ARE RHODE INVINCIBLE

far from croghan hill · Fri Apr 28, 2006 1:21 pm

just a thought here, stems from a debate the other night are rhode invincible at the moment, can anyone challange them for their crown...darby in my opinion is of the jose mourinho mould and will keep their feet firmly on the ground.so while every team in offaly wishes that they could beat them, there are no real contenders. the 'chelsea' of offaly football (every1 was glad for them in 04,now we just wana see them beat) are more than just niall mcnamee.what rhode possess is the key to winning a championship.they have five or six guys who will never make a county panel, but are just so committed to the cause they'd die in the rhode jersey. take hope, kilmurray, darby or bannon- seldom have they a bad game for rhode.

there is of course one weakness to this machine and that is the strenght in depth of the panel...ok they have won 4 in a row at u21 and lookn likely to add another to that, but if rhode were to pick up 2 or 3 injuries at the same time, they could be in deep trouble.apart from niall mc and shane sullivan, not much talent has emerged through in the past 3/4 years.
perhaps there good to go all the way again this year, but are they really invicible??

del · Post by **del** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 1:38 pm

i agree if niall mcnamee was to get injured rhode would struggle big time cause he is there main scoring threat i think that is the only real hope most teams have but look back at last years championship rhode could and should have been beaten twice by the blues and then shamrocks in the final but neither team took there chances and rhode took theres so there is not much in.

the blues will be back

True Red · Post by **True Red** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 1:45 pm

I honestly think Rhode are far from invincible.

One area i think they are weak in is midfield.So far this year in the championship Alan Mcnamee has had two partners,the Sullivan brothers.Fergal Dunne looks like he is on his last legs and Mark Cole doesnt seem to be fulfilling his promise.So apart for Alan Mc they dont appear to have any other recognised midfielder putting their hands up for the position.

Lone Shark · Post by **Lone Shark** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 1:56 pm

I think Tullamore are the long way from being the finished product to be honest - and while the game in the group stages last year saw Rhode nearly caught out, that's what thy would have been - caught out. The semi final saw the two teams go hell for leateher and we saw what happened there - albeit it was much more competitive while Keane was on the field.

As for Shamrocks, I think the game panned out almost perfectly for them. Rhode got off to a flier and kept Shamrocks at arms length for most of the game, and mentally would have felt in control of the game. I'm not saying they relaxed, but the fear of losing wouldn't have been at the forefront of their minds. When Shamrocks got their phase of being on top, they kicked some great scores and drew level at the absolutely perfect time, and with a real rouser of a score as well. And even still Rhode dug it out.

I do agree that Niall is absolutely crucial to them, and it is a lot harder to see them win a big game without him, but in saying that they still have the wherewithal to dominate most teams out the field - as was pointed out, they field very strong and competant players from 2-8 with no weak links, and that always gives you a good start in any game. Funnily enough I think they will only be vulnerable (within Offaly at least) to the type of team who will sit right back and almost play Ali style Rope-a-dope tactics. Anyone trying to go toe to toe with Rhode will go down. On the other hand, if anyone played 12 men back and backed their forwards to convert enough 30-70 ball into scores to win an 0-9 to 0-8 thriller, then I could see Rhode having a slight Achilles heel. To do this would require a solid team ethic and at least two intercounty standard forwards and a decent free taker - that's why I take Clara as the main (read: only!!) danger. Tullamore and Shamrocks for me are around the same standard as Clara, but I can't see either of those teams taking Rhode. I can't see Edenderry doing it either for that matter, local rivalry be damned.

far from croghan hill · Fri Apr 28, 2006 1:59 pm

fair point i suppose true red, but alan mc is at the moment cleaning up the midfield area in all CLUB games that he plays. his partners at midfield in the national league, Ross connor and mad mac, are both playin intermediate football and so wont come up against him.even if he has an average lad beside him, alan mc has no competition from any other midfielder in the county

Lone Shark · Post by **Lone Shark** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:01 pm

True Red wrote:One area i think they are weak in is midfield.So far this year in the championship Alan Mcnamee has had two partners,the Sullivan brothers.Fergal Dunne looks like he is on his last legs and Mark Cole doesnt seem to be fulfilling his promise.So apart for Alan Mc they dont appear to have any other recognised midfielder putting their hands up for the position.

I would agree that in a Leinster context Rhode's midfield is weak - but this is Offaly, and never was the phrase more apt than in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. Rhode only have one midfielder - certainly. But that midfielder was the club player of the year last year, and with Sullivan assistance completely over-ran Ferbane at the middle of the park last day out as well. Ferbane are far from county title contenders, but they do have a midfield that would be competitive against most in Offaly - and Rhode ate them alive.

