We could suggest the best inter-county teams are so savvy that they — like hurlers bounce the ball to themselves to break a possession and therefore catch the ball more than twice — will purposely break the chain of hand-passes with something like a deliberate hand-pass to ground in front of their intended target, a spilled solo or a ground kick, that the referee has to recount.

We could also argue it’s better to incentivise using the foot than attempting to punish a lesser skill. But for now we will consider how poorer an already dismal 2018 Championship would have been without teams being able to put together more than three straight hand-passes.

James McCarthy’s fine goal against Tyrone in Omagh? It would have been ruled out as soon as he received the ball through a fourth consecutive hand-pass from Con O’Callaghan.

Donegal’s first goal in the Ulster final? Void. While you’re at it, cancel out their fine second goal too as Paul Brennan fed the goalscorer Ryan McHugh. And Hugh McFadden’s against Derry.

And Leon McLoone’s against Down. Yes, Donegal appear to be the team that have most to lose from this purge on the hand-pass, although Harry Loughran’s goal against them in Ballybofey would have been ruled out for the same reason.

But there’s more. Vinny Corey’s against Tyrone in Omagh, Ciarán Murtagh’s against Galway, Gearóid McKiernan’s against Down, Paul Geaney’s second against Cork, Enda Smith’s first goal against Armagh (six hand-passes preceded that swift move from defence) and Neil Flynn’s against Kerry.

While we’re at it, and bearing in mind the ban on the backward sideline kick, Damien Comer’s goal against Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-final would not have stood as Ian Burke initiated the move for the goal by reversing a sideline ball to Ciarán Duggan.

Traceback from this year’s Championship and the impact of the hand-pass limit can truly be gauged. Voted the greatest GAA moment in an RTÉ poll in 2005, Seán Óg de Paor’s point in the 1998 All-Ireland final would never have happened once Michael Donnellan laid off the ball to Derek Savage.

And don’t even begin to discuss Michael Farragher’s magical goal for Corofin in this year’s All-Ireland club final, all 16 of the passes in the breathtaking build-up coming from the hand.

Cillian O’Connor’s additional time equaliser in the drawn 2016 All-Ireland final? Afraid not since four hand-passes were strung together before he let fly. Ten years earlier, Ciarán McDonald’s point to beat Dublin in that year’s semi-final would also have been culled.

Kevin Foley’s famous goal in 1991? Five hand-passes on the trot. Peter Canavan’s late point against Kerry in 2005 would have been dismissed for one hand-pass too many.

Few can disagree that the playing rules committee’s heart is in the right place. Only formed this year, they have proved extremely productive. They rightly highlight that the hand-pass has become too prevalent but there is little consideration given to the fact a transfer from hand to hand, be it the second or 14th in a row, can be a positive possession.

It hasn’t helped their credibility that their original kick-out proposal has twice been amended, firstly by themselves on the back of feedback from those at the coalface and then by Central Council on Saturday.

To their credit, the committee said they wanted their proposals to be multilateral but a second change at the weekend so kick-outs now need not pass the 45-metre line, damages their hopes to further the promotion of high fielding.

As an aside, all kick-outs still must be a minimum of 13m in length so might that prompt a redrawing of the field such as creating a 13m radius from the middle of the 20m line? It would make referees’ lives easier anyway.

Starting next month and continuing into January, there will be outrage about rationing a play that footballers have been so accustomed to exercising and coaches preaching. It won’t help that this experiment comes at a time of the year when the conditions accentuate the virtue of keeping the ball in hand.

The GAA might reason that as a mitigating reason for the forthcoming uproar but it’s not going to be enough for them to ride it.

As Stephen O’Meara, the performance analyst for Galway's senior footballers who also assists Corofin's analysis team, points out, the hand-pass is the effect, not the cause of why Gaelic football has become more difficult to enjoy. Much like GAA president John Horan says only attitudes, not rules, can enshrine the GAA’s amateur ethos. Gaelic football’s future lies solely in the hands of those that coach and play it.

Dublin’s home rule beyond the pale

When Donegal protested about facing Dublin in Croke Park back in July, it was generally regarded as opportunism by the Ulster men.

After the Newbridge controversy, there was currency in challenging central GAA officialdom.

As much as Donegal might have had a point, the decision has been passed by Congress.

Donegal, though, aren’t letting this lie. As county chairman Mick McGrath told this newspaper on Saturday, they are prepared to put forward a motion to Congress 2019 insisting that no team enjoys home advantage twice in the Super 8 stages.

Kerry, for that reason and their belief that Croke Park is not a suitable neutral venue for all pairings, have signalled their support for such a move.

Looking ahead to 2019, the Connacht winners must go to Croke Park to face the Leinster champions in the second round of their Super 8 group. How will Galway, Mayo, or Roscommon react to the likely provincial victors Dublin having to travel just once in the quarter-final phase?

What’s clear is there is very little appetite at central level to address Dublin’s post-provincial familiarity with Croke Park. That’s evident in GAA president John Horan’s comments this year even though Dublin themseleves seem to have no objection to hitting the road. “We play where we’re told to play,” said James McCarthy last week. “But I understand the uproar out there.”

Dublin have to expect they’re there to be shot at but this is not a swipe at them but the authorities who are facilitating them, who don’t seem to realise their actions are in keeping with the capital-centric policies taken by the Government that disenchant the rest of the country.

Brilliant Burkecast spells in 2018

There are inter-county footballers who can claim to have had better seasons.

As he continues his unbeaten Championship run, footballer of the year Brian Fenton’s takes some beating, for instance. Con O’Callaghan’s too as for the second year running he followed All-Ireland senior club hurling success with All-Ireland senior football glory.

But as if his 2018 wasn’t special enough for him already, then Ian Burke only went and gave another reminder of his class as a footballer on Sunday. Not fully recovered from the broken rib he suffered in the county championship, his cameo against Ballintubber was what provided Corofin a third straight Connacht title.

The All-Star has had to make do with the super-sub role on a couple of occasions this year but going back to mid-February when he so deftly assisted for Liam Silke’s goal against Moorefield to the spells he cast over Nemo Rangers to his steady growth as an influencer in the Galway team he has been a joy to watch.

His intervention on Sunday means he and others in the Corofin set-up could be playing catch-up again for the county spots but going by his recent comments it doesn’t seem to faze him. “I was only too delighted to go back playing with Galway after a brilliant league,” he said earlier this month.

I just went back and got myself to the level I needed to get to, to try to play for Galway, and luckily enough I was able to get that.

In a forgettable football year, he will be remembered.