A farewell to Kerry & Tyrone...

Thomas Clarke wrote:Yes, point taken, that Armagh and Dublin have suffered because of the rule changes. But would things have been better if Dublin or, god forbid, Mayo have sneaked an all-ireland, when they clearly hadn't been the best in the country? I think thee back door has been a great invention, but I do admit that it isn't perfect, and scheduling, at the least, needs to be looked at.

TC - that is the only point I make here - made it at the beginning of the thread. And it has nothing to do with winning an All Ireland subsequently. I feel that when the matter (the unfairness of the system) was broached by Dublin in the past everyong had a good snigger and said tough. But when MH raises it (having been a big beneficiary of it) then it is given some credibility ... I just am amused by the irony etc ...

Mickey says a lot Jayo, some of which I agree with, and some I don't. He has always maintained that provincial winners should get a 2nd chance, so it isn't something he has suddenly come up with.

Personally, I don't agree with him on this one. I think that better scheduling of fixtures is more important than a 2nd chance to losing provincial winners. You could maybe even work home advantage into it, although that would hit gate receipts in some cases. But a line has to be drawn at some stage, and I think the qtr finals are a fair enough place for that line, otherwise what happens to the provincial winner who loses an all-ireland semi final, or final?

Agreed TC - but the whole integrity of the Provincial system has been thrown into some kind of disarray this year with not one Provincial finalist in the semis. Personally I think the boon of the qualifiers is a Championship match every week, regardless of opposition. You lose - you are gone - so no better focus!

So its not necessarily the 'second chance' thats the problem - its more the fact that Provincial champs (and runners up even) can wait 3/4 weeks for a game while their opposition are getting quality games and match time under their belts. Champions League format for me..... !

Thomas Clarke wrote:She should have died hereafter; there would have been a time for such a word.
(William Shakespeare’s Macbeth)

For me, Saturday past was one of the most historic days in the history of the GAA, yet amidst all the excitement, the simultaneous demise of Kerry & Tyrone, the 2 greatest sides of the last quarter century, has gone almost unobserved.

I’ve seen many articles on a new Dublin, on 4 novel semi-finalists, and even on the necessity for reform of the championship structure, yet I haven’t seen any commenting in depth on the end of a significant era in gaelic football.

For 7 years Tyrone and Kerry held a duopoly on the All-Ireland title, a time period equalled only by the Kerry/Kildare battles of the 20s/30s, and the Dublin/Kerry dominance of the 70s. But even those legendary eras didn’t grind to such a sudden halt, as Kildare had vanished from the scene a few years before Cavan halted Kerry’s first bid for 5-in-a-row, as had Dublin, before Offaly ruined the same dream in 1982. Tyrone and Kerry have gone together. Yes, they will probably both be back in the not-too-distant future, but it will be with a lot of new faces, and in a footballing landscape where the opposition does not crumble at the prospect of facing them.

This has been a great Kerry side. They reached the last 6 all-ireland finals, winning 4 of them by an amalgamated 35 points. Although some of the personnel was there for the all-ireland wins of 1997 & 2000, Kerry were a totally different prospect from 2004 onwards. The O’Se’s , Mike McCarthy and Tom O’Sullivan were still there and playing well, but Paul Galvin, Declan O’Sullivan and Aidan O’Mahony brought a steely edge to the side, and ensured that they would never again be bullied as they had in 2001, 2002 & 2003. Colm Cooper developed from a light, skinny genius, into a tall, strong genius, who could win ball any way that it came to him, and the later arrivals of Kieran Donaghy and Tommy Walsh gave Kerry powerful options that no other side could match.

Although it would be a couple of years before the ‘Twin Towers’ arrived, O’Connor’s preferred style of play was evident from the 2004 final. In that game, he pulled his half-forwards very deep, before bombarding the Mayo full-back line with countless high balls. That basic tactic would be Kerry’s mainstay for 6 years, but the quality of delivery, combined with brilliant support play from the likes of Galvin & O’Sullivan, meant that sides just couldn’t defend against it.

History should be kind to this Kerry team. To remain at the top for so long in the modern era is incredible, and the side had several players who are likely to go down as greats of the game. Cooper is as good a any corner forward the Kingdom has produced, while the O’Se’s, Seamus Moynihan, Galvin and O’Sullivan will all figure prominently in ‘Best of the Naughties’ debates in years to come.

