Best Half-Back line of the last 25 years

**Thomas Clarke** Tue Jun 18, 2013 9:54 am

Here are the nominees for the half back line. Let's have your votes and views, and the winner will be announced at the weekend. Midfielders will follow tomorrow, but please also keep voting for your goalkeepers and fullbacks if you haven't already.

RIGHT HALF BACK

Niall Cahalane (Cork) - 2 AI - 2 All Stars - Hard, strong and committed. Voted on Munster Team of Century

Paul Curran (Dublin) - 1 AI - 3 All Stars - 1 FOTY - Best athlete on his Dublin side. Strong, fast and could score

Declan Meehan (Galway) - 2 AI - 2 All Stars - 1 FOTY - Blistering pace and energy bombing up the wing

Aidan O'Rourke (Armagh) - 1 AI - 1 All Star - Tough & classy defender when Armagh were at their best

Tomas O'Se (Kerry) - 5 AI - 5 All Stars - 2 FOTY - Providing leadership, drive and crucial scores for last 15 years

Ciaran O'Sullivan (Cork) - 1 All Star - Stylish wing back who could also play in attack

CENTRE HALF BACK

Keith Barr (Dublin) - 1 AI - 2 All Stars - Powerful, attacking CHB. Great long kicker off the ground

Henry Downey (Derry) - 1 AI - 1 All Star - 1 FOTY - Leader in a team of leaders. Very hard but could play

Conor Gormley (Tyrone) - 3 AI - 3 All Stars - Played everywhere in defence. Strong with great football instincts

Kieran McGeeney (Armagh) - 1 AI - 3 All Stars - 1 FOTY - Driven, powerhouse of a leader. Fine long passer

Stephen O'Brien (Cork) - 2 AI - 3 All Stars - Cork's Mr Versatile. Strong, rangy and very classy

Glen Ryan (Kildare) - 2 All Stars - Inspired his county from CHB. Great tackler and reader of a game

LEFT HALF BACK

Gary Coleman (Derry) - 1 AI - 1 All Star - Very fast and tough with energy to get up and down pitch all day

Philip Jordan (Tyrone) - 3 AI - 4 All Stars - Mr Consistency. Could attack and defend - rarely put a foot wrong

DJ Kane (Down) - 2 AI - 1 All Star - 'Heart and Soul' behind Down in 1994. Tenacious

Sean og de Paor (Galway) - 2 AI - 2 All Stars - Fast and skilful attacking wing back

Martin O'Connell (Meath) - 3 AI - 4 All Stars - 1 FOTY - No.7 on GAA Millennium Team. Mixed style and substance

Anthony Rainbow (Kildare) - 1 All Star - Fine footballer who starred for Kildare until his late 30s

**RMDrive** Tue Jun 18, 2013 10:21 am

Tomas O'Se, Kieran McGeeney, Martin O'Connell.

**OMAR** Tue Jun 18, 2013 10:59 am

RMDrive wrote:Tomas O'Se, Kieran McGeeney, Martin O'Connell.

X 2

**Thomas Clarke** Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:16 am

The Donegal men opting for a mixture of class and divilment here. I think that it's a testament to Tomas O'Se that, even in this company, he does seem to stand out at RHB.

Centre back is a tougher one for me, and I could make an equally strong case for a few of them. For years, my default position on this one was 'Henry Downey', but McGeeney was such a great leader he's hard to ignore. Stephen O'Brien was also a fabulous footballer, and Gormley has been at the very top for the last 12 seasons.

On the left, O'Connell was the vote on the millennium team, but I certainly wouldn't view his selection as clear cut as, for example, O'Se on the other wing. I'm finding it hard to leave out 'friend of the forum' Philip Jordan. Sean og de Paor was also brilliant.

**RMDrive** Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:33 am

Thomas Clarke wrote:The Donegal men opting for a mixture of class and divilment here. I think that it's a testament to Tomas O'Se that, even in this company, he does seem to stand out at RHB.

Centre back is a tougher one for me, and I could make an equally strong case for a few of them. For years, my default position on this one was 'Henry Downey', but McGeeney was such a great leader he's hard to ignore. Stephen O'Brien was also a fabulous footballer, and Gormley has been at the very top for the last 12 seasons.

On the left, O'Connell was the vote on the millennium team, but I certainly wouldn't view his selection as clear cut as, for example, O'Se on the other wing. I'm finding it hard to leave out 'friend of the forum' Philip Jordan. Sean og de Paor was also brilliant.

Thinly veiled "I'm voting for Philip Jordan" from TC.

**Thomas Clarke** Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:37 am

RMDrive wrote:
Thinly veiled "I'm voting for Philip Jordan" from TC.

Lol, I probably will, but O'Connell was also superb. The Meathman also was brilliant in 1996 at corner back.

Jordan, though, was just so consistent, and in 9 years I only recall him having one disappointing game (2010 Qtr final v Kildare). His tackling, blocking and ability to win dirty ball are qualities the current Tyrone side could be doing with.

No.6 is causing me most deliberation.

**GAA-Fan** Tue Jun 18, 2013 1:46 pm

RMDrive wrote:Tomas O'Se, Kieran McGeeney, Martin O'Connell.

**Thomas Clarke** Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:19 pm

GF, to clarify, are you saying that you are also voting for the same as RMD?

**GAA-Fan** Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:23 pm

Certainly am TC.

Is anyone else having a problem with quoting?

**Thomas Clarke** Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:32 pm

GAA-Fan wrote:
Is anyone else having a problem with quoting?

