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Irish Times
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Darragh Ó Sé: Fatigue could separate football's contenders from pretenders - and that's bad news for Kerry and Donegal
I was exhausted just looking at the Ulster football final last Saturday. It was a sunny day, the game was deep into extra-time and it was all happening with the new rules in place. Fellas were dropping like flies everywhere you looked. If you can deliver good football under those conditions, you are going to be right up there when the big business gets done over the coming months. At one stage near the end of extra-time, Peadar Mogan was doing a half-limp-half-hop, like a man who'd been shot in the back of the leg. Mogan found himself at wing-forward and suddenly got a twinge in his hamstring. Worse, he got a pass from Shane O'Donnell. Mogan wouldn't have been thankful to his teammate for that pass. He dished the ball off like it was on fire and gave it the full Hopalong Cassidy back into his own half where he could stay out of trouble. READ MORE There is going to be more and more of that as the championship goes on. I expect fatigue to play a serious part in what happens between now and July. Games have gone to extra-time before, but the old rules allowed some room for resets and breathers to take the sting out of games. That can't happen to the same extent now. The solo-and-go has killed the reset free. Not being able to pass back to the goalie has kept the action moving forward. The 50-metre punishment for slowing down a free or a sideline ball has killed that option too. The bodies don't get a break. You keep going until you have nothing left to give. Donegal's goal in extra-time was a prime example of that. Rory Grugan is one of Armagh's big leaders and best decision-makers. But his body just couldn't give any more. He saw Jason McGee cut in behind and knew he had to go with him, but he couldn't get there. McGee gave it across to Ciarán Moore and Donegal had their goal. We've all been that soldier. Kerry played Tyrone in the All-Ireland 2005 final and towards the end of the game, I got forward to take a shot for a point. I don't even remember if I scored or not. What I do remember is the ball being in the air and the only thought in my head being: 'How the hell am I going to get back out in time for the kickout?' Armagh's Darragh McMullen takes on Peadar Mogan of Donegal during last Saturday's Ulster final in Clones. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho When you're reeling like that, the crisis is as much a mental one as a physical one. Your lungs are gone. Your legs are gone. But the biggest problem you have is making yourself believe that these things don't matter. You ask yourself questions in those moments. Am I able, physically, to get my body out into position here? And if I do get out there, how am I going to manage to win this kickout? Where am I going to find the fortitude for this? Murphy is one of the best decision-makers in the history of the game The one saving grace you have is that there is only one answer. You will do it because you must do it. Ask yourself all the questions you like but you're only wasting valuable time. This thing is non-negotiable. It's what all your training was for. [ Conor McManus: Rule changes make Gaelic football more exciting and managing the clock even more crucial Opens in new window ] [ Jimmy's not winning matches, it's the boys, insists Donegal's McGuinness Opens in new window ] Whenever I was exhausted in a game, I told myself that this is how I thought it would be. Think about any time you're tired in real life – loads of different thoughts go through your head all at once and most of them are some version of a complaint about how tired you are. I basically decided to drown them out with one single message: you knew this would be hard so get on with it and find a way. You could see Michael Murphy doing that against Armagh last Saturday. This is a man who made his debut for Donegal 18 years ago. He missed two full seasons of intercounty football. He had more excuses than anybody to put his hand up and get off the pitch, but Jim McGuinness kept him there until the 77th minute. And why wouldn't he? When everything is hard, you need your best decision-makers on the field. Donegal manager Jim McGuinness with Michael Murphy after he was taken off during extra-time of the Ulster SFC final. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho Jim can see the right decision from the sideline, but in a cauldron like that, there's very little he can say or do. So, to have Murphy in there guiding fellas on where to go and what to do is invaluable. He's no ordinary Joe Soap telling you to go and do something, either. If Michael Murphy says it, you'll fairly hop to it. Murphy is one of the best decision-makers in the history of the game. I rate him alongside Seamus Moynihan as somebody who never seems to take the wrong option and who always knows where to be and what to do. For him to keep going into extra-time was some shift. McGuinness played it well too. He had brought Paddy McBrearty off in normal time and then put him back on for Murphy in extra-time. What does that tell you? It says that in a world where everybody is out on their feet, a good decision-maker is better than the freshest legs. Donegal's Shane O'Donnell on the attack against Armagh in the Ulster SFC final. Photograph: Ben Brady/Inpho This is going to become more and more pertinent as the championship goes on. The last thing you need if you have to take a key player off with fatigue is to replace him with someone who is only 80 per cent as good. But in some cases, teams are not going to have a huge amount of choice in the matter. For what it's worth, I don't think it spells good news for Kerry. I look around at some of the other squads and they seem to be a good bit deeper. It's why I don't think the Dubs are gone. It's why Galway and Armagh are going to be right up there. It might catch Donegal, funny enough – McBrearty was one of three players they brought back on in extra-time. When the games come in a glut from the end of June, that could count against them. The new game demands that players go deeper into the well than ever before. Not everyone will be able to climb their way out.