The one blemish on Kerry’s CV was, of course, Tyrone, a side who came into the century with a bleak football history, but who went on to change the way the game will be played for years to come.

While Kerry were, statistically, the ‘Team of the Decade’, it was Tyrone who had the greater and, in all likelihood, longer lasting impact.

Tyrone were always going to arrive at the top table (for such a large, GAA county, it is incredible that it took 120 years), but the style of play with which they won their first all-ireland was a revelation. Pressing had been employed by sides before, but not with 15 men, not at such speed, and not so high up the pitch. The sight of hugely talented forwards like Eoin Mulligan, Stevie O’Neill and Gerald Cavlan harassing opposition defenders took everyone by surprise in 2003, yet 7 years later it is the accepted template for all would-be contenders.

While Tyrone may have played more attractive football in the 2005 & 2008 championships, they were never as dominant in those years as they were in 2003. Tyrone’s last 8 wins in 2003 were achieved with margins of 9, 10, 9, 8, 15, 19, 7 & 3 points. They were light years ahead of everyone that year, which is why the ultra-defensive tactics employed in from the 2^nd half of the semi-final onwards were so disappointing, and almost cost them the final against Armagh, despite Tyrone having looked 6-7 points the better side.

As confidence grew, Tyrone’s style of play began to change. The negativity that crept in at the end of their breakthrough year was replaced by a more flamboyant, attacking brand of football. Other sides, notably Armagh & Kerry, closed the gap, but the last 2 games of the 2005 season (a vintage year for football) showed that Tyrone still just about held the edge.

Why Kerry were unable to beat Tyrone in any of their 3 meetings will remain a mystery to many in the Kingdom, but an honest assessment of the sides will show that Tyrone could compete when it came to star names. Canavan, while past his best by 2003, will be remembered as one of the greatest ever, while O’Neill, Cavanagh, Dooher, McGuigan, Jordan, Gormley & McMenamin were as good as anything in their positions in the last 10 years. The likes of Mulligan and Cavlan were also capable of moments of exceptional skill. They may have had ‘off-years’, but, at their best, this Tyrone side were outstanding.

And that is without mentioning Cormac, who was taken from us far too soon, but whose honesty, character and ambition inspired his team-mates, and will always be remembered.

And so, not a single player left in the Championship has a Celtic Cross. The last 3 games of the 2010 championship promise to be exciting and fascinating, and a breath of fresh air, in many ways. Still, as Macbeth ultimately did, it is right to find the words for those departing the scene. Tyrone and Kerry – 2 of the best that we have seen.

For me, Saturday past was one of the most historic days in the history of the GAA, yet amidst all the excitement, the simultaneous demise of Kerry & Tyrone, the 2 greatest sides of the last quarter century, has gone almost unobserved.

This must win qoute of the year on tipster

Great article in today's Independent by Tomas O'Se. Extremely honest and fair and gives an insight into why so many enormously successful sportsmen dwell more on their losses than their victories.

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TOMAS O SE – PUBLISHED 16 MAY 2014 02:30 AM

To understand why losing to Tyrone always stuck in my throat so much, let me tell you about '08. Remember their goal in the All-Ireland final? A slip by Padraig Reidy and Tommy McGuigan stabbing the ball home from maybe a yard?

Well I'm jogging back out to my position, effing and blinding away inside my head. It's a desperate body blow to take because you can just tell it's lit up Tyrone's dander.

Next thing, Kevin Hughes shunts into my back. Hard as he can go. I'm Kerry captain and, as he sees it, he's posting a message here to the first in command. A message that tells the three-in-a-row chasing champions "we're marking our territory here and f*** ye!"

That was the swagger they had, the kind that Dublin have now. They had their bullies, their tight defenders, their muck-dogs around the middle of the field, winning breaking ball. They had their silky forwards up front too. They had it all.

And I hated them when they beat us, hated them for that swagger. Maybe the biggest regret I have in football is that we didn't beat that Tyrone team when it mattered. You can have arguments till the cows come home about what we did in Killarney two summers ago, thumping them by 10 points in a qualifier.

But that doesn't count in my eyes. We just beat a skeleton of the real Tyrone. It was a moral victory, not the real thing.

ENDURE

If that day had long-term meaning, it was only in the message Kerry people delivered to Mickey Harte. What he's had to endure, no man should have to go through. But I do remember him saying it's the GAA that has carried him through, that if he didn't have it he'd possibly be in a worse place. And maybe Killarney offered a tiny glimpse of why.

