will use the ‘Brick Flick’ more. It will be interesting to see how it works out.”
He can see referees enforcing the six-step rule more than the current limit of four. “I think it gives the referees a chance to play the rule. If a player takes more than four steps, often at times the referee doesn’t react because the play has gone. Whereas if it’s six, I think they would be more inclined to whistle if it goes beyond six.”
Kelly applauds the hurling expert review group’s trial of the two-point sideline but points out the 65 from the opposing half of the field will be subject to disparities. “Not every pitch is the same length. The 65 (from the defending 65m line) in Nowlan Park is very different that it would be in Croke Park or Semple Stadium. The 65 probably needs to be a definite distance for every pitch.” Not surprisingly, Kelly welcomes the return of the maor foirne in the third level league fixtures. “Oh look, it is badly needed providing the maor foirnes and the team officials on the sideline obey the referee. I hope when it comes into play, that would be the case.
“You try to make a call or a change on the far side of the field and because you can’t get there, it could be five or 10 minutes before you get the message across. I’d highly recommend the role comes back.”
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