The GPA also sought the opinions of inter-county managers with 25 of the 32 responding to the survey. Of the 25, 13 of them (52%) said the quota of three consecutive hand-passes was having a “very negative” impact and six (19%) a “somewhat negative” one.

Reactions to the other four rule changes were mixed although almost half of the players who replied were in favour of the advanced mark as well as the 20-metre kick-out.

All three players at yesterday’s Allianz Football League launch questioned the hand-pass experimental rule. Both Kerry’s Stephen O’Brien and Monaghan defender Ryan Wylie feared the pressure it will put on referees.

“It’s going to be very hard for the ref to control that,” said O’Brien. “He has to count the steps, they’re going to count whether he’s hopped it twice - they’re trying to look inside if there’s pulling off the ball and he might miss a handpass.

“It’s going to be a nightmare for refs. Plus, does it promote kicking?

“You’re going to kick it to the man if he’s open and he’s far away from you, but you’ll kick to him if he’s close.”

Wylie stated: “What are they counting now, steps, bounces, marks, handpasses, they probably need someone else now as well.

“I saw another stat as well that in all the McKenna Cup games there was about half as less goals. What’s better in a game of football than a goal? There’s nothing better. In our first game against Antrim, I think we had about four goal chances thrown away because there were too many handpasses.”

Galway’s Shane Walsh added: “I just think it is a bit extreme. In a certain number of incidences, when a player is coming out in a break of play in front of goal, there is probably a lot of bodies there and you need a couple of handpasses if the move doesn’t work out. That kind of thing. I know lads got caught a couple of times for that rule.”