Sport

Kevin Madden: Ulster teams need to find a new approach

Patrick McBrearty performed manfully for Donegal in The Championship
Patrick McBrearty performed manfully for Donegal in The Championship Patrick McBrearty performed manfully for Donegal in The Championship

OUR best hopefuls at the beginning of the year to mount a quest for Sam Maguire were Donegal, Tyrone and Monaghan.

It pains me to say that our game in Ulster has fallen behind the top teams and a large part of this is down to tactics and coaching.

The game we are seeing in Ulster at present certainly isn’t built for Croke Park and too often the spirit of adventure is sacrificed for a keep the ball at all costs mentality.

When genuine GAA supporters resort to booing their own team during a provincial decider you know we have gone too far.

Too much hand-passing, blatant concession of kick-outs, and letting the opposition have the ball in their own half are blights that are making too many games frustrating to watch.

Ironically it’s the teams who are contesting the opposition kick-outs and the teams who are kicking the football most who are currently left in this year’s Championship.

There is no doubt the Ulster teams are very organised and methodical when it comes to defending, but could it be time for a rethink on how our teams are set up to actually win a game?

An Ulster title and promotion to Division One are tangible successes for a young Tyrone team, but I am not convinced they look any closer to being serious All-Ireland contenders.

In last year’s All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry, they created five goal chances and offered a serious game offensively. Last Sunday, I cannot recall them having any shots at goal. Twelve months on, Donegal and Mayo were wise to their defensive system, so their game going forward needed to offer something more than counter-attacking via running the ball all the time.

In fairness, during the Derry and Cavan games there were signs of more variety to the Red Hand game, but this quickly evaporated.

If you look at the four teams left in the All-Ireland series there’s a common denominator.

Each have at least two inside forwards of serious quality and they find a way to kick early ball to them. Simple but effective. Quinlivan and Sweeney for Tipp, Geaney and O’Donoghue for Kerry, O Se and O’Connor for Mayo, Brogan and Andrews for the Dubs.

Perhaps there’s an irony about the fact we are in an era where inside forwards find it more difficult to shine, but it’s the one area where Ulster lag behind the best, both in personnel and approach – and it’s costing us. In Monaghan, Conor McManus fought a lone battle this year, but I do believe we will see a lot more of Kieran Hughes at full -forward in 2017.

Paddy McBrearty ran a one-man show in the Donegal inside line with an out-of-sorts Michael Murphy only played on the square in the Dublin game.

The early promise shown by Tyrone’s marksmen faded rather quickly. In the first two rounds of Ulster against Derry and Cavan (drawn game) respectively, Ronan O’Neill, Conor McAliskey and Darren McCurry kicked a combined total of 2-12 from play.

In their final two games against Donegal and Mayo, the same trio managed just a single point from play (substitute McCurry in the Ulster final).

It’s not rocket science, but if Sam is to return to Ulster any time soon, a more daring approach and a consistent return from the inside lines will be key.

Kevin Carey appeal

* IF ever we needed reminding of the huge spirit of generosity within the GAA community, we saw it in its finest glory this week.

Kevin Carey, a former teammate of mine, is fighting for his life after being diagnosed with stage four brain cancer and given just three months to live.

In just three days, an incredible £200,000-plus had been raised to allow Kevin to go to London for immunotherapy treatment which will give him the best possible chance of survival.

A tough warrior and a real cool customer on the pitch, Kevin is displaying those very same qualities off it as he faces his toughest battle yet. I’d like to wish Kevin, his wife Natasha and all the Carey family the very best of luck over the days, weeks and months ahead.

Anyone who would like to donate please go to: www.gofundme.com/KevinCarey

* MY opinion on the new GAA proposals to revamp the Championship are that it will primarily serve to make the strong counties stronger and the weak teams weaker with more games for the top teams, more second chances, and less instances of giantkilling. Not to mention the horrible prospect of a few dead rubber games.

The sweetener of extra revenue for the aspiring counties will be diluted by this move towards an elite ‘Top Eight’ which will keep the weaker counties down and, at the same time, widen the gap between the top five and everyone else.

But what disturbed me even more was the language being used by Paraic Duffy in relation to club football.

“As a player, if you are a club player you won’t see your county colleague as long as the county team is involved. You just won’t see them. They might play the odd game in some counties.”

He was making the argument that the Championship would now finish three weeks earlier for 24 counties meaning the county men would be back playing club football sooner.

I don’t think the intercounty manager needs a cheerleader to support a ‘no club football’ approach, but in director-general Mr Duffy it sounded like they had found one. In some extreme cases a player on the fringes of his county team may currently play little more than 60 minutes of football in an entire season.

Where is our game going when the director-general so flippantly accepts this growing trend rather than speaking out to discourage it?

I found the ‘you just won’t see them’ quote disturbing. That’s a fair stamp of approval for a county player to avoid playing club football and not the message you want to hear coming from a leading figure in our association.