offaly footballers of the year???

[Lone Shark]

well i seen it all now willie mulhall and ken casey are great footballer's and better than Dooley who doesn't play intercounty
football from the bit of football i seen Shane Dooley play with tullamore senior and junior the last few years he is way better
than mulhall and casey, people seem to forget them two intercounty players have been took off the last two years again meath 2010
kildare 09 in portlaoise they never got a kick of it and lads are saying they are good players i think ye should stay off the old weed lads.

Being fair to Casey and Mulhall, there's a world of difference between the standard of full back line players in teams like Kildare and Meath and the ones you meet playing for Tullamore seniors, never mind Tullamore juniors. Like anyone else, I'd love to see Shane Dooley tested at a higher level, but until it happens, then it's unreasonable to say he's better than players who have had rough days playing against better defenders.

[bazza]

Dooley is still better than Mulhall. I don't remember him doing much against Tullamore? He got a goal when the game was nearly over, that's all I really recall. Could someone please highlight one other senior club, college, u-21 or senior inter-county game he has played well in?

As regards players of the year for me it would be:

Senior - Niall McNamee
Intermediate - Ger Rafferty
Junior - Jimmy Foy
U-21 - Michael Brazil
MInor - Noel Andrew Graham.

Senior, Intermediate and Junior are easy choices which leave no room for a cock-up. The under-21 player choice is difficult. When the county team in a grade gets knocked out early I always feel the best policy is to look at how the club championship went in that grade. Tullamore won it, and there 3 strongest were Brazil, Johnny Moloney and Brian Geraghty. For me Brazil had a good year for the Tullamore seniors as well as the 21's and did play well in the U-21 game for Offaly against Carlow so he gets my nod. The minor choice is difficult. Offaly, even though they threw away a Leinster championship, still had a decent year. The foundation of that run, for me, was based on a solid backline and the driving force that was Graham at midfield. Paul McPadden was top notch at top of the left the whole year and played superbly for Rhode minors but the backs were the heroes on this team. Cian Donoghue and Declan Hogan would be my other contenders for the award, however, Noel Andrew was the best minor I saw in Leinster this year and it's not often you can say that about an Offaly player at any grade these days. He dragged Offaly back into the game in Navan against Meath with a stunning point, beat Laois singehandly with help from Numbers 1-7, dipped in form so unfortunately in Croker but recovered like a real player against Mayo in Hyde Park and topped off a fine performance with a stunning goal. I know I'm drifting from my favoured method of awarding player of the year to a lad who's club won something but I thought he was excellent this year and if anything Donoghue and McPadden suffered by being on one of the best all round minor club team Offaly has seen in the past few years.

[Bazil Brush]

In all fairness shane dooley would make the offaly football team without a doubt dont insult the man,How he turns in such good performances in both codes week in week out is beyond me, Hes a serious talent and to say hes an ordinary footballer then, there might be lots of ordinary footballers in offaly shane dooley isint one of them,

[Long John]

Week in week out good performances, ah come on, will you not be getting carried away. Against Ferbane and Shamrocks this year he was outplayed by his markers, Ive seen him in two county finals 2007, and 2008 and he was useless in both, actually one of Tullamores worst players in both. What are you basing his good performances on, playing Brigids and Walsh Island, with all due respect to them players its a bit of a jump to put him out against county full back lines.

I have never said Casey and Mulhall are brilliant footballers, they are better than Shane Dooley, thats my point. And its quiet unfair to be dismissing them for getting substituted in leinster championship games against Kildare and Meath. They were not exactly getting super ball or very much kicked into them for that matter. Its not being critical of Shane its just pointing out he has not done as much as the players named.

[townman]

Week in week out good performances, ah come on, will you not be getting carried away. Against Ferbane and Shamrocks this year he was outplayed by his markers, Ive seen him in two county finals 2007, and 2008 and he was useless in both, actually one of Tullamores worst players in both. What are you basing his good performances on, playing Brigids and Walsh Island, with all due respect to them players its a bit of a jump to put him out against county full back lines.

I have never said Casey and Mulhall are brilliant footballers, they are better than Shane Dooley, thats my point. And its quiet unfair to be dismissing them for getting substituted in leinster championship games against Kildare and Meath. They were not exactly getting super ball or very much kicked into them for that matter. Its not being critical of Shane its just pointing out he has not done as much as the players named.

but what have the players named done, ken caseys st. Brigids are gone down again if Shane Dooley was to throw his lot in with offaly
football panel he would be as good if not better than the lads named. maybe shane will stay with the hurling look how sean Ryan of Birr is
getting on since he left the hurling panel for football can't get a look in.

