azoffaly wrote: Either way they can't really be blamed for his situation.
I agree and yet I would add a caveat. I agree that from the start O'Grady made it clear that he was serious about his rugby and that it would always come first, so there is not really a lot that could be done with that.
However without knowing anything about the specifics, management does have a lot to do with why our football panel is a place that right now, a lot of footballers DON'T want to be. Perhaps O'Grady would be doing this if he was in Westmeath or Laois just as much, but when you add this to the fact that the squad is being deserted in droves, something somewhere is not going right.
Kevin Egan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.
I honestly believe O'Grady would be a terrific addition to the squad. He can kick a fantastic free which would also allow Niall to just concentrate on his own game with less pressure on himself, because there is no doubt the main reason he is very inconsistent this year and probably over the last 12 months is because of the burden of having to take the frees. Its obvious his confidence suffers after he misses one of those whoppers he tends to hit at least once in every game.
I wouldnt agree with you there black and red exile. In my opinion o' grady is a very good footballer but just doesnt have the football behind him to play senior county football ie he is playing too much rugby, also he produced one brilliant performance in the county final but is he capable of doing this on a regular basis?? and with less room, less time on the ball and much better opposition. With regards to the free taking situation i dont think niall is being made take the frees i think he wants to take them himself, im sure some of the five other forwards wouldnt mind taking them but i think it is just a case of niall wanting to take them and wanting to take on the responsibility of them.
I would agree with you OY13 on the fact that O'Grady has had very little football behind him since last November, but if he was got on board straight away and got a few challenge matches under his belt before the championship then in my opinion he would be a far better bet than the likes of David Egan, Jimmy Coughlan or Gary Comerford who are all struggling to cut it at this level. He might not have electric pace but he certainly has an excellent brain, very rarely loses possession and can pick out a pass with great precision, of course if management are luke warm in aproaching the Tullamore man or he has little interest in joining the squad then this debate is worthless.
As for the freetaking, I know for a fact that last year at least one other well known freetaker known to us all was jumping out of his skin to take responsibility for the frees but management insisted that Niall was the chief freetaker hook or by crook but recently common sense has prevailed and now, noteably with the long range frees and the 45s, MAC is at least taking some of the pressure off Niall which can only be good for the Rhode man.
What is it with Jason Kelly.
This is the 3rd year in a row that he has been brought in at this late stage to fill a place on the bench.
Yet, he fails to make the cut whenever he is involved earlier in the year.
MF35- jason kelly doesnt fail to make the cut he just 2 lazy to train at the start of the year. if he is back in there thats good cause he might just stay in there now that all the hard trainin is done. i dont make out how u think hes not county standard. you obviously havnt seen him play to often. hes exactly wat offaly are missin in the forward line.
[quote="the special 1"]MF35- jason kelly doesnt fail to make the cut he just 2 lazy to train at the start of the year. if he is back in there thats good cause he might just stay in there now that all the hard trainin is done. i dont make out how u think hes not county standard. you obviously havnt seen him play to often. hes exactly wat offaly are missin in the forward line.[/quote]
Aye - a lad thats too lazy to train is just what we need right now to solve all our problems.
Its a big step up lad - your obviously basing your assumptions of what you have seen of him in a bridge jersey.
Anyway, lets not waste any more time on this and move on.
I know that o grady is well capable of picking out passes and that he has a good brain but i also think that pace is one of the key things the offaly forwards are lacking at the minute. Its alright for lads to go well in the league when pitches are soft and the game is slowed down but you need a different type of player for c'ship in the summer when the games start to speed up and when they will be playing better teams in pitches with open spaces. I have nothing against o grady but i dont think he will make much difference to the set up at this time of the year. In regards to the freetaking i know exactly the time you are talking about but i have been talking to some of the players as i would know a good few of the and they seem to think that niall wants to take the frees, however i do agree that mac should take the long range ones as he seems to be striking them very well this year.
I must say after his performance when he came on in that ill fated game in the Tommy Cooper cup in Aughrim last year, I would be delighted to see Jason Kelly join the panel.On a night when most of our players minds were at the punchestown oxygen festival, kelly came off the bench in the second half and was superb, covered every blade of grass, wanted the ball at all times, never lost possesion once and his vision was terrific. It was just a pity his teamates didn't have the same attitude.We all know he is a very talented club player and he strikes me as being a very confident sort of guy and surely if he is available lets get him in now whatever reasons there are for him not being in the panel up to now, we can't afford to ignore the few talented footballers we do have at our disposal, god knows we need them right now.