Boxty was, until I pointed him in the right direction. See bottom of this thread..

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

**bocerty** Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:02 pm

RHB only one man for this slot and that has to be O'Se, his athleticism and ability to take the game by the scruff of the neck and pick of a score or two to pull Kerry out of a few tight sports has been his forte (always reminds me Brazilian full back Cafu, his fitness age etc)

CHB - im going to plump for O' Brien, i know he was Mr versatile for Cork but he was one of the classiest footballers ever to grace the field, the other 5 relied on brute force and reading of the game whereas O' Brien was perhaps a more accomplished footballer.

LHB - again a tough call but i'm going for Jordan, a bit of bias there one could argue but he was the Mr Dependable of the half back line in Tyrone's AI winning teams, great at snuffing out the oppositions best players while at the same time not afraid to get forward and set up or take scores.

O'Se O'Brien Jordan

**Thomas Clarke** Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:08 pm

bocerty wrote:
CHB - im going to plump for O' Brien, i know he was Mr versatile for Cork but he was one of the classiest footballers ever to grace the field, the other 5 relied on brute force and reading of the game whereas O' Brien was perhaps a more accomplished footballer.

Very good point, Boc. He was brilliant at fullback, corner back, centre back and even centre forward later in his career. You might have swung me towards the Rebels on this one!

**Boxtyeater** Tue Jun 18, 2013 9:24 pm

Purely on the basis (well almost) of not jamming my defenders with Meath men, I'm opting for Philip Jordan at l/h/b. This takes nothing away from O'Connell's qualities, but on this occasion his versatility proves to be his downfall. Jordan was all you would want at 7, game reader, solid defending, attacker and above all reliable.

I'm out of kilter with everyone else in opting for Glen Ryan at 6. I was always impressed by him, more substance to him than McGeeney IMO.
O'Brien is a worthy shout, but much like O'Connell, his versatility is his downfall for me. Ryan was terrific for the "flour-bags" over a long tenure in their 6 jersey and his lack of full fitness took greatly from them V Galway in 1998.

Tómas O'Sé, what's to say. The ideal 5, tough, resilient, super fit always, ball carrier and always good for 2/3 white flags. A top player in any era.

O'Sé, Ryan, Jordan then for me.

**Thomas Clarke** Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:41 pm

Strong choices all, Boxty, and good to see the Tyrone man creeping back into the race.

I think it shows how highly Tomas O'Se is rated, that he is shaping to be the runaway winner over 2 other FOTY and Cahalane.

**Early_Ball_In** Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:45 pm

Tomás Ó Sé, Kieran McGeeney, Philip Jordan

It was difficult for me as a Down man to overlook DJ, but Jordan was non-stop class year after year.

**Thomas Clarke** Wed Jun 19, 2013 11:23 pm

Early_Ball_In wrote:Tomás Ó Sé, Kieran McGeeney, Philip Jordan

It was difficult for me as a Down man to overlook DJ, but Jordan was non-stop class year after year.

Welcome to the site, Early_Ball_In. Down posters are usually a knowledgable bunch, and this selection indicates that you will be continuing that tradition. This is also the trio that I'm voting for.

O'Se has been awesome for almost 15 years; and Jordan barely put a foot wrong for the guts of a decade. The bigger the game, the better he played.

I'm going to choose McGeeney over O'Brien and Downey. Henry's prime didn't seem to last that long, while O'Brien was on too many Cork sides that failed to live up to their hype. I know that it is harsh to blame him for that, but McGeeney seemed to drag sides to victory on his own at times, and his AI Final performance in 2002 was exceptional.

So, I'll vote O'Se, McGeeney and Jordan.

**bocerty** Thu Jun 20, 2013 1:49 pm

Thomas Clarke wrote:
Early_Ball_In wrote:Tomás Ó Sé, Kieran McGeeney, Philip Jordan

It was difficult for me as a Down man to overlook DJ, but Jordan was non-stop class year after year.

Welcome to the site, Early_Ball_In. Down posters are usually a knowledgable bunch, and this selection indicates that you will be continuing that tradition. This is also the trio that I'm voting for.

O'Se has been awesome for almost 15 years; and Jordan barely put a foot wrong for the guts of a decade. The bigger the game, the better he played.

I'm going to choose McGeeney over O'Brien and Downey. Henry's prime didn't seem to last that long, while O'Brien was on too many Cork sides that failed to live up to their hype. I know that it is harsh to blame him for that, but McGeeney seemed to drag sides to victory on his own at times, and his AI Final performance in 2002 was exceptional.

So, I'll vote O'Se, McGeeney and Jordan.

have to say Downey would be the last on my list - never really saw him as a truly great footballer, tough and courageous but doesnt fall into the 'great' category for me.

No offence Henry, i'm sure there are plenty out there who would disagree strongly with me.

**bald eagle** Fri Jun 21, 2013 5:35 pm

RMDrive wrote:Tomas O'Se, Kieran McGeeney, Martin O'Connell.

Same for me here. Some tough decisions to be made as some brilliant players are being left behind!

**Loyal2TheRoyal** Sat Jun 22, 2013 10:03 am

Paul Curran (Dublin) - 1 AI - 3 All Stars - 1 FOTY - Best athlete on his Dublin side. Strong, fast and could score

Kieran McGeeney (Armagh) - 1 AI - 3 All Stars - 1 FOTY - Driven, powerhouse of a leader. Fine long passer

Martin O'Connell (Meath) - 3 AI - 4 All Stars - 1 FOTY - No.7 on GAA Millennium Team. Mixed style and substance

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