There the Seán Kelly presidency will be bestowed many plaudits, with some going so far as to describe him as the best president the GAA's ever had. That would be excessive. While his handling of Rule 42 was an outstanding example of leadership, unfortunately such courage, conviction and vision was lacking in other aspects of his presidency.

Recall the lengths he went to on Rule 42. Referring to it again and again in interviews and his Congress addresses; then, when the ex-presidents blocked it from being on the 2004 Clár, the provision he made for the Motions Committee to refer motions back to counties as to how they could be properly amended; and then, in March 2005, staring down the ex-presidents and ensuring those motions got on the Clár. It demanded extraordinary persistence, tolerance and attention-to-detail. Now, contrast that to how he dealt with discipline.

In November 2004 he hastily appointed Rules Revision Committees for both hurling and football. To paraphrase an already legendary term of Joe Brolly's, did Kelly really think Brian Dooher and Mick O'Dwyer gave "a shite" about whether there should be a mark or not for all kickouts won in midfield? Not only were the wrong people on the committee, they were given a month to come up with recommendations. Then some of those recommendations, such as the 10-minute sin bin, were dismissed at a press conference in Hong Kong after two rounds of the O'Byrne Cup on the basis - we kid you not - that sinbinned players were getting cold on the line.

Instead of being so preoccupied with getting rugby and soccer into Croke Park, Kelly should have been more concerned with getting more free-flowing and sporting Gaelic football games in there too.

The Hurling Development Committee is seen as one of his finer achievements. Yet, if it didn't have the names it did, would it have got the soft ride it has these past two years? It has rightly been lauded for introducing the three-tier model, and giving the Louths their day in Croke Park. But by having eight AllIreland quarter-finalists, which we all know for the next five years can only come from, at most, 10 counties, it has diluted the Munster championship to the point whereby several of the committee's own members don't just admit but proclaim "the serious stuff doesn't start until late July".

What kind of sport reduces itself to being a seven-weekend season? The only qualifier last year that approximated being an occasion was Clare-Waterford in Ennis - and even it was dwarfed for being staged on the same day as three provincial football finals. It's fine to talk about bringing games to the people but they're not bringing the cameras with them. It's grand to help pave the way for a league-based championship but what about what we have to endure now?

Even though it features relegation and gives Galway a back door, is the current championship model superior to that in place in 2002, 2003 and 2004? At least those summers threw up firecrackers like Wexford-Waterford in Nowlan Park, Clare-Galway in Ennis and Cork-Tipp in Killarney. The current qualifiers are devoid of such tension and occasion.

Then there's been the ongoing saga of the Director of Hurling. You've heard plenty over that time about the importance of having a Director of Hurling; less so on who finally filled the vacancy. Was it worth the wait? What power will Paudie Butler really wield?

Will Danny Murphy in Ulster and all those county secretaries in football land hopto when he says hop-to? More and more, the position smacks of tokenism.

For what it's worth, this writer liked Seán Kelly. Occasionally he made some bizarre, populist comments, such as his contention that a major stand, stadium or trophy should be named after Michael Collins. Collins' place in Irish history is assured; there is a litany of Corkmen alone, from Jim ?Tough' Barry to Jimmy Barry-Murphy, who deserve to be honoured first.

But Kelly did have the common touch and an ability to relate to GAA members (including the GPA and Dessie Farrell), and crucially, potential GAA members, like no other president in recent times.

He listened to the interchanges on the doorsteps, where clubmen collecting tickets were being told not to come back if something wasn't done on Rule 42. His critics will say he was a divisive president but any president dealing with Rule 42 always was going to be.

Paddy Doherty, the former Down player, made a point of congratulating Kelly for "taking the monkey off the GAA's back". Not everyone in Ulster said no. And Kelly always knew that.

He will rightly go down as the Rule 42 president. The pity is, if he hadn't neglected the cynical and changing nature of football, he could have been more than that.