Oakley looking the part in backstage role for Offaly

WHEN two experts take polar opposite viewpoints on the same simple subject, what chance the rest of us?

Take the straightforward subject of Ger Oakley playing full-back for Offaly, for example. A massive liability is the gist of what hurling commentator Babs Keating, former Tipperary star and former manager of Tipperary and Offaly, writes in his weekly Sunday column while Oakley is there, Offaly will never win anything.

Absolutely not, says Mike McNamara, Offaly team manager and former Clare All-Ireland-winning trainer.

"One of the first things I did when I started was to put Ger back there. He looked like a full-back to me and he has been playing extremely well.

"He is now a real leader on the field, where before he was at midfield one day, wing-back the next, centre-forward another day, often being taken off.

"When he got the opportunity to play full-back he took it, slotted in like a natural. One of the things I like to do, in conjunction with the management team, is to settle fellas, give them a chance to play a position consistently. I have found in the past playing a fella in one position today, another place next week, destroys confidence and can affect their interest.

"Ger suffered in the past because he was a good athlete, but he's been a revelation for us, and I'd even go so far as to say he's one of the top full-backs playing the game at the moment."

Massive liability, huge asset, which is it?

Well, much more the latter, if you were to canvass the opinion of Dublin's Stephen Hiney, who struggled to make an impression on the Offaly strong-man in the recent Leinster semi-final. Much more the latter, also, would chorus Limerick's James O'Brien and several others who failed to make an impression on Oakley since his conversion to the defensive hot-spot last season. The definitive answer could come this Sunday, in the Leinster senior hurling final.

In their shock but worthy win over reigning Leinster and All-Ireland champions Kilkenny, Wexford's Michael Jacob gave Allstar full-back Noel Hickey a torrid time, capping a superb individual performance with the winning goal in the last attack.

Given the right ball again, the flying Jacob will surely be a legitimate test of Oakley's full-back credentials.

The irony in this discussion is that despite his muscular, full-back physique, Oakley doesn't see himself primarily as an oak-like, solid, last-line defender. For his club, Carrig & Riverstown, he's an outfield player.

For Offaly, bar one occasion, even at underage he was always the long- haired free-spirit high-plains drifter, taking the ball as it came. Not anymore. The long locks are still there, but corralled now, pony-tailed; so is that free spirit.

"Limerick was my first game there last year; before that I'd played a Leinster minor final there in '95. That was the last time I played full-back. It's alright, you put up with it, but you're very curtailed there. Out the field you just win the ball, go on a run, hit it over the bar, wide, find another man, whatever, but it doesn't really matter; I like that freedom. You do anything stupid at full-back and it can be very costly. Even a slip can be fatal."

Those slips happen all too often on a Croke Park surface that sometimes seems more like an ice-rink than a top-class hurling pitch, such is the difficulty players have in keeping their feet. Dicey, even for a small fast forward like Michael Jacob, dangerous, potentially goal-gifting, for a big defender like Oakley.

"I wouldn't be a lover of it, the grass gives too easily under your studs. You're falling, slipping, and the ball can go anywhere when it hits the sod. We're playing at such a fast pace now fellas are going to find it hard to keep their feet all the time anyway.

"But we saw it in Wexford against Kilkenny, fellas falling all over the place. Six-cog or multi-cog, it doesn't matter, you're falling, your feet go very easily from under you.

"Given that I'm a natural midfielder, I like to attack the ball so I'll be side-by-side anyway, try and get out in front if I can. You have to adapt your game to different people, some guys like to just hang around the square, wait for the high ball, more like to move around the place.

"You're continuously adapting to whoever you're marking."

The diminutive Jacob won't be hanging around the square; even if that ball is coming in fast and low, the Wexford full-forward won't be having things all his own way. Despite his manager's claim, Oakley still has a lot to prove before reaching the full-back stature of the likes of Phillip Maher of Tipperary, Darragh Ryan of Wexford, even the unfortunate Hickey mentioned above. But he has grown into the role for Offaly and has looked the part in recent games.

Sunday is another test.