Two great players at the very peak of their powers right now, but if you had to pick one, who would you have on your team?
Conor Heneghan of JOE.ie says: Michael Murphy.
In the closing stages of Donegal’s win over Derry on Saturday night, Michael Murphy was back in his own 21 making a vital block to keep Derry at bay as they tried to claw back a two-point deficit.
Donegal were average on the night and Murphy wasn’t much better than average either, but even when he’s not firing on all cylinders, the big man finds a way to make his mark.
Making vital, game-winning interventions is exactly what Michael Murphy does nearly every single time he takes to the field.
And that’s what makes him the player he is; the best player playing Gaelic Football in the country at the moment.
A little earlier in the Derry game, he was doing what he also does on a regular basis; knocking over scores from 60 yards with as much ease as a normal player would knock them over from 20.
They’ve become such a regular occurence with Murphy now that those of us watching aren’t even surprised any more. The thing is, those scores are all about the style, but what really matters when it comes to Murphy is the substance.
It would be a lie to say that Murphy doesn’t get plenty of praise and he deserves every single bit of it, but in another way, we’re all probably guilty of taking him for granted. Michael Murphy is still only 25. 25! If it seems as if he’s been around forever that’s because he’s packed so much into his inter-county career to date.
The Glenswilly man has been playing for Donegal for eight years and he’s been captain for four of them, having been given the responsibility when he was just 21 years old.
Many youngsters would shirk under such pressure but Murphy has thrived on it, leading the men from the hills to a level of success that is unprecedented in the county. Under his stewardship, Donegal have won a Division Two League title, three out of four Ulster titles, appeared in two of a possible four All-Ireland Finals and claimed Sam Maguire for only the second time in their history.
Would all of that have happened without their captain? Only the most one-eyed Donegal supporter would say ‘Yes’.
What’s more, when Donegal did win the All-Ireland, he was Man of the Match and scored one of the most memorable final goals of recent times. Donegal have been a force to be reckoned with on a national level ever since Jim McGuinness became manager and Murphy became captain. Since then, Murphy’s performance level has been remarkably consistent. And that’s with virtually every opposition outfit double-teaming him or coming up with a special plan to limit his influence.
When he’s on the edge of the square, he’s been deadly. When he comes out around the middle, he can do the quarter back role and run the game like he did against Armagh.
He can win his own ball. He’s great at robbing it from others. He’s a ferociously hard worker. Arguably his best quality is the ability to take the game by the scruff of the neck and play it on his terms for 10 or 15 minutes when it’s really needed. Apart from leaving a man for dead in a sprint, there’s virtually nothing he can’t do. Murphy is the ultimate team player. He leads. He inspires.
The Donegal team are full of leaders and strong characters but none of them are influential as Murphy. When he puts over a big score, when he gives a big hit, when he takes belt after belt from opposition players and keeps coming back for more, his teammates take their lead from him and drive on.
Murphy is not only the best player in the Donegal team at the moment; at 25 and with half of his career ahead of him he’s the best player Donegal has ever seen.
You might have noticed that I haven’t mentioned Diarmuid Connolly yet but I don’t need to. He’s amazingly talented but he doesn’t come close to wielding the same influence that Murphy does.
Dublin could win an All-Ireland without Diarmuid Connolly; Donegal couldn’t win one without Michael Murphy, a once-in-a-generation player at the absolute peak of his powers right now.
Conán Doherty says: Diarmuid Connolly.
Back during one of those years with the club team when we were taking ourselves really seriously (everyone’s tried it for at least a season), we used to do a bit of player profiling.
It was something similar to that inter-county opposition profile that leaked last week. Just tips of how to stop players you would be coming up against; strengths of theirs to look out for.
Keep him on his right and he won’t have a clue what to do.
Mark him from the front.
He’s not strong in the tackle.
If he gets running at you, you’re in trouble.
And so on.
Imagine you’re Tom Cribben right now preparing Westmeath for the Leinster final. How the hell do you even begin to profile Diarmuid Connolly? 
Do not mark him from the front, if he gets in behind, he’ll score a goal.
Do not mark him from behind, if he gets ball in his hand, he’ll make something happen.
Do not let him run at you.
Don’t commit to a tackle… but don’t back off either because he’ll find a game-winning pass.
Don’t let him drift around the field because he’ll win the midfield battle for them.
Do not let him onto his right boot.
Do not let him onto his left boot.
Got that? Okay, away you go. Mark Diarmuid Connolly.
If you were to go away and design your own perfect Gaelic Footballer, if you were allowed to bring in whatever attributes you needed to and give those attributes an unlimited amount of points to create the ultimate 2015 edition inter-county star, your dream robot would actually be worse than Diarmuid Connolly.
Because the man himself has got it all and what he has is better than anyone else. Strength, speed, skill, drive. He’s a playmaker, he’s a goal-getter, he’s a point scorer, he’s a midfield dominator. Diarmuid Connolly is the most complete footballer in the game.
And, in the last season and a half, the Dubliner has just decided to become the best player in Ireland. He was always there, he was always good but, suddenly and frighteningly, he just flicked a switch that saw him transform from promising talent to unstoppable superhuman.
He’s scoring in every type of way. Boys are trying to drag him down but they either can’t get near him such is his elusive flair or they physically just can’t put a dent in his armour because he’s too strong and solid. He’s weaving through defenders, he’s kicking from distance and he’s coming off the shoulder like a freight train you just want to get the hell out of the way from.
Michael Murphy is a class act. He’s younger. You can play him anywhere as well and Donegal rely on their captain more than Dublin rely on what is a sixth layer of icing on their cake. Murphy, for example, was the only real difference between them and Derry at the weekend. Connolly was one of 15 differences. But if you stuck him in any other side in Ireland, he too would have an instant impact.
He took the fight to Donegal on his own last year. He’s not a luxury player anymore. And it’s rare – especially in an era of athleticism – to find someone so perfectly conditioned with more skill and ability on a football than anyone else on the island.
And he’s going about proving Darragh Ó Sé wrong when the Kerry legend spoke about rattling his cage. You can’t get under Connolly’s skin anymore. He’s above that. He’s too good for that.
