LGFA Welcomes 12 Rule Enhancements for 2026 Season

A year after the men's game had its rules revolution, women's Gaelic football has taken note of the results and followed suit. The LGFA confirmed last month that 12 rule enhancements will be trialled in the 2026 league, six of which have been adopted from the FRC, namely, the kickout mark, the two-point scoring arc, the requirement to keep three players in the opposition half at all times, the solo and go, and frees being brought forward for tactical fouling or dissent from the sideline. However, the kickout rules have not moved in line with the men's game, with short restarts within the 40m arc still allowed. The other six rule tweaks relate to the officiating of the tackle in the women's game. Players will be allowed to tackle the ball at any time, as opposed to the previous rule where a tackle could only be made when the ball was out from the ball carrier's body. The frontal charge rule has been altered in favour of the ball carrier, necessitating that the defender must use one or more hands to legally delay an opponent's forward movement - this reform being aimed at changing the situation whereby a defensive player was aware they merely need to stand their ground and take contact to earn a free out. Four days out from the commencement of the Lidl Ladies Football League, there was a broad consensus that the rule changes are an exciting development for the game, even if they're still officially only being run on a trial basis for now. "I'm not going to lie, it's kind of been hard to get your head around things, even though we've seen the men play the last year with it," Kerry's Danielle O'Leary told RTÉ Sport at the launch. Kerry surrendered their All-Ireland title in 2025 after a semi-final loss to Meath. But so far the Kerry men would appear to the biggest beneficiaries, having hogged both championship and league titles and the club All-Irelands at all three grades. O'Leary is confident the rule changes will suit the women's team as well. She said: "I suppose for us in Kerry, I think the most beneficial will probably be the solo and go. We're so used to playing fast, free-flowing football that we always usually have three up anyway. "It just brings back the catch and kick football, which we love, like the men. Hopefully, we'll utilise it as much as we can. "I know it's been kind of tactics from other teams throughout the years to try and stop us, have that fast transition." As regards the knottier question of the altered tackle rules and how they will be interpreted by referees, O'Leary is inclined to hold judgement. The interpretation of the tackle zone has been a grey area for Gaelic football since time immemorial and the Kerry forward believes it will mostly still hang on the referee's discretion. "I do think that a lot of stuff does come down to the referees as well. You can tackle now with the ball in [the opponent's] hand but it has to be with the open palm. "To be honest, we won't know until Saturday, until the ref throws in the ball, how much contact he's going to allow. "I know the rules are there, but look, rules have been there as well the last 40 years, you have to adjust to the game in front of you." Armagh star Aimee Mackin is confident the rules won't prove too much of a culture shock or an adjustment for the players, given that they have grown used to watching them operate in the men's code over the past 12 months. "I am sure they will review it after a while when they see how it goes, but watching from the men's game, it adds a wee bit more excitement, adds a faster pace to the game, so looking forward to it," she said. "I actually think from watching the men’s game, your head has been in that mindset. For us, the three up rule and not breaching that will be the most important thing, especially if you are a tenacious tackler and getting close to the halfway line. "Think the solo and go will be good. It will quicken things up and the three up will be exciting as a forward - not having to defend!" Regarding the changes to the tackle rule, Mackin says many peope were of the view that the game had become "too stop-start" and free-riddled: "I don't mind hard tackling, so looking forward to a bit more contact. "In our in-house games, the game didn't feel a whole pile different. Just the pace of it, with the solo and go, you could feel more intensity. "And that was a stat from the men’s game, the change in distance covered. So that will be the biggest change." As for the two-pointers, and how that will be utilised in the women's game, both O'Leary and Mackin say they'll have to wait for more friendly weather conditions to fully exploit the change. "Hopefully some day. It's not really for winter football, but maybe in the summer time," says Mackin. "Mark Bourke [Kerry manager] said to me the first day in, 'no two-pointers until after Christmas'," O'Leary says. "We do practise it enough in training, but I suppose it's hard this time of year with the wind. "It [the wind] would have to be behind you. But it's such a great thing to be able to change a game with a two-pointer."