[Lone Shark]

This discussion could go round and round, but on a load of levels, as I said before, it's not fair to compare the two lads to Dooley. Shane Dooley is playing in a big town team with plenty of depth. Ken Casey and Willie Mulhall are both playing with small rural clubs where every year, there's always one or two lads filling out the fifteen that simply aren't senior footballers, or close to it. It's a lot easier to look good in that case.

Nobody's saying that Shane would or wouldn't get on the Offaly team - however until he tries, we don't know, which probably means we'll never know. I do think however this is the kind of attitude that's not fair to lads who do put themselves out there - like Casey and Mulhall. They get criticised when they have poor games, and it is compounded by being compared unfavourably to guys who aren't willing to play football for Offaly. Of course Dooley is committed to the county in hurling and that's not meant as a criticism of him, but the fact remains that Dooley plays for a strong club, the whole system is built to give him space, and overall he has a lot of help in trying to look good.

[TheManFromFerbane]

I do think however this is the kind of attitude that's not fair to lads who do put themselves out there - like Casey and Mulhall. They get criticised when they have poor games, and it is compounded by being compared unfavourably to guys who aren't willing to play football for Offaly

+1

[Long John]

Agree totally with Loneshark and Man from Ferbane.

My opinion is Dooley is not in the top 5 full fowards in the county, others will think differently, their entitled to that. For me he has not proved himself in the bigger games for the Blues and Lone shark is bang on, he's playing with decent players and a decent team who will give him good ball, he should be capable of doing damage especially against these weraker sides. James Keane, Paul McConway are great distributors of the ball to name a couple of the Town boys.

In reply to Townman, its disappointing to see Sean Ryan struggle. He definately has something to offer the county footballers. He is fast and strong but his height does come against him as it does for a number of Offaly players. Hes as good a half forward as they have at present. Id start him ahead of the likes of Reynolds on a half forward line if you had to pick between the two based on their workrate and guts.

[concrete]

there's no doubting shane dooley is a good footballer, he took some good scores all year, but to say he is as good as deehan or mcnamee is a bit much. as others have already said he was left inside on his own, one on one with his man, and the likes of mcconway, keane and williamson would deliver great ball into him, i think he could struggle next year when teams start to double up on him

[townman]

Agree totally with Loneshark and Man from Ferbane.

My opinion is Dooley is not in the top 5 full fowards in the county, others will think differently, their entitled to that. For me he has not proved himself in the bigger games for the Blues and Lone shark is bang on, he's playing with decent players and a decent team who will give him good ball, he should be capable of doing damage especially against these weraker sides. James Keane, Paul McConway are great distributors of the ball to name a couple of the Town boys.

In reply to Townman, its disappointing to see Sean Ryan struggle. He definately has something to offer the county footballers. He is fast and strong but his height does come against him as it does for a number of Offaly players. Hes as good a half forward as they have at present. Id start him ahead of the likes of Reynolds on a half forward line if you had to pick between the two based on their workrate and guts.

i don't think height has anything to do with it Reynolds,Casey,Mulhall,and Darby, are no gaints and they are always picked ahead of Ryan
i think he has a lot still to offer in hurling.

[Lone Shark]

i don't think height has anything to do with it Reynolds,Casey,Mulhall,and Darby, are no gaints and they are always picked ahead of Ryan
i think he has a lot still to offer in hurling.

Mulhall wouldn't be usually, while the others are very different players. John Reynolds and Casey are out and out scorers and I'd rate the two of them as excellent inside line options, but they get a lot less effective the further out the field they go. Niall Darby is a left footer, which we don't have too many of, and offers a freetaking option, but he can struggle to overcome lads that overpower him and yet can match him for pace.

Sean Ryan is never going to score a dozen times in a championship campaign, but that's not hwat he's there for - he's there to win breaks, disrupt opposition defenders coming out with the ball, take lads out of the game with speed and generally unsettle the opposition - a role I personally think he does very well. He finished 2010 as a wing back and I wouldn't be hugely surprised if he got another few goes in that role this year.

[Long John]

Lone shark has said everything just there that I have been trying to get across. He says it better though.

