Shane Walsh has given football's new rules a glowing review with the Galway forward saying that they have given him "a new lease of life".
The latest round of Allianz Football League action saw the new rule enhancements deployed for a second week in a competitive inter-county environment and Walsh made the most of one particular tweak during Galway's emphatic 0-26 to 0-16 victory over provincial rivals Mayo in Division 1.
The two-point arc proved an especially fruitful avenue for scores with Walsh firing over four of those from outside the 40m range on the way to a man of the match display.
"New lease of life to be honest, exciting," the Kilmacud Crokes clubman told RTÉ Sport's Darren Frehill as he lauded the impact of the new rules on attacking players.
"The game needed something. It was just getting so stale to be even part of those games.
"I've seen people give out about the 12v11 but I think the big thing is if teams want to sit off, they should be punished with the keeper coming up to make that advantage.
"But the other way round is win the ball up high, the keeper comes up to play and you've got a chance to then go straight up on goal as well.
"It's a great one to bring in because it does punish the team that sits off and obviously the two-point rule is a lovely one as well."
Walsh admitted the two-pointers added more gloss to the scoreline for Galway. But on the wider context of targeting the league, with two impressive wins from two already on the board, he said last year's All-Ireland runners-up were keen to be the ones setting the tone in games in 2025.
"After last year, we didn't want to be chasing points. I think that's probably the big one. We just said this year, we want to get off to a good start and just see where it takes us," he said.
"Every game is going to be so competitive in Division 1. You see the teams that are in it. I know Derry slipped up at the very end there today but every team is going to be competing for points.
"So we'll just see where it leads us. Last year we didn't have the bodies out training, this year now we have bodies training and you don't know what the 26 is going to be. That's a good place to be for a squad."
Watch Allianz League Sunday from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates from around the country on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
