Michael Murphy is a great full-forward… but almost a little too good. His aerial prowess is so pronounced that rather than keep him on the edge of the square permanently, his Donegal managers have often switched him further out the field to start attacks rather than finish them.
Laois tried something similar with their big target man, Donie Kingston, on Saturday evening in Tullamore and it worked very effectively for the O’Moore County.
The 6ft 3′ attacker was selected at No 14 but roved around the half-forward line for the majority of the 0-16 to 0-16 draw.
While Kingston has the height to claim high balls around the square, he dropped deep on numerous occasions in the first half and was rewarded for his runs.
For the first score of the game, we got an idea of where Kingston would operate, as he picked up possession in the wing-forward position.
He then showed great pace to put Laois in front.
And later on in the half when Laois played the ball into the full-forward line, Kingston held his run until the right opening presented itself and slotted it over the bar.
Kildare eventually got on top in the second half and moved into a 0-13 to 0-11 lead with 20 minutes to go but once more, Kingston showed playmaking abilities out the field to get his side back on track.
Picking up the ball in the centre-forward position, he beat three Kildare defenders before laying the ball off, and then kicked the resulting free.
A lot of GAA fans like to see their biggest forward not only picked at the edge of the square, but also to actually play there, and it seems All-Ireland-winning manager Eugene McGee is one of those people.
In his column in today’s Irish Independent, McGee says that failing to move Kingston into full-forward as the game progressed was a ‘monumental error’.
McGee points to the success Kieran Donaghy had towards the end of last season as a reason why Kingston should have played as selected but given the Laois man’s contribution to the game, it is a bit unfair to completely slam the decision of manager Tomás Ó Flatharta.
But the debate is an interesting one nonetheless, as Donaghy has also been used at midfield in the past. Hell, Michael Murphy even loitered around the half-back line during patches of Jim McGuinness’ tenure.
What did you make of Kingston’s contribution on Saturday?