Michaela had been murdered the previous January 12 months and, after that game, I'll never forget the respect with which Kerry people clapped him onto the Tyrone team bus and how the applause then followed that bus all the way down through the town. It was a gesture directed at one man: Mickey Harte.

People talk about the hatred between Tyrone and Kerry, but stuff gets built up into something it never is. You get ideas about one another that have nothing to do with reality.

I remember after the '08 final how a part of me was dreading going on the International Rules trip to Australia. In my head, I'm thinking 'How the f*** am I going to talk to someone like 'Ricey' McMenamin?' How was I going to face up to this fella, having to be friendly and make an effort?

They'd beaten us again and all I could see was the swagger with which they did it.

Well, it turned out I didn't have to make any effort at all. From the first day, he came up to me, started chatting. A completely different fella to the one I saw on the field. He was always a great player, a fella with real presence about him. But until that trip, I knew him only as another opponent I couldn't stand.

That's the curious thing about the GAA. You can think you hate people, when the truth is you just don't know them. I despised losing to Tyrone, but then I just despised losing.

I've gotten to know a few of them since and they're fair characters. That was the beauty of those tours. I get on great now with fellas like Hughes (a good mate of Darragh's), Sean Cavanagh and Brian Dooher. They understand how this thing works.

Actually, I met Hughes at a function recently and was just reminding him of that day he hit me. "What the f**k were you at?" I said and you had to hear the laugh out of him.

I suppose they'll always have those three wins ('03, '05 and '08) over us, but that was a serious team. They nearly had 15 match-winners, and just look at the forwards they could call on: Peter Canavan, Brian McGuigan, Dooher, Mugsy (Owen Mulligan), Stephen O'Neill, all incredible players.

They had that swagger, a swagger that's gone out of Tyrone now. It's gone out of Kerry too, mind.

I still think they'll have too much for Down in Omagh this Sunday, but it'll be some journey for either to win an Ulster Championship. Like, I played in a very good Kerry team but we'd have struggled to put together back-to-back titles if we were playing in Ulster. I have so much respect for Ulster teams because of what they have to do just to win that provincial medal.

For Kerry, with respect to all the others (and Limerick, in fairness, were right up there for a couple of years), it generally comes down to beating Cork. But for Tyrone or Down to win Ulster this year, they'll have to do the equivalent of that four times!

Anyway, I'm not sure what to make of this Tyrone team. They look very patchy to me at the moment, like Kerry I suppose. Two superpowers a few years ago, but both in transition now. That doesn't mean they're not capable of taking a serious scalp or two, they are. But consistency seems to be missing. Look at their league: they mixed the brilliant with the terrible

In fairness, Dublin had to get out of jail against them a few times in their last game. But then look at Tyrone against Kerry. Look at their performance against Kildare, they shouldn't have won that. You don't know what you're going to get from this team. You can't predict.

That said, they're up against, possibly, the least defensive team in Ulster on Sunday. I read Benny Coulter saying this week that he suspected rumours about the demise of blanket defence to have been greatly exaggerated. I'm inclined to agree. When it comes down to the brass tacks of championship, I think people will revert to what they know best.

I have a lot of time for Down manager James McCartan, another I got to know in Australia. But he just doesn't have players with the physicality to play defensively. That's why I'd fear for them in Omagh. I mean, I don't know if Coulter is the man of a few years ago either. He's been some player – a more honest, braver guy, you'd never meet. But I think he'll find the day frustrating.

Still, look at Down's league and you get an idea of how hard they are to read. They beat Donegal, Armagh and Louth in Division 2, then got done by Galway, who were going through an awful time. They lost to Meath. They lost to Laois. True, Down are a team that just find something if they get to Croke Park, as if their tradition of the '60s suddenly kicks in.

I remember sitting in the stand with Paul Galvin for the 2010 quarter-final against them and sensing quickly we were in trouble. "Jesus Christ, we're in for a hard day here," I said to Galvin. I wasn't wrong.

Anyway, I can't see them winning this Sunday. And I can't see that beating Down would signify anything monumental for Tyrone either. They don't have enough stand-out players, at least nowhere near as many as the team that became our nemesis.

A team I know in my heart and soul will always be able to look me in the eye and say: "Sure ye never beat us when it mattered..."

good article by o shea but an auguement could be made that tyrone were just lucky when they reached finals that they were playing teams who were trying to retain sam,which every body knows is near impossible in the modern game,