I could say that the Coughlan combo just might gain a slight edge on Rhode at the midfield on a good day - but that's the only pair I could see coming close to be honest.

del · Post by **del** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:23 pm

i agree 100 perecent tullamore are far from the finished article but it is very young team and will prob take a couple of years for those boys to turn into men. and therin lies the problem too many lads in there mid twenties are gone from the club

Lone Shark · Post by **Lone Shark** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:30 pm

del wrote:i agree 100 perecent tullamore are far from the finished article but it is very young team and will prob take a couple of years for those boys to turn into men. and therin lies the problem too many lads in there mid twenties are gone from the club

I don't know. All too often minor titles can be decided by the weakest five players rather than the strongest five - Tullamore, for obvious reasons, will never struggle in terms of pick for their players, so their weakest five is usually much better than most others. Put it another way, Dublin have had the edge over Offaly and Wexford at underage hurling for a long time now and they seem to be as far away as ever from making a real senior breakthrough.

If those players weren't able to even be competitive at under 21 against Michaels, it's hard to believe they'll be the backbone for the revival of Tullamore senior football. Again though, the absence of Keane was a big caveat here.

Bogman · Post by **Bogman** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 9:16 pm

Rhode looked Awesome against Ferbane. They've improved since last year. They have weaknesses but nobody in Offaly has matching strengths to expose those weaknesses.

Re Tullamore I think it always takes longer than people expect for young players to reach their peak. For instance those Limerick Under 21s of the early 00s are only beginning to make a senior impact now.

seamroga · Post by **seamroga** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 11:29 pm

Rhode won't be beaten. As I suggested in this website recently, their Offaly club form in '05 was not as exciting as '04, but the Leinster campaign has brought them on leaps and bounds. Losing the semi-final to Kilmacud Crokes will give them huge motivation to at least reach the final this season, depending on the draw.
Indeed, I'd go as far as to say that had Rhode not progressed in Leinster and, let's say, lost heavily in the first round for the second year in a row, they might not be as tuned in to capturing another county final. Simply because they would have to accept that would be the extent of their ambitions.
Whatever about Stephen Darby being as shrewd as Jose Mourinho, he's certainly not arrogant and has huge respect in Rhode.
I was really impressed by their display against Ferbane and they could match their achievement from '04, when I think no team got closer than five points of them.
Being technically illiterate

I can't insert one of those quote things, but I'm in awe of Lone Shark's observation that in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. With the retirement of Joe Hughes and the transfer of Mark Daly, the other leading contenders have no-one to match Alan McNamee there. Look at the difference Ronan Mooney made when he came home to play for Shamrocks last year. I've been preaching about the absence of up-and-coming tall midfielders in Offaly for a long time now.
Finally, from a Leinster point of view, Rhode need Mark Cole to rise to the challenge and partner McNamee in the middle of the park. Pascal must be close to goals in support of Niall. Fair enough, let David Hope drift out, but you need two top-class inside forwards against the leading club teams.
All the other teams are competing for second best, I'm afraid.

Lone Shark · Post by **Lone Shark** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 3:26 am

I'll say this - irrespective of who wins the Dowling Cup this year, Rhode are and will remain the best team in Offaly for the foreseeable future - that much is not really in doubt. In saying all that, they only have to be be beaten once in one of the knockout games, and while I would say Rhode are six points better than the next best in all likelihood, it's not so much that a good game plan, a motivated and hungry team and a few breaks of the ball wouldn't bridge.

That's why I say that any team that plans on going toe to toe with Rhode will go down in flames.

On a wider note, I'm often amazed by the lack of any real tactical innovation in Offaly football. The basic style in the county is good, it's simple football - early delivery into full forward lines, work the ball out of defence, mobile half backs and midfielders, good competition for breaking ball. All our clubs do a lot of the same things the same way, and there is no real distinctive style to any club. Doon play their Kevin Keegan style, as much because of personnel as any real footballing philosphy, Shamrocks run at defences a little bit more than most - again personnel, and Brigid's compete a little bit more physically than most, but generally Offaly football is the same irrespective of who's playing. I think that out of the chasing pack the team that can reinvent the wheel a little could catch other teams - Rhode included - on the hop.

I certainly think the way Gaelic football is headed, as much out of curiosity, I'd love to see a team play with 9 permanent backs, none of whom crossed the 65 - 3 midfielders, none of whom crossed the other 65, and three forwards. This team would sit right back, defend the whole game, and hit long ball into the forwards. If the forwards won it, great, if they didn't, the whole process starts again. Either way, under no circumstances would players come forward to support. You would just back your forwards to nick 7 or 8 points and back your swarmed defence to keep out all bar one or two less than that. It could be a huge failure - but for a club like Doon, who could leave Trevor Phelan, Donie Ryan and Jimmy up there, it could be the cure to their defensive ills. Or it could work for Clara either - just leave Shaper, Tommo and maybe Stephen Kidney up there and let the rest mind the shop.

I'm not saying that this would work, but I'm saying that football by numbers won't beat Rhode - but something out of the ordinary might.

As for my midfield reference, I wouldn't go overboard Seamróga, I'd say the Pulitzer prize will be on hold for another while ....

naasmanxrhode · Post by **naasmanxrhode** » Thu May 04, 2006 3:48 pm

The question asked was 'are Rhode invincible'. The simple and only answer at present is YES

far from croghan hill · Thu May 04, 2006 3:53 pm

did they play at the weekend?

naasmanxrhode · Post by **naasmanxrhode** » Thu May 04, 2006 4:52 pm

was there senior championship matches played at the weekend???