News.com.au
13-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
AFL 2025: North Melbourne captain Jy Simpkin on extra time following his side's draw with Brisbane
North Melbourne captain Jy Simpkin is in full support of extra time after a draw, calling it beneficial for both players and spectators. Simpkin's Kangaroos drew with reigning premiers Brisbane 71-all after a tense final few minutes on Sunday night. It was the first draw of the 2025 season but the second of Simpkin's 161-game AFL career. He said the added time at the end of a tied game would only extend the entertaining finishes to tight games. 'I couldn't agree more with extra time,' Simpkin said. 'I would love to see it, I think it would be great for the fans, it would be great for the players. 'The situation only happens every so often, so to get out there and play in a bit of extra time, the heat would be on, it would be quite fun.' Ten of North Melbourne's past 47 losses have come by 10 points or less. Simpkin said the Kangaroos were still gaining the experience needed to capitalise on tight games. 'We do plenty of it (training), we just haven't been in these situations too many times, so it's just hard when it gets to the time and the pressure is on,' he said. 'As a team, we had plenty of opportunities to be able to do that in the last quarter. Unfortunately, we couldn't get it done. 'You talk about the last couple of minutes, the training you do. We do plenty of that over the pre-season and during the season. 'We had our chances, but we just didn't make the most of it.' North Melbourne lost two matches before the draw with the Lions by a combined total of 12 points. Simpkin said the Kangaroos were 'taking a lot of good steps forward' in what felt like a 'turning point' in their season. 'It was obviously very frustrating that we couldn't get the win, that's ultimately why we're going out to play,' he said. 'A lot of positive signs, we had plenty of chances to make the most of it, but it's just great to see us be in these positions and giving ourselves a chance. 'I think the last three or four weeks was a bit of a turning point of our season. 'It felt like a bit of a losing draw because I felt like we were really peppering our forward half, we just couldn't convert.'
News.com.au
12-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan would like extra time to settle games that finish in draws after four quarters
Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan likes the idea of extra time being used to determine regular-season matches that end in draws, saying it would add 'drama' to the AFL competition. The Lions were held to 71-71 draw by North Melbourne in Hobart on Sunday. And while the two points were enough to lift Brisbane back to the top of ladder, Fagan would like a winner in every game. 'I'd like extra time,' Fagan said. 'I think it would add a bit more fun to footy, a bit more drama – I think that's a good idea.' Fagan said the two points could prove vital at the end of the season. 'It's important to get wins, (but) even draws help sometimes. If no other team gets a draw this year, percentage won't matter for us come the end of the season,' he said. 'We'll just keep moving along and get ready for (Sunday's clash at the Gabba against Melbourne). 'It's a hard competition to stay up every week. We've been up for most of the season, we had a later start to the season, we had a lot of guys have surgeries, and our form in the last couple of weeks has been pretty good. 'We'll go away (from the draw) and learn the lessons, and we'll be better again next week.' Fagan felt it was 'unfair' for the 2024 premiership-winning Lions to be judged on their superb performance in beating the Sydney Swans by 60 points in last season's grand final. 'That's a very unfair game to judge us on. We couldn't have played any better if we tried that day,' he said. 'The season itself, the way it is now, is all about just trying to scratch out wins, get yourself into the finals and trying to hit form then. 'That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to get a little bit better every week.' Star midfielder Jarrod Berry will miss the match against the Demons after being substituted in the first quarter on Sunday after being concussed in a head clash with North Melbourne's Luke McDonald. 'He's fine. He's as good as. He's just out with concussion and he'll miss our next game,' Fagan said.
