Is there a hotter property in Gaelic football than Rian O’Neill?

CENTRE OF ATTENTION: Rian O'Neill of Armagh after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 1 match between Armagh and Tyrone at Athletic Grounds in Armagh.

ONE of the most gripping scenes in the 2016 Thomas Niblock documentary on Crossmaglen Rangers; ‘Field of Dreams’, came in the dressing room just prior to the Rangers leaving the dressing room to play a big game.

Standing up, amid the tension and emotional arousal is Oisín McConville. He and John McEntee were joint managers of the club at the time. McConville is getting his players into a highly-focussed state when suddenly his voice climbs through the octaves and he lets a scream out; “We were born for this! Born for this!” In the middle of a successful team, it’s not hard to convince your players that they are, indeed, born to play in big games and win.

Young players are earmarked as they come through the ranks, sized up like racehorses with their bloodlines and potential discussed.

So it would have been for the O’Neill brothers, Oisín and Rian. Nephews of McConville, and the sons of Gareth who played for both Armagh and Louth, before going on to manage Cross to two All-Ireland titles alongside Tony McEntee.

Is there a hotter property in Gaelic football than Rian O’Neill right now? He has been bubbling away under the surface for a few seasons now, but his 1-7 against Donegal in the last qualifier round has propelled him to national prominence.

He set the game on fire by catching the throw-in, and launching a delivery that was caught by Rory Grugan and stuck into the top corner on nine seconds, equalling the fastest-ever Championship goal.

After Donegal had grabbed control of the game, O’Neill converted a penalty and produced a body of work from midfield pushing forward that puts him in the bracket of a ‘must-watch’ this weekend.

Some would say he couldn’t fail to become what he has, with his pedigree.

That kind of expectation in football hotbeds was touched upon by Kilcoo’s centre Daryl Branagan after he emerged from the changing rooms following their All-Ireland club final success against Kilmacud Crokes last winter.

‘In Kilcoo,’ Branagan said, ‘If you don’t play football, you are a stranger in the village.’ As extreme as that sounds, it is a common belief in many parts. And yet, Oisín McConville insists that the culture around Crossmaglen has shifted.

“I do think that when people talk about Kilcoo, I think Cross were in that place at one stage but society seems to be a lot more liberal and open now. Not as closed off as it once was.

“So I think from that point of view, children wouldn’t be under the same microscope. But there was an expectation that when you are growing up you are good, then you need to progress then.” 

He adds, “I just remember watching Rian and Oisin, there is a school year between them. I remember watching them on schools teams and when you see a P6 who is totally comfortable playing against P7’s, they stand out.

“The two boys obviously stood out in a big way. The expectation would have been that he would play football. But I don’t think anyone would have batted an eyelid if he ended up not playing football.” 

By the time he reached the marble corridors of St Colman’s College in Newry, a noted football nursery, he had been flagged. His brother Oisín had arrived a year before him and, just like at primary school and at the club, they played on the same teams.

A former All-Ireland winner with Down, Cathal Murray is head of PE in St Colman’s and could see from early on the potential of the brothers.

“We had Oisin came first so he had already made a fair impression. Knowing then you were getting someone as good, and even would surpass what Oisin had done,” he says.

“Oisin came through at a time when the teams were good, but not great. Rian’s team, they won the Dalton in second year, they got to the Corn Na nÓg final, got to the Rannafast final, an All-Star in 2017 and then got to a MacRory Cup final.

“He came through a good era with only one title to show for his name, but he competed in all the other competitions.” 

As for his qualities: “He was a born leader, obviously. He sort of guided the team, took games by the scruff of the neck and would rattle one into the top corner and hit a few frees and drag a team over the line. He was that type of individual. A real leader and role model for the lads around him.

“They responded to his promptings in games.” 

O’Neill is one of these stellar talents that cannot be hemmed into a positional straight-jacket. It appears that manager Kieran McGeeney allows him the license to roam between midfield and the forward line.

It’s a role that he adopted in St Colman’s.

“Anywhere he was needed,” says Murray.

“It’s the same with Armagh. If you need a goal late on you would throw him on the edge of the square. He is a natural 11, but he gives you such an outlet at 14, ball winning around midfield off kickouts… 

“He can supply the man inside with great ball, and if you wanted to not concede a late goal you could put him further back. And he’s equally as proficient in all those positions, with the skillset he has.” 

It’s a theory that has grown as he matures as an intercounty player and his uncle Oisín certainly agrees.

“I think the fact of he is mixed up through all the lines, from midfield to 11 to 14 is primarily where he plays in between those areas. A lot of people would have said it to me, that they identify him with Michael Murphy. I think he has the attributes, physically and athletically to kick on another bit. It is a scary thought.” 

In Clones a fortnight ago, O’Neill made the pitch look enormous with the spaces he got into.

He will be a treat to watch in Croke Park on Sunday.