Best Half Forward line of the last 25 years

Giles - McDonald - O Sullivan

OMAR wrote:Giles - McDonald - O Sullivan

Omar off the mark early, and with a bit of a surprise in the middle.

In my view Giles is a shoe in - one of the top 5 players of the period in question
On the left its  a close call for me - Between Cavanagh, Donnellan and O Sullivan
I think O Sullivan is somewhat under-rated despite even the plaudits he has earned
he has been consistently one of the top 3/4 players in the country for close for a decade and if his goal attempt v Tyrone in previous AI meeting was 3 inches lower he would have reached immortality.

With skilful but solid players like O Sullivan and Giles either side and a midfield behind of Tohill and O Sé- I feel that there is the luxury having room for an artist at which McDonald is beyond compare, also his vision in passing is in my consideration set as I am faily sure of my choices at 13, 14 and 15

OMAR wrote: I am faily sure of my choices at 13, 14 and 15

I'm not even sure of my nominations!

I think that half forward line is a very tough one to call, maybe even the most difficult of all.

Giles was superb for 5 years, but he seemed to age prematurely and, despite not having any major injuries, was well past his prime by his late 20s.  Despite that, he was brilliant during his peak, and I'd agree that he warrants strong consideration.  

McDonald was superb, although I'm not sure I'd ever have swapped Brian McGuigan for him.  I would, however, have considered swapping Brian for Larry Tompkins or Greg Blaney.

Would McHugh have been close to your side, Omar?

Thomas Clarke wrote:

OMAR wrote: I am faily sure of my choices at 13, 14 and 15

I'm not even sure of my nominations!

I think that half forward line is a very tough one to call, maybe even the most difficult of all.

Giles was superb for 5 years, but he seemed to age prematurely and, despite not having any major injuries, was well past his prime by his late 20s.  Despite that, he was brilliant during his peak, and I'd agree that he warrants strong consideration.  

McDonald was superb, although I'm not sure I'd ever have swapped Brian McGuigan for him.  I would, however, have considered swapping Brian for Larry Tompkins or Greg Blaney.

Would McHugh have been close to your side, Omar?

 
Casting aside any county loyalty  given the options provided - McDonald,McGuigan,Tompkins would be my top three. After that difficult to put him ahead of Blaney - I would have him ahead of Brogan but would understand why a Dublin follower would reverse this.

Don't want to spoil tomorrows selction but in my mind the front three is fairly easy for me. Once you restrict the time period to 25 years you rule out Sheehy and Matt Connor or even a Frank McGuigan which leaves three with Joyce the unlucky one

This selection is going to give me a headache.

I know my CHF, but am struggling to reduce it below 3 for both wing positions.

bit of bias so here but so far the Tyrone nominations havent had much of a look in on my selections.

Going to go for Dooher McGuigan McConville

its difficult leaving out the likes of Blaney (who i rate very highly) Donnellan and O'Sullivan, in fact i could name the whole lot.

My selection possibly based on the fact their careers are fresher in the memory and thus they have an advantage over the others

I think that Dooher has a fair shout at getting the No.10 shirt. Many people seem to forget that he was the Ulster player of the year as far back as 1996, so he really did deliver 15 years of high class service to Tyrone. I'd prefer him to Galvin, Carr or Marsden, although all of those were also very, very good footballers.

Ja Fallon was a real talent, and was a brilliant player for Galway long before their breakthrough in 1998 (he won an all star in 1995). He missed the 2000 championship due to injury, with Galway narrowly losing to Kerry in a replay, but came back the following year to play a key role in their 2001 win.

Giles was class personified. Good worker, happy tackling, and just had a natural understanding of the game. I'd say he'd have been a top corner back or corner forward too, such was his feel for the game. Interestingly, when the Independent named their Top 125 players of all time in 2009, Giles came in 59th, while Dooher was at 58. It's that close between them, but I'd have Fallon up there too.

Thomas Clarke wrote:I think that Dooher has a fair shout at getting the No.10 shirt.  Many people seem to forget that he was the Ulster player of the year as far back as 1996, so he really did deliver 15 years of high class service to Tyrone.  I'd prefer him to Galvin, Carr or Marsden, although all of those were also very, very good footballers.

Ja Fallon was a real talent, and was a brilliant player for Galway long before their breakthrough in 1998 (he won an all star in 1995).  He missed the 2000 championship due to injury, with Galway narrowly losing to Kerry in a replay, but came back the following year to play a key role in their 2001 win.  

Giles was class personified.  Good worker, happy tackling, and just had a natural understanding of the game.  I'd say he'd have been a top corner back or corner forward too, such was his feel for the game.  Interestingly, when the Independent named their Top 125 players of all time in 2009, Giles came in 59th, while Dooher was at 58.  It's that close between them, but I'd have Fallon up there too.

that was his first year in the Tyrone senior team too TC, not bad for a debut season!!!! Then the Meath hallions got at him.....................

...by the way Thomas, I sincerely hope Linden will be nominated tomorrow! Preferably at no.13! 

Early_Ball_In wrote:...by the way Thomas, I sincerely hope Linden will be nominated tomorrow! Preferably at no.13! 

