The jury is still out as far as the new experimental rules in Gaelic football are concerned. In fact there is quite a big debate going on among players and spectators who have experienced the experiment at first hand.

From soundings taken from such sources there is a welcome for some of the new rules while others have met with almost universal disapproval.

One such rule is the limitation on the solo run. Apparently players are finding it very difficult to accept this change. The reason appears to be that a player who has used his speed to get into an open space finds it very much against his natural instincts to kick the ball away after one bounce and one toetap.

A player in such a situation quite naturally feels that having gone to the trouble of beating off one opponent through sheer speed now finds himself compelled to kick the ball away although vast amounts of space have opened up before him.

The argument in favour of this new rule is that it puts pressure on a player in possession to comply with the old advice which so many players have been given at all levels down the years of getting rid of the ball.

A further argument is that the limitation on the solo-run prevents players from hanging on to the ball for much longer than is wise. The tactic of the player in possession is to lure an opponent to foul him and thereby present him with the opportunity of a point from the free.

On the other hand there appears to be widespread acceptance of the experiment which gives a player who makes a clean catch from a kick out a free kick similar to the "mark" in the Australian Rules game.

This is really a minor change but it is designed to bring back the high fielding which has to some extent gone out of the game.

The hope is still there, however, that the "mark" would help high fielders to make use of their natural talents to gain possession and make good use of it without being subjected to the mauling which frequently follows a high catch in the middle of the field.

This column has been advocating the introduction of two referees for a long time.

Nobody is advocating the introduction of two referees as a general rule but it has become increasingly difficult for one man to police the top matches such as the knock-out stages of the National Football League, the provincial finals and the All-Ireland semi-finals and finals.

The referee has to be super fit and give a lot of personal time to the job for which he gets little or nothing by way of reward and plenty of abuse.

At the highest level the pressures are enormous. Apart from the 30 players the referee also has to deal with as many as three substitutes on either side on huge pitches and with huge crowds watching and always under the all-seeing eye of the television cameras.

One would been to be very naive indeed if one were not to be aware that when the ball is at one end of the pitch, where the referee is crucially involved, other things may be going on elsewhere.

Making comparisons with rugby and soccer is to miss one essential point in this regard. In rugby and soccer there are offside rules which mean that players are not normally closely grouped together when the ball is at the other end of the field while in Gaelic football man-toman marking is a part of the game and that such a situation can lead to activities not in accordance with the rules.

Referees deserve the thanks and support of all who care about the game and there are constant criticisms of what is generally referred to as "pulling and dragging". Many of the people who criticise the most have few ideas about how to deal with the problem.

Unfortunately the real problem has not been properly addressed on this occasion. Not for the first time in this space the question of the lack of a proper tackle has been left out of the equation again. The key to the problems of gaelic games is the fact that there is no way for one player to force an opponent to part with the ball and this frustrating situation inevitably leads to fouling.

I doubt whether the experimental curb on the solo-run will address the situation.

Another problem is the way in which the GAA goes about changing its rules. Unfortunately Congress is the body which makes or changes the rules. This is a very cumbersome way of going about the business because there will be so many different views coming from the floor that, to coin a phrase, it is easy for the delegates to take their eye of the ball which will lead to negative attitudes.

Let us hope, however, that the new rule about the pick-up off the ground and the "mark" and the two referees will be persisted with. It is likely also that the five subs situation will be agreed and if that happens then some progress will have been made.