Odhran Lynch ended up as perhaps the biggest unwitting fall guys across the country when it came to the Football Review Committe’s (FRC) new rules.
The game changed dramatically overnight and Derry’s regular goalkeeper for the previous five years suddenly found himself rooted to the bench.
Derry were one of a handful of counties to experiment by throwing an outfield player into goals, midfielder Neill McNicholl.
Saying that, no-one else in Division One really deviated away from their regular number one, if he was fit and available. The FRC rule changes effectively created regular 12 v 11 scenarios with the goalkeeper the extra man.
Now your goalie really had to be able to not only play, but also hurt you in attack, with Armagh’s Ethan Rafferty the prototype.
Then two things happened that saw an out in the cold Lynch come back into favour. The first was Derry’s poor form in shipping a raft of goals, particularly the three against Dublin at Croke Park, which showed that shot stopping was still at a premium for goalkeepers.
Then came an FRC move to curtail the goalkeeper, with the 12 v 11 becoming an 11 v 11, with four players having to stay back in their own half.
Unless your goalie was a top drawer footballer, he was now more likely to stay at home. Lynch, who was a regular in attack under the old rules, was suddenly back in favour again.
It will come as no major surprise to hear that the Magherafelt clubman prefers the old game. Derry, with their running game, use of the goalie up the field and lack of natural two point shooters, appear to be one of those counties that the new rules don’t suit.
Lynch, as a goalie, is particularly annoyed about the kickout arc, which has curtailed the space for short restarts significantly. And with the goalie no longer able to take the ball inside his own half, the risk is often not worth the reward.
“It’s brutal,” he says. “You can still get shorts away, and everybody's going to get shorts away, but you're kind of picking your battles.
“Do you go short and you're (the goalkeeper) not an option anymore? All of a sudden somebody has to beat a man or it's 2v2 or 1v1.
“Or do you go long and leave it a battle out the field? You want to get your hands on the ball, but do you want your hands on the ball when you’re under pressure? I don't know.
“I was going to say that was my least favourite rule, but now that it's four back. I don't like that one either, but that's just the nature of the position.
“I think kick-outs need to come back. You're kind of taking away the skill of the keeper.
“I know you're allowed off your line, and there's Rafferty, (Niall) Morgan and (Rory) Beggan doing it perfectly, and they're kind of doing the opposite of what the rules are telling them.
“I think for a keeper, one of your biggest skills is the kick-outs. But kicking the ball 60 to 80 metres every kick-out is not a skill, is it? It’s just about who has the biggest kick.”
He continued: “You're just trying to hit a square. Especially depending on your pitch. I think Croke Park was very different.
“I obviously never played the game in Croker this year (against Dublin), but I think in Croke Park, going long, you'll still be able to find men in the pockets. But I think in the likes of The Athletic Grounds, it's a very narrow pitch.
“Even when you have the shorts, you're really going long because it's just a tight field. Celtic Park is the same. It's not very wide and you found it hard to find pockets as it was.”
Lynch suffered a recent quad injury that means he'll not play a part against Donegal at Ballybofey in tomorrow’s Ulster Championship opener.
“You're kicking every ball (long),” he says. “The quad’s gone now. You know what I mean? There are only so many times you can kick a ball long. Something is going to happen.”
After Lynch got injured, Derry recalled Ben McKinless, who starred in Ballinderry’s run to this year’s All-Ireland intermediate club final, and he could start in MacCumhaill Park.
Lynch says he’ll be helping McKinless out as much as he can.
“100 per cent, I'm not selfish,” he continued. “You still want to win whether you're playing or not. It was the same with Neil.
“Neil had never played in nets. You're still telling him everything you need to tell him. You wanted him to play as well as possible too.
“You just wanted to be ahead of him, but yeah, all the words of encouragement you can give him and help out where you can and when you can.”
With a raft of injuries that will rule out over half their first choice team, Derry are massive underdogs this weekend.
Lynch is hoping that going in under the radar will suit them, and he says the memory of last year’s four goal Ulster quarter-final thumping at Celtic Park isn’t really a factor.
“I don't even think that's the way you look at the draw,” he remarks. “You’re going to have to beat teams like that (Donegal) if you want to win it anyway.
“We went out in 2022. We were hungry. We were buzzing and we were playing Tyrone who were All-Ireland champions.
“You have to have a game where you have to prove something. There's no point in winning two or three games if you're not going to win the whole thing.
“It's not a waste of time essentially, but you want to get a run of things. You want a bit of hype and buzz back around the county, especially after the League.
“I think you just take whatever draw comes and that's what you work on. That definitely helped us a couple of years ago, and hopefully it does this season.”
Lynch says there is “frustration” with Derry seeking a first victory of the year but that morale is “fine” even though they’ve dropped out of the conversation for Ulster and All-Ireland titles.
“I think that's where you aim to be - you want to be in the conversation,” he said.
"At the minute we're not in the conversation, but I think it could work out okay for us. It's not even that there's been a spotlight on us. Everybody's had their eyes on us for a couple of years now.
“There's different things going on. Hopefully, behind the light, we can figure something out and get over the line.”
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