TYRONE make their bow in the 2017 Championship this weekend. I have no doubt Derry players will have heard from all and sundry essentially the same thing – ‘Tyrone, yeah good team but not great up front’.
It is the common view out there. However, in Division One this year, Tyrone scored 3-87, an average of 13.7 points per game. Kerry, the team that ended up winning the League and viewed as having the attacking threat Tyrone lack, scored 6-80, an average of 14 points per game. Mayo’s average was just 12 points per game. Scores themselves don’t seem to be the issue.
So what is wrong? Why is the common wisdom to point out Tyrone’s lack of scoring power? Partly, this is due to the traditional GAA mindset that loves the star forward.
We all remember those players who could just light up games, and sometimes entire seasons, with their play.
It is fair that in terms of out-and-out forwards Tyrone do not have that superstar that they have been blessed with in the past.
This is not the critical weakness it may have once been. Given the sophistication of modern defensive systems it is a real struggle for a player to consistently rack up high scores, especially against the top teams. Consequently, star players are now a luxury rather than a necessity.
The necessity remains getting the scores on the board regardless of the where or the how. Tyrone’s play at present is built around defensive discipline and
counter-attacking speed.
It is a system built less on a star man and more on the pace and fitness of the team and this, as the National League stats show, is effective for them in most games. Tyrone, arguably, are the most effective team at these tactics and they have the calibre of player and conditioning ideally suited to this style.
There is a problem, though. In previous years, when Tyrone have reached the big games at the latter stages in Croke Park, the one area that has let them down has been scoring, both from play and frees.
Mayo in the 2013 semi-final, Kerry at the same stage in 2015 and Mayo in last year’s quarter-final were all games where Tyrone matched the opposition in all areas bar scoring ability. It is this that gives the common wisdom its credence.
Of course, all teams can have days when the shooting boots are left at home.
The issue for Tyrone is that it has become a trend in their eventual demise in several Championship campaigns. Tyrone’s brilliant counter-attacking game is undoubtedly effective, but if you have just one style of play, it is possible an opposition, like Mayo in last year’s quarter-final, can come up with a gameplan to shut it down. Derry, undoubtedly, will have also done huge work to ‘counter the counter-attack’.
All teams need a ‘plan B’ and having a few really dangerous forwards is an effective one you expect the top teams to possess. Along with Sean Cavanagh, Tyrone have several very good inside line attackers; Darren McCurry, Ronan O’Neill, Conor McAliskey and Lee Brennan have all shown their attacking quality at various stages and can all light up the scoreboard on their day.
Crucially, though, they still haven’t done it in the biggest games and so the doubts remain. One could interpret Mickey Harte’s occasional deployment of Mattie Donnelly and Sean Cavanagh in the full-forward line during the League is evidence of him actively trying to create additional attacking options.
It brought variable success, but
it was early days for a new
set-up and so could yet prove an effective option.
Free-taking is a crucial component of overall scoring power and, similarly in this area, Tyrone have struggled more than other top teams.
A top level free-taker is a precious thing as they can’t simply be created. The combination of a highly accurate player with a serious big game mentality and bullet-proof composure is a very rare thing.
In the League, and often in individual games, Tyrone tried several different free-takers which indicates a lack of a top quality one.
The Red Hands really need one of their players to gain the sort of consistency in this regard that has eluded them.
Peter Harte and Sean Cavanagh for me are closest. They are both highly accurate and, critically, have proven big game mentalities. I’m sure the various possible free-takers will have put in huge hours of practice, but only once the Championship gets started will we see whether the crucial consistency has been obtained.
In GAA, nothing is as sweet as proving people wrong. In 2003, Mickey Harte continually reminded us that until we stood up against the best teams in the biggest games and beat them then we would always be seen as ‘nearly men’ – decent footballers who were great at underage but didn’t have what it took at senior level. That Kerry semi-final in ’03 was the seminal moment for that team and, with the monkey off our back, ultimate success was achieved.
As the Championship progresses the opportunity will come for the Tyrone forwards and free-takers to make common wisdom look like common ignorance. If they do, the ultimate success can come.
First up is Derry in Celtic Park on Sunday. A great man from Derry/Tyrone (ie: Ballinderry) once taught me that first rounds of the Championship are not a place to worry about fancy football or performance. They are about getting down into the trenches and going to war.
The game may have changed in recent years but some things remain the same. Come Sunday, only the result matters.
