Neville Coughlan

[Lone Shark]

Very much the secondary news in Offaly GAA today, but what's the viewpoint on Neville deciding to go with football only from now on?

While I have great time for him as a wholehearted hurler, personally I think it's for the best. Realistically there should be too many in front of him in the queue for a half-forward or midfield slot for him to really have any chance of featuring during the summer. He's very fast, and physically quite strong, but being honest he's not really capable of taking points from any kind of range, and worryingly tends to get hooked an awful lot.

On the other hand he's a key part of the football panel, a wing forward capable of taking a score, tracking attacking wing backs, winning breaks around the middle of the park and his pace is a serious weapon. They'll only benefit from having him available for more training and challenges, and in truth I don't expect the hurlers to suffer that much.

But that's just my opinion - what do ye think?

[Bord na Mona man]

I would have preferred to have him in the hurling set up too.
A big problem in the last 3 or 4 years, has been that ball cleared from our backs is returned far too easily and quickly by the opposition. Our backs must feel they're in a handball alley, when their clearances are barely contested and rammed back down on top of the, before they can regroup and mark up again.

We lack mobility and aggression in the opposition half. Obviously Coughlan had weaknesses in other parts of his game, but I think he could have done a decent job for us.

Being a dual player is a huge demand, so you can't blame anyone for concentrating on one sport.

[Lone Shark]

That would be fine in a situation where we had blue chip heavy scorers you could depend on making up the numbers. If Neville was to go into a forward line with say Gary and Rory, Brendan, Damien Murray and Cathal Parlon, only Rory could be called a regular free scorer. Brendan Murphy is dangerous but rarely racks up high scores, Murray scores very little outside of frees against good teams, and Cathal could be good but has yet to play senior championship. That's why I think putting another hard working non scorer in there is not really the best option.

Although against that, I think it's as good an option as Joe Brady at full forward.