BOWING OUT IN FINE STYLE
2017 is the end of the road for ten GAA greats
ANEW Year beckons but for some, the nutrition sheet will remain in the drawer and the football boots in the bag as this time there will be no going back.
We pay homage to 10 of the best who saw their last summer come and go in 2017 as we pick our team of retirees.
1 SEÁN CAVANAGH TYRONE
Age: 34 Club: Moy Honours won: All-Ireland SFC (2003, ’05, ’08), 6 Ulster SFC, five-time All-Star (2003, ’04, ’05, ’08, ’13), Player of the Year (2008) Nothing summed up the impact he made on the modern game quite like his departure, as the Dublin players formed an orderly queue to pay their respects at the end of August’s All-Ireland semi-final (Cavanagh, below, with Paddy Andrews).
Unusually his departure had been well sign-posted — he had indicated at the outset that this would be the final season in a 16-year inter-county career.
A three-time All-Ireland winner, he was the complete player who reeked of authority and technical ability.
His party-trick was a simple shimmy that was capable of making a fool out of the brightest and the best, but it was only a small element of an expansive skill-set.
His game-intelligence marked him out, never more so than in 2008 when, having won three All-Stars as a midfielder, he reinvented himself as a roving full-forward to lethal effect in that year’s All-Ireland final, when he kicked five points.
Capping off a careerdefining season when he was named Footballer of the Year, he went on to captain Ireland on a winning International Rules tour of Australia.
2 KARL LACEY DONEGAL
Age: 33 Club: Four Masters
Honours won: All-Ireland SFC (2012), 3 Ulster SFC, Allianz FL (2007), Four-time All-Star (2006, ’09, ’11 & ’12), Player of the Year (2012) He defied his lack of physical stature to establish himself as one of the best man-marking corner-backs of the modern game, which was testament to his game-intelligence, timing and speed. But his ballplaying skill-set was best utilised by Jim McGuinness, who reinvented him as a centreback to such a devastating effect that he was named Footballer of the Year in Donegal’s AllIreland-winning season in 2012. It was all downhill from there though, with the Four Masters man dogged by a series of injuries. He will remain involved next season as part of Declan Bonner’s management team.
3 ALAN DILLON MAYO
Age: 33 Club: Ballintubber Honours won: 8 Connacht SFC; two-time All-Star (2006, ’12) His lack of game-time this season meant that his decision to walk away had been anticipated, but will still be felt.
A powerful presence in the dressing room, he was a half-forward in the classical sense on the pitch, who could sting for scores but also load the bullets for others.
He was a match-winner in big games more than once — Tyrone (2004), and Dublin (2006 & 12) stand-out in particular, while his last memorable act was to kick a clutch score in last year’s drawn All-Ireland final.
4 MICHAEL MEEHAN GALWAY
Age: 33 Club: Caltra Honours won: 3 Connacht SFC. HIS comeback this year after a four-year absence ended in failure, managing just a few minutes at the end of Galway’s rout of Donegal, but that shouldn’t dull our appreciation of just how special he was at the peak of his powers.
His imposing frame ensured he could win his own ball and that power extended to his shooting — his last meaningful act in a Galway shirt was to fire a free past a line of Cork defenders to the net in 2013. The high point was his magnificent 10-point haul against Kerry while being marked by Marc Ó Sé, in the 2008 quarter-final.
5 BRYAN SHEEHAN
KERRY Age: 32 Club: St Mary’s Honours won: Honours won: AllIreland SFC (2004, ’06, ’07, ’09, 14), 9 Munster SFC, Allianz FL (2006, ’09, ’17), All-Star (2011) He will be remembered as
10 FINIAN HANLEY GALWAY
Age: 32 Club: Salthill-Knocknacarra Honours won: 3 Connacht titles A KNEE injury in mid-summer brought down the curtains for the talented defender, who had been a leading figure for club, county and country this decade. A powerful full-back, quick on his feet his misfortune was that he played in a fallow period for his county, but it was a measure of his quality that he played in five International Rules series from 2008 to 2014. perhaps the best long-distance kicker of a dead-ball in his era, but there was far more to his game. His struggle was in finding a place — in a Kingdom team full to the brim of match-winning stars — to showcase that ability, starting in just one (2007) out of those five AllIreland final wins he gained with the Kingdom during their impressive run of success. Midfield was Bryan Sheehan’s natural position — winning an All-Star in 2011 — where he possessed the hands and strength to be a ballwinning force, but a lack of natural speed meant that he was used in an impact role at the end of his career and never to more effect than in kicking a crucial free in the 2014 final.
6 JUSTIN McMAHON TYRONE
Age: 31 Club: Omagh St Enda’s Honours won: All-Ireland SFC (2008), 5 Ulster SFC, All-Star (2008). Will always be remembered as one half of one of the great family double acts in an All-Ireland final when, along with older brother Joe, they reduced Kerry’s 2008 much-vaunted twin tower strategy to rubble.
His 6ft 3in frame gifted him a considerable physical presence and the Red Hand manager Mickey Harte was never shy in employing the powerful Omagh clubman as his defensive enforcer.
After putting manners on Kieran Donaghy — he held the Kerry fullforward scoreless in 2008 — he was employed as Michael Murphy’s menacing shadow for much of this decade, but he was dogged by injuries for the last two seasons.
7 NIALL McNAMEE
OFFALY Age: 32 Club: Rhode Honours won: Div 4 NFL (2008, ’15) One of the great tragedies of a skewed GAA world is that he never got to perform on the stage that his talent deserved.
One of the most natural forwards in the game with an instinctive eye for the posts, the closest he got to the big-time was a losing appearance in the 2006 Leinster final.
McNamee (above) has made a lasting impression off the field where he has been lauded for his courage in revealing a gambling addiction, and has become one of the most powerful voices in raising awareness on the issue.
8 CIARAN McKEEVER ARMAGH
Age: 34 Club: St Patrick’s Cullyhanna Honours won: 4 Ulster SFC, Allianz FL (2005). McKeever joined the Armagh panel in 2003 when they were the defending All-Ireland champions and served his county with distinction. In many ways, he was a mirror image of his last manager Kieran McGeeney — a naturalborn leader driven by a desire to win and a far better ball-player than his hard-man tag masked.
Thrived in latter years in a sweeping role but injuries meant that he saw minimal game-time in the last 12 months.
9 CIARÁN McDONALD TIPPERARY
Age: 28 Club: Aherlow Honours won: Division 4 Allianz FL (2014). One of the best inside backs in the game, his career was cruelly cut short by a persistent hip injury, making his last appearance for Tipperary in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Mayo. McDonald (above) was a natural leader and captained Tipperary to their first ever Munster Under-21 title in 2010 and represented Ireland in the 2014 International Rules series. 2017 TEAM OF RETIREES Ken O’Halloran (Cork); Ciarán McDonald (Tipperary), Justin McMahon (Tyrone), Finian Hanley (Galway); Emmet Bolton (Kildare), Karl Lacey (Donegal), Ciaran McKeever (Armagh); Alan O’Connor (Cork), Bryan Sheehan (Kerry); Mark Poland (Down), Alan Dillon (Mayo), Denis Glennon (Westmeath); Niall McNamee (Offaly), Sean Cavanagh (Tyrone), Michael Meehan (Galway) Subs: Joe Hayes (Clare), Shane Roche (Wexford), Denis Bastick (Dublin), Adrian Reid (Louth), Martin Dunne (Tipperary), Brian Darby (Offaly), PJ Banville (Wexford).
He was the complete player who reeked of authority and ability