Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
OVER-THINKING IS KILLING US
Catt wants Irish to free their minds for must-win clash
IRELAND’S blunt-edged attackers have to be told to free their minds and find their voices to unlock their try-scoring potential.
Andy Farrell’s lieutenant Mike Catt is charged with coming up with the attacking playbook to help restore Ireland’s winning mentality but so far those efforts have lacked the spark required at Test level.
Only two tries scored in the opening two Six Nations defeats to Wales and France have left Ireland desperately in need of clicking against Italy – Catt’s last employers – in Rome on Saturday.
“We’ve got some deep thinkers in the team and some of them just need to free themselves up a little bit and go and play the game,” stated Catt, who shrugged off criticism of his own input to date. “Rvery player is different so it’s really getting to know the players and understanding what makes them tick and how they can drag each other through games.
“You know, if it’s not a big attacking game, can we be the best defensive team? Things like that.
“So it’s small but it’s the players doing it with intent and us driving that intent, I suppose.”
Catt insists there is still structure to Ireland’s game, despite criticism that a desire to change from the prescribed tactics of Joe Schmidt had robbed the men in green of the vital platform to build victories on.
What he wants to see an improvement in is how the players communicate with each other.
Worrying, there is a similarity in his comments to the observation made by Stuart Lancaster when he joined Leinster several years ago.
“Communication is everything,” stressed Catt. “In the past, everyone has been very reliant on your nines and 10s controlling a game.
“So that’s another huge work-on for us. In terms of the quietness of some of the players, it’s something that we can be so much better at.
“It’s not just your nine and 10 controlling it, it’s your centres seeing the space, it’s your wingers then using that ability to get the ball to them and to see the space and your 15 is involved all the time.
“So that’s a huge one in terms of personalities. We can get more out of the players I believe and that’s a huge work-on in progress.
“We haven’t changed absolutely everything in terms of the game. The game is still a simple game.
“People have to make the right decisions at the right time. That’s always going to be in the game.
“It’s just how quickly we can get the guys ..... or they adapt on a consistent basis where they can do it every single week, at the highest level against the best defences, which is also different to your provincial games. It’s a different speed.”
And he added: “I think a lot of it comes down to the belief of the player, that he makes the right decision on the back of the picture he sees. The kick, the run, the pass options, the basics in rugby really.
“That’s the key thing, it’s making sure the players first see the picture and then make the right decision.”
We’ve got some deep thinkers... and some of them just need to free themselves up a little & go and play the game
MONAGHAN chairman Declan Flanagan believes Ulster counties will inevitably ‘suffer’ financially when Casement Park is rebuilt.
Funding for the £110m project still hasn’t been nailed down and Flanagan fears the cost of materials and c onstruction could ‘escalate beyond belief ’.
He’s also concerned that the Andersonstown Road venue could end up hosting major games and finals in the province, partly to help with the stadium’s running costs.
Flanagan reckons Monaghan, who traditionally host Ulster SFC finals in Clones, and Armagh, who hosted the 2020 decider as well as six of the last nine Ulster club SFC finals, could be the big losers.
Speaking on the Northern Sound radio station, Flanagan (inset) acknowledged that ‘Antrim GAA needs a facility in place’ but also predicted: “The rest of the counties around Ulster will suffer. They might not know that yet.”
He explained: “The cost of the management and running of such a facility would be a big concern. Who picks up the costs of those? Indeed, indirectly, the counties of Ulster I’d say will finish up picking up the cost.
“Somebody would say, ‘Well, how are they going to get money off Monaghan for those costs?’ It’s the loss of grant aid, the loss of fixtures.
“The Ulster final has been there in St Tiernach’s Park for 50 years or more, it would be seen as a big loss to St Tiernach’s Park.
“I think there’s other people need to sit up and look around them and see where the losses are going to fall in and where they’re going to have an effect on them.”
Looking to Armagh’s Athletic Grounds, Flanagan suggested they have hosted the majority of Ulster club junior, intermediate and senior finals in the last decade.
He said: “If Casement Park opens up, Armagh will have none of those. So it does have an effect and that’s where the running costs are so important. I haven’t seen the business plan yet but it’s so important hat everything is played at Casement Park so that there’s gate receipts.”
Flanagan also outlined Monaghan’s own plans to begin construction this year on a new high performance facility at their training centre.
He said: “Monaghan GAA Management Committee are currently at an advanced stage of preparing to build a high performance facility in Cloghan. It’s to advance Monaghan GAA and futureproof it maybe for the next 10-15 years.”
As for this year’s club and county schedule, Flanagan said his preference is for the GAA to flip their plans and go with the club campaign first, as in 2020.
He said: “My personal opinion is that it’s not too late for Croke Park to relocate the Championship back to the end of 2021, the same as last year and allow the clubs to go first when restrictions ease maybe in the late spring or early summer.”