Portrayal of Donegal is often inaccurate
Rumours of Davy Fitz’s heavy-handed treatment of a few Clare lads who broke curfew and went for a night out – while they were injured and not playing in the league – reminded me of a situation that arose in the Kerry squad back during the championship of 2009.
A couple of our characters had a few scoops after a qualifier game, and word filtered back to management. I’m talking about legends of the game here, not young guys who it may be easier to deal with. Instead of going down the route the Clare management reportedly chose, in Kerry it was left to the players to sort it out amongst ourselves.
We met in a room and blood-letting and hard talk were the order of the day. Nearly two hours of heated exchanges passed in the blink of an eye before the white smoke went up; a verdict had been reached. Jack O’Connor was our gaffer and he had developed such a trust and sense of autonomy in his players that he gave complete ownership of the situation to the group to agree a sanction. It worked out, and probably made us a stronger unit because of it. The players took it on the chin, and it was never mentioned again.
But managers and coaches differ greatly, in terms of their dealings with players, coaching styles etc. I had one basketball coach from America who believed everything was about repetition, repetition, repetition. Defensive and offensive sets, drilled over and over again until you developed an almost symbiotic relationship with teammates.
Donegal developed that under Jim McGuinness and are trying to stay loyal to those philosophies under Rory Gallagher. I really don’t believe they are the poisonous footballing disease some would have them portrayed. Yes, they are more about structure than style, but they have also brought a tactical awareness to Gaelic football that we haven’t seen before.
The perception that Donegal just get bodies back inside their ‘45’ to clog up space is inaccurate.
They play a zone defence where players have very clearly defined roles. Some guys mark their man, while others are designated ‘chasers’ who go and hound the ball carrier when he comes into their zone. They are disciplined with their positioning once they get set up, hence the need for a tactical foul high up the pitch to slow down the opposition, and allow their half forwards retreat and take up their defensive positions. At times, it is less of a blanket and more of an iron curtain.
They want to suck the opposition onto them, get you to lose patience and get forward. Their zone is predicated on forcing you into a lower percentage shot at the posts. To that end, they always keep two ‘pillar’ defenders about 25 yards from goal who have no man marking responsibilities but their role is to not allow the opposition score from that area. As they showed against Dublin in last year’s semi-final, Donegal are most dangerous in transition. When they turn you over, they get out and fill lanes and attack you at pace. They get runners to put their head down and just go at you from different angles. It’s formidable, but not unbeatable.
In their last two meetings, Kerry have shown the template for dismantling their defence. They have been ultra-patient and composed in possession. Last Sunday, the cross fieldkicking was a big feature of the game. They attacked down one side and completely switched play with a 40 or 50 yard raking ball to team-mate in space.
Kerry’s kick passing forced the zone to move, and they were constantly looking to switch the point of attack. It was a clinical performance by the All-Ireland champions, and one they needed after being crushed by Cork a week earlier.
It was one of the most compelling and entertaining games of football that we’ve seen so far this season.
Maher, Moran and Buckley et al. will have tired bodies today.
I mentioned last week that I don’t believe the game is in the dire condition that some believe. The weekend’s games confirmed it for me. Donegal play to their strengths and are all about the sum of their parts. No rule change is going to have any effect on how they or Tyrone are now playing.
You might as well just accept that this is modern Gaelic football. Stop eulogising about the past, and embrace the challenge that the Donegals of the world pose.
As Kevin Durant said yesterday: Kerry and Cork showed at the weekend, “hard work beats talent, only when talent fails to work hard”.
