Patrick Horgan: The art of the freetaker and why teams need them for success
DEAD AIM: Patrick Horgan splitting the uprights in an All-Ireland final against Clare at a packed Croke Park. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Every team in the Munster Championship wants a freetaker who’ll hit 90- to 95% of his frees. Having two of them on your team is even better, and it can’t be a coincidence that the most successful team of the last ten years has even more.
For Limerick Aidan O’Connor missed a few in the league final a couple of Sundays ago, which was probably more noticeable because they came one after the other.
But those weren’t easy frees and conditions were challenging, so I think Limerick will keep Aidan on the frees. Aaron Gillane has obviously been a very good freetaker for them over the years but I think they’ll still keep Aidan taking them. It’s a way to get him involved early, to get him to the pitch of the game; Aaron has enough to be doing in general play but obviously is still available as a back-up.
Limerick also have Diarmaid Byrnes for really long-range frees, and he’s been in great form with those lately. Having a wing-back strike frees from distance means Limerick’s forwards can keep their positions if their opponents go for quick puck-out.
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For Cork there’s a different challenge. They’ll go with Alan Connolly, who did well in the league final with his frees. The issue for Cork is long-range frees. Ideally a forward doesn’t have to come all the way out for those (see Limerick comparison) but it’s not clear who takes them instead. Tim O’Mahony took a few from distance in the league final, and previously in a big game against Limerick and they went well, so he’ll probably be the long-range option.
Other teams probably have more clarity in this regard. Declan Dalton has very high percentages from long range if he’s on the field; Pa Collins might have been an option from very long range but Cork will hardly start chancing him now when he wasn’t tried in the league.
Tipperary have Darragh McCarthy, and obviously there’s been lot of talk about his style, criticism that he takes too long to take his frees and so on.
I don’t agree. There’s a free to be hit, and no-one has the right to put a player under pressure for taking his time with something so important. Darragh’s technique is what’s important - he trusts it, and that has to be respected.
He’s very good and seems to love the challenge - he got a few boos down the Pairc in the league but I thought it focused him even more, that he enjoyed it. It’s a great sign to be strong enough to stand up to that, to the focus on him in the media, and not to be influenced by all of that.
His teammate Eoghan Connolly was like a cheat code against Limerick in the league - driving the ball the same distance over the crossbar from all over the field. I haven’t see him in action too often because I just haven’t seen all the Tipp games, but if he can be as consistent as he was that night it’s a massive bonus for his team.
It puts real pressure on the opposition when they can be punished from all distances. If those frees start going wide it gives opponents a chance to reset, of course, but right now it’s working well for Connolly and Tipp. If a fella can shoot that well from that far out wouldn’t you encourage him?
Clare are in a good place with free-taking. Peter Duggan took the last couple in the NHL final with Dublin because Mark Rodgers went off with a little niggle, otherwise it’s Rodgers all day.
There’ll be no-one taking over from him because he’s steady, his success rate is high-percentage, and his hands are just exceptional.
It also seems like he enjoys the responsibility of it, which is always good to see in players. Not many fellas like that.
Waterford is an interesting one because Stephen Bennett’s really good with them, very accurate.
It’s clear he means a lot to the team, because he also gets through a lot of work around the field as well. His frees are like arrows, so he’ll be taking them, but the way he plays takes its toll - he puts his body on the line and often takes plenty of punishment.
As a result Waterford may need to have another option, and throughout the league they were well served by Reuben Halloran, who’s very accurate as well. If anything ever does happen to Stephen Bennett - if he picks up an injury of any kind — then Peter Queally has the ideal replacement on hand, and to make it even better he knows from the league that Halloran is reliable.
Ranking free takers in terms of consistency can be a bit of a minefield - someone you rate really highly has a bad day and can make you look foolish pretty fast.
One thing that always strikes me when I look at free-takers is their technique, and wondering whether there are any possible flaws in how certain fellas go about their business.
For instance, looking at Darragh McCarthy, Aaron Gillane, Bennett - and Aaron Niland in Galway also - is that they take a step into the ball when they’re taking a free.
I’m not questioning their technique in any way because those players all have it down to a tee, but personally I’d prefer to have fewer moving parts when taking a free. If there are more moving parts in your technique does that mean there are slightly more chances for a slip, for the ball to move slightly off line, for something else to go awry?
For that reason O’Connor and Mark Rodgers seem a bit steadier to me simply because they have fewer moving parts. Another good example is TJ Reid, whose technique is pretty stripped-down to the basics. Stand, pick, shoot: not much can go wrong when there are so few movements involved.
If I had to pick a favourite in terms of technique it’d be Aidan O’Connor. He just has that style and strike I admire - that’s got nothing to do with numbers and percentages, it’s just a personal favourite. If I had a free to win a match I’d pick O’Connor because his striking is so clean.
Of course, the mentality involved in being a free-taker is interesting. If you miss a free during a big game you still have to have that mental strength to run over and take the next one your team wins. That’s your job no matter what the situation is in the game, and no matter what the pressure is.
You go to bed the night before the game knowing the following day your team’s going to win a free and you’ll be standing over the ball with 40,000 people staring at you.
You have to trust your technique in the moment. You have to be calm, to focus on your process, and to execute. Of course, the challenge is doing that when you glance up at the goal, 60 yards away, and it seems to be getting smaller and smaller the more you look at it . . .
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