WE had the good, the bad and the ugly last weekend. With Declan McBennett appointed as group head of sport in RTé last year, we have already seen some of the positives of having a man with the GAA at heart at the helm of the national broadcaster.
Saturday night’s coverage was a real winner for the association also. When Gaelic football is played in the way Dublin and Kerry approached their contest, it is great.
The flipside to that coin are games such as Monaghan v Galway and elements of Tyrone’s contest with Roscommon. There is a way to win and a way to lose.
Dublin may have lost to Kerry, but in real terms they are only four weeks into their ‘pre-season’ training and only one point separated them from the Kingdom at full-time.
Kerry have good footballers, have a good splattering of youth in the squad and, although it is early in the year, they appear to have an excellent base level of fitness.
Because the Munster Championship has been such a cakewalk for the Kingdom in recent years, Kerry practically play two seasons now.
One season is broken into League football, where they are guaranteed competitive games against the best teams in the country. The second season is in preparation for an All-Ireland quarter-final, which is now the Super 8s.
Two very different approaches are needed from a preparation perspective.
Dublin find themselves in a similar space, with the competitiveness of the League a welcome challenge to that of the facile Leinster Championship procession.
I think it is too early to be arguing that the gap is closing within the top tier.
Because Dublin have been beaten twice this year in the National League, Gaels are at risk of becoming prematurely over-excited around the notion of breaking the Dubs’ stranglehold on the League and Championship competitions.
I suspect Dublin will begin to find their mojo soon and, if anything, these losses may even accelerate and bind the squad’s preparations for another Sam Maguire title in 2019. In this moment, Dublin may well be at their most dangerous. If Kerry proved anything in Saturday’s contest, it is that football played on the front foot can be a much more dangerous weapon than retreating onto the ropes.
A coach or manager of a team must cut their cloth accordingly.
The philosophy will have as much to do with the players at a team’s disposal as it will a manager’s outlook on the game. Adapt or die.
Every team over the last number of years have had to adapt to some degree. It may not be pretty at times in terms of style. It may not be even welcomed by the team’s own supporters or indeed the team’s players.
The question which must be answered, which is not always straightforward, is this: ‘Is it worth it?’
In the event that success isn’t forthcoming, the practicalities of substance over style become more of an issue.
This is the position Tyrone find themselves in at the minute. I would hate to play in the Red Hands’ system.
Firstly, as demonstrated by the Dublin v Kerry game, there may have been 15 players behind the ball at times, but they were marking a direct opponent.
Runners were being tracked and rarely was a player an arm’s length away from the opposing player. It made for a better contest, collectively and individually.
In Kerry’s case, it allowed them to beat Dublin simply by allowing the players the freedom to take more risks.
Taking risks is at the very centre of competitive sport – especially team sports, especially Gaelic football. By reducing and eliminating risk, things just become predictable.
Tyrone, though, try to eliminate risk altogether. Take for example, their build-up play in the weekend’s draw with the Rossies.
Cathal McShane, based at full-forward against Roscommon, was having some joy inside, however, he was regularly smothered in the first half due to opposition players surrounding him and winning back possession.
Where were the Tyrone players marking these players? Twenty metres or so away, playing around the periphery, playing a quarter-back role, akin to American Football.
This simply will not help the Red Hands win an All-Ireland, nor will it allow Tyrone forwards to improve as individual players.
Why have Tyrone, Armagh, Derry or Down not produced the type of player which they are historically famous for, no matter what generation or era these county teams are playing in?
It is an important question with perhaps no answer.
For me, though, one reason is that the clubs’ systems of play within those counties have mirrored how the counties are playing at inter-county level.
Unfortunately, the reality is that an offensive style of play is simply not being encouraged.
Football has changed, admittedly, but the fundamentals of the game have not. As a half-forward, my responsibilities in that position have not changed.
Your role is to score. Your role is to prevent the guy you are marking, the half-back in this instance, from securing possession and setting up plays.
Your role is to prevent the player you are marking from scoring.
Your role is to help out your team-mates when you can, doubling up on the opposing player if need be. Your role is to be brave. Your role is the very definition of risk.
In my opinion, the best and the most successful teams keep their tactics simple. They encourage risk and adventure and facilitate learning through making mistakes.
When Tyrone had to come out of their shell, they managed to secure a draw against Roscommon to their credit.
When you get to an All-Ireland final, you are a good team and that is not going to change over the space of a few McKenna Cup or National League games.
You should be confident enough to go to places like Hyde Park and attack them, knowing that the ability and experience is under the bonnet to win a shoot-out.
Tyrone, however, continue to play with a handbrake on, as do a great deal of other teams in Ulster.
In any fight, it is the person willing to attack relentlessly who will win. It means taking risks and it means risking it all.
