Don’t let them away with us.
There are all sorts of different ways to bluff on a GAA pitch.
- Some boys take the ball off you from two metres away and hand pass straight to the next guy.
- Some boys pass the ball two metres away when someone comes for it.
- Full forwards blame the delivery.
- Defenders blame the runners coming through.
- Midfielders blame the ‘keepers.
Half forwards? They can hide in the most effective way possible.
You can hide by presenting yourself and actually getting on ball but, if you do it in the right area, you can absolve yourself of all responsibility.
During a heated debate on The GAA Hour over Monaghan’s attacking set-up, Colm Parkinson took issue with how deep the Farney men were coming against Fermanagh, completely isolating two of the best forwards in the country in Conor McManus and Jack McCarron.
Cian Ward, however, blamed the half forwards. Wooly’s argument was that there should be four forwards all the time. Ward said that there might well have been four of them marked out but that the half forwards drifted and removed the link in the process.
“If you play four forwards, the opposition plays five or six defenders anyway,” the Meath man said.
“So what teams are trying to do is bring bodies back a little bit deeper – how often do you see it, your half forward line is getting handy ball if he just drops off 10 yards.”
That’s because the half backs don’t follow them. They cover the space that is actually dangerous and they let the half forwards go to the middle to do what they want.
“To me, that’s a cop out,” Ward explained.
“That’s a complete cop out from your half forward because he’s coming and getting the handy ball but he’s not doing anything. He’s just getting the ball from his half back in midfield and doing nothing.
“He’s too far away to give a good ball in and he’s actually contributed to having a defender back there for the opposition. What he should be doing is going right up against his man, onto that 45-metre line, and making hard runs to try and create that link position. But they’re not doing it.”
Listen to the whole explanation from 36:00 below.
