Gaelic football is forever evolving, and tactical innovations are regularly being introduced, copied and then tweaked by counties all over Ireland.
The game used to be as simple as 15 players playing against another 15, you marked your marker, and that was that. Then teams started defending from the front, and the corner forward became the first defender when their side didn’t have the ball.
Things changed further when sweepers were introduced, and eventually positions have almost become a thing of the past as every single player attacks when they have the ball, and every single player defends behind the 40 when the don’t.
In the last couple of years sweeper keepers have become the hot ticket as we see Niall Morgan, Rory Beggan, Ethan Rafferty and now just about everybody getting their number one to bomb forward, join in on the attack and leave the goal empty behind them – risk vs reward.
Last week the news broke that Down had decided to deploy Marty Clarke in nets – as in the same Marty Clarke who played up front for Down over 13 years ago and was one of the most talented outfield players in the game.
Down manager Conor Laverty looked as his options for a goalkeeper, and with Kilcoo keeper Niall Kane opting out of the panel, and Charlie Smyth currently trying his hand at the NFL in America – innovation was needed.
Clarke obviously isn’t the same athlete as he was over a decade ago, but his talent, hunger, experience, and reading of the game will be of an elite level, and due to the nature of the sweeper keeper’ role, he will no doubt still have his say on the scoreboard when joining the attack, and we will get to see it in action this weekend.
Like the aforementioned tactical tweaks, it is rarely the case where it happens in one county and isn’t copied by another, and there are some very interesting possibilities out there.
Dean Rock could have the shortest retirement stint ever.
Now hear me out, I know Stephen Cluxton is the greatest goalkeeper to ever play the game, and I know that Dublin are one of the few counties who don’t deploy this tactic of keepers getting involved with the attack.
However, nobody knows for sure if Cluxton is even coming back this season, and it was the same the last time he retired, not a soul was told, and he just vanished without a trace.
David O’Hanlon is an excellent keeper, but just imagine if someone like Dean Rock was tempted to come back. The highest scorer in the county’s history, and possibly the greatest ever free taker ever in the game.
The Ballymun man only just retired last summer, so is as fit as he ever was, and his kicking accuracy for kick outs, free kicks, and 45s are all still on point. The reason he opted to retire was because of a lack of game time, and this would solve that issue, so it maybe isn’t as outrageous as you would think.
It could be a weapon for Tailteann Cup teams as well.
It’s worth reiterating that these are just examples plucked from thin air based on logic from an outsiders point of view, and it doesn’t speak for the players in question, but when you look at someone like Paddy Cunningham, it only makes sense.
The flying forward is probably one of the most lethal finishers in the Antrim’s history but for the latter stages of his career, his game time had to be managed and he was used with caution, only when needed.
The sharp shooter suffered from Crohn’s Disease, so it was imperative that they were careful with the strain put on him, so using him in nets could be a genuine option that keeps him the field, allows him to kick the frees, get involved in the attack when needed, but also not be overly strained like he would be if he were played up front.
Now Cunningham might just be a little too long in the tooth as this innovation misses him, but even the likes of Michael McCann from Cargin would be a viable option in this role, having only recently retired, his presence, experience, bravery and an eye for the posts would offer lots of benefits to Andy McEntee’s team.
Really the possibilities are endless, and pretty much every county will have some legendary figure not too long out of retirement that would be more than capable of performing the role.
Of course it comes down to the manager, the style of play the want to use and whether or not said individuals want to put themselves through all of that again, but if I were a betting man, I would say that there will be a few missed calls from county managers on the phones of retired stars in the coming weeks.