Ryan has all the attributes of a good half forward. Reynolds, Mulhall, Casey are as he pointed out inside men only at that level, they can take scores but will not win you ball around the middle sector. Thats why I grow so frustrated when I see Reynolds played on a half forward line, he doesnt want to know about it, but put him inside and get good ball to him and he will score.

Height comes against alot of Offaly players. Most county teams now have 6 footers on half back and half forward lines. Thats the one thing that goes against Sean Ryan. Id start him ahead of any of the listed others as a half forward as that line requires a completely different breed of player. Niall Darby has the workrate and was outstanding in sigerson football but his height also comes against him in modern game at county level.

And yes Ryan has plenty to offer hurling without question.

[bazza]

Most county teams now have 6 footers on half back and half forward lines.

Throwaway statements like that really are lazy and just create this ridiculous notion in people's minds that all inter-county players must be 6 foot plus with the build of a rugby wing forward. The 3 best half forwards of the modern game, Paul Galvin, Declan O Sullivan and Brian Dooher are nowhere near 6 foot yet they thrive in the fast intense environment that is the modern game. The difference between Sean Ryan and these lads isn't pace, power or fitness it's football. He's a raw player as it is and for him to have any hope of improving he'd need to playing senior matches and marking the likes of Ciaran Heavey, Matty Mitchell and James Keane, etc. on a regular basis. That isn't gonna happen so he should stick to the hurling, where in fact I think he would have a lot to offer Mr. Dooley.

Comig back to the issue of height, it's all about balance. For Every Graham Canty and Pearse O'Neill there's a Paudie Kissane, Noel O'Leary or Paul Kerrigan buzzing about the place. Pace, power and fitness is so important in the modern game but when you're coming up against teams who have also done their winter work well, it's going to come down to football ability and if the biggest or fittest or fastest lad in Offaly can't kick the ball over the bar from 30 yards or put a precision pass in front of Niall Mc against Wexford in OCP next May they have no business on a county panel.

[Lone Shark]

I think you'd find that Paul Galvin would be as close to six foot as would make no difference. I take the fundamental point though, there's room for all shapes and sizes.

He's a raw player as it is and for him to have any hope of improving he'd need to playing senior matches and marking the likes of Ciaran Heavey, Matty Mitchell and James Keane, etc. on a regular basis. That isn't gonna happen so he should stick to the hurling, where in fact I think he would have a lot to offer Mr. Dooley.

I actually disagree with this logic. Seán Ryan plays for Birr, usually either at midfield or centre forward. He's the main source of scores in the sense that he creates more than any other player, so at intermediate level, he ends up marking a really good footballer every time because opposing teams put their best defensive man on him, usually. In many cases they put two men on him. If Seán Ryan was playing in Rhode's half forward line, he could end up marking a senior club's fourth best defender, and having a lot more room because defenders have to worry about Niall Mac, Anton, Niall Darby, and probably others. In fact I'd go so far as to say Seán Ryan gets examined in club football a lot more than Niall Darby does - and that's not a slight on Niall, that's just a reflection of the quality of the players around him. The game against Kilmacud would be an exception, but not up to now.

I'd be all in favour of making our intermediate championship stronger in general by reducing the number of senior clubs, or indeed creating divisional teams, but I don't buy into the thinking that everybody playing senior football has a tougher test than anybody playing intermediate football.

[True Red]

Players of the Year selectedmium Article !
Dooley and McNamee named Senior Players of the Year

THE 2010 Offaly GAA/Bridge House Hotel Player of the Year Awards have been selected.
For the second year in a row Shane Dooley has been selected as the Senior Hurler of the Year while Niall McNamee picks up his third Senior Football Award.

The full list of winners and Hall of Fame inductees is:

2010 Offaly GAA/Bridge House Players of the Year

HURLING
Senior: Shane Dooley (Tullamore)
Intermeidate: Conor Gath (Drumcullen)
Junior: Michael Duignan (Ballinamere)
U-21: Stephen Burke (Coolderry)
Minor: Pat Camon (St Rynagh's)
Hall of Fame: Paddy Molloy (Drumcullen)

FOOTBALL
Senior: Niall McNamee (Rhode)
Intermediate: Ger Rafferty (St Rynagh's)
Junior: James Foy (Clonmore Harps)
U-21: Michael Brazil (Tullamore)
Minor: Paul McPadden (Rod Og)
Hall of Fame: Greg Hughes (St Rynagh's)

taken from offalyexpress.ie