Who? Nah, don't worry, Mickey will be there, but he faces some extremely strong opposition for the RCF slot.

Early_Ball_In wrote: very tough to overlook my county-man Blaney. Not just a footballer, but a hurler too - not many people appreciate that! He won an All-Ireland U-21 title when he was 16. An incredible medal haul of: 3 MacRory's, 2 Ulster Minor Football, 1 Ulster Minor Hurling, Ulster U-21 Hurling, Ulster & All-Ireland U-21 Football, 1 Sigerson, 1 Ryan Cup, 3 Senior Ulster & 2 Senior All-Ireland Football medals. Not to mention a slew of club medals in both codes, 4 McKenna Cups, 6 Railway Cups, and three all-stars! 

Having said all that, I still picked Ciarán McDonald at 11

Very surprised that a Down man would overlook Greg Blaney at No.11. What was it that swayed you towards McDonald?

(For me, this race is between Blaney and Tompkins, with the others a notch - or more in some cases - behind, but McDonald is gathering favour in some quarters. Perhaps we have a shock on the cards.)

Very tricky line indeed. So many top notch players to agonise over and truly sad to omit all but 3.

Trevor Giles is the easier of the choices for me. Quality in all aspects of his repertoire, grafting, passer, free-taker, an inspiring player.

I've mulled this one over for much longer and have come down (pun intended) for Greg Blaney. A player with a great eye for the killer ball, he was brave and tough in a deceptive fashion, creative and skillful, he was the pivotal figure in a fine Down team.

Declan O'Sullivan gets the 12 jersey. Beautiful style married to pace and scoring power, he had for me the unique ability to appear from nowhere at the vital split second to seize the leather and deliver the killer score.

I'm not going to go into naming runners-up, suffice to say that this looks the most exciting selection headache yet. Congrats to all nominees.

Giles, Blayney and O'Sullivan for me so.

Giles, McHugh*, O'Sullivan.

* accusations of bias may be well-founded but will be summarily dismissed.

RMDrive wrote:Giles, McHugh*, O'Sullivan.

* accusations of bias may be well-founded but will be summarily dismissed.

No bias voting for Martin McHugh - outstanding footballer, and certainly at home in the company nominated.

Even taken on its own, his demolition of (also nominated) Keith Barr in the 1992 final makes him worthy.

Thomas Clarke wrote:

RMDrive wrote:Giles, McHugh*, O'Sullivan.

* accusations of bias may be well-founded but will be summarily dismissed.

No bias voting for Martin McHugh - outstanding footballer, and certainly at home in the company nominated.

Even taken on its own, his demolition of (also nominated) Keith Barr in the 1992 final makes him worthy.

one game hardly makes you worthy TC!!!!

If that was the case there would be more on the list

True, perhaps a slight exaggeration! Although, McHugh was a brilliant footballer, and one of the top CHFs of any era.

CHF is shaping up to be one of the toughest positions to select.

Thomas Clarke wrote:True, perhaps a slight exaggeration!  Although, McHugh was a brilliant footballer, and one of the top CHFs of any era.

CHF is shaping up to be one of the toughest positions to select.  

He'd be number 5 on my list of those 6 you selected. With only Brogan coming in behind him.

Anything for a dig at the Dubs eh!!!!

OK, colours to the mast time for me.

At RHF I'm going to be swayed by Trevor Giles 2 FOTY awards. At his best he was class personified, and also not afraid of working hard. Brian Dooher and Ja Fallon would both be just a fraction behind.

At CHF I'm going for Larry Tompkins, who was probably the best footballer in Ireland in the late 80s. Tompkins as big, strong and could run all day. He may not have had the mercurial class of McGuigan or even Blaney, but he was very effective and scored heavily. A top player in any era.

On the left, it's Sean Cavanagh for me. I know we in Tyrone criticise him a lot for what he can't/doesn't do but, at his best, he does so much that no-one else can. Sean is a super athlete at 6'3, 14 stone, but with the pace of a much smaller, lighter man. He scores well off both sides, and has an eye for goal. When it comes down to it, his 'A' game is better than any of the other 5, in my opinion, and he also weighs in with an enviable haul of awards.

This is very tough to pick, and McConville and Donnellan are a fine example of why. At his best, Donnellan played at a level higher than anything Oisin ever achieved, however, Oisin was brilliant for 15 years, whereas Donnellan just did it for 5. Just depends how you assess greatness.

bocerty wrote:
He'd be number 5 on my list of those 6 you selected.  With only Brogan coming in behind him.

I think that this is the beauty of it - there are just so many good players in all positions, and you could make a strong case for at least 4-5 in almost any position.

Not that it is gospel by any means but, purely out of interest, the 'experts' who put together the Top 125 players of all time list in 2009, ranked those 6 as follows:

Tompkins = 12th
McHugh = 66th
Blaney = 73rd
McGuigan, Brogan & McDonald were not ranked. (Admittedly, this was before Brogan's FOTY turn in 2011, although he still would be a commendable 6th on my list too.)

I am going to go for Fallon, Brogan and McConville. It is just a cracking combination of pace, strength and skill.