Do you still need a traditional full-back?
Or rather, full-back identity.
It was an apposite subject. About ten yards away from where we sat that evening this writer had spent a great hour chatting to the great Michael Maher, who had barred the square to a generation of hurlers back in the sixties.
Maher, strong and unyielding, was the very avatar of the full-back, and for decades practically every team patrolled the small square with a powerful presence.
Nowadays, though, the rules of engagement are pretty different.
Michael Ryan, a pretty decent member of the full-back line union, was making the point that Tipp weren’t getting hung up on a traditional number three.
“I’m very happy we’ve a back unit that understands exactly what it needs to do on any given day,” said the Tipperary selector.
“I’m very happy we have a lot of back-up and support within the panel to get the opportunity to play.
“It’s a pivotal position but it’s completely changed to when I was playing, or even ten years ago. Having a three that’s a fixture on a team is a rarity.”
Asked if he’d like one, Ryan’s answer was revealing: “I’m not sure it’s appropriate, that’s my point. The kind of movement and interchanging of players, you could have any opposition forward at 14 for any period of the match, and you have to adapt to that.
“Fundamentally you back your best hurlers, and of course they’re challenged. If it were easy, we’d be playing.”
Fair point. Looking at the recent past, Ryan picked out a couple of iconic defenders before illustrating his thesis with an instance from Sunday’s opponents.
“Philly Maher was an out and out three, Diarmuid O’Sullivan — these are phenomenal players but the thing has moved on.
“If you had a big strong full-back in the older sense, the opposition management would rub their hands and get their fastest man on him.”
JJ Delaney? A marker rather than spectacular bursting-out-festooned-with-opponents number three?
“He can be spectacular but he’s equally comfortable at 7, at 4. These guys are so interchangeable.”
Ryan had back-up from another Tipp selector. Paudie O’Neill pointed specifically to the ability of full-backs to survive far from their primary area of responsibility.
“Any position can lose you games,” said O’Neill.
“That’s not just a pat answer. The game has evolved as well.
“You can look at someone now who’s selected at full-back and you look at them ten minutes into the game and they have to follow their man 30, 40 or 50 metres out the field.
“I think there’s much more of a flexibility attached to it now than was historically the case.”
