Jim Gavin says that new rules, including the four-point goal, could still be part of the 2026 All-Ireland football season as the Football Review Committee prepares to write its final report on this season's changes for the GAA.
Other changes, such as preventing a team retreating into their own half once they've crossed the halfway line, could still become rules in Gaelic football in the future.
Some of the biggest changes this year have seen the introduction of the two-point arc 40 metres from goal, keeping players in the opposition half at all times, and banning back passes to goalkeepers.
But Gavin, who became the first manager to guide a team to five senior All-Ireland titles in 2019 with Dublin, says that the FRC's work isn't done yet.
"It is possible," Gavin said when asked by The Sunday Game host Joanne Cantwell whether new rules could be brought in. "Nothing is agreed until it's agreed - they're temporary rules."
More from Jim Gavin with some fascinating updates on the rule changes
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 27, 2025
📺 https://t.co/XbYhQNQZZl
📱 https://t.co/t5qjLbkAf8
📻 https://t.co/2SRRKdgjzu pic.twitter.com/LrvddVoOcz
And Gavin went on to say that a sandbox game on Wednesday, involving Dublin clubs Round Towers and Fingallians, will see some potential new rules being tried.
"It's at 7:30 in Abbotstown, to look at more... at feedback we're getting through surveys. The four-point goal, if a team crosses the halfway line, they can't go back.
"Look at Louth in the Leinster final against Meath. They brought the ball back into their own half and there was some suggestion that it might encourage teams to push out if they know they can't go back into their own half.
"I don't want to have people concerned that there's going to be radical change. Our job, as the FRC, is to do as much research as we can in the time that we're given.
"We have to produce a report for Central Council in early September. We're going to be writing it in a couple of weeks times so we're at the very final stages now."
Jim Gavin joins us with some praise for the FRC changes and a grilling from our panel
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 27, 2025
📺 https://t.co/XbYhQNQZZl
📱 https://t.co/t5qjLbkAf8
📻 https://t.co/2SRRKdgjzu pic.twitter.com/bQVvhLm1p1
And while the FRC will be wound up shortly, Gavin says he would like to see the GAA be able to make tweaks, where they're needed, without having to set up another rules review group like the one he has been chairperson of.
"Only every five years the clubs can propose changes to the rules," he pointed out.
"In those five years, the standing committee on playing rules... As we've seen when kickout mark was introduced, that was introduced in that gap.
"Our belief is that the standing committee on playing rules needs to agile enough. If they see that the game needs to change, not to wait for another FRC to come around in 2035, to make changes as necessary."