Giants of the game on collision course
Fenton and Glass battling for more than League glory
AT the end of January, Conor Glass popped up on The GAA Social podcast on BBC. He took an hour out from a whirlwind diary to talk through everything that was going on in his life. The All-Ireland club final win with Glen, his subsequent engagement, the reason for him appearing in a yellow Tour de France shirt — anything and everything was up for discussion.
Including the popular conversation piece that feels just as relevant going into Sunday’s Allianz Football League final against Dublin at Croke Park.
The Derry midfielder — since crowned Club Footballer of the Year — was asked about being part of the conversation as to who is the best Gaelic footballer in Ireland right at that moment.
Before he answered that, host Thomas Niblock asked if he felt he was always going to reach this point in his sporting career.
The answer was instructive in its own way. ‘I would say yes. Not in a cocky way. I never dreamt or never put in the yards or the hours to be the best footballer in Ireland, as such. I always just wanted to get the best out of myself. I felt that if I was able to maximise my strengths, maximise my attributes, that would get me there. Thankfully it has. To say that I’m the best footballer in Ireland, that’s not true like.
‘I see myself as a very good teammate. And I’d rate myself as a better teammate than a player. That’s just something that has been ingrained in me from a young age.’
The answer spoke volumes about a player who has been a figurehead for club and county since his return from the AFL. If not him, then who? ‘David Clifford, obviously.’ Bar Clifford? ‘Brian Fenton.’ And there we had it. In this era of shape-shifting tactical structures and teams defending from one to 15 rather than from numbers two to seven, the amount of one-on-one battles has diminished rapidly. Every now and again though, it’s possible to boil down games to the influence of particular players. Now they may only spend different moments actually picking up each other — Brendan Rogers has tended to go headto-head with Fenton in terms of marking duties — but this is one game where Glass and Fenton will be thrown into orbit together for the duration.
Typically, Glass wasn’t afraid to laud a player who has won seven All-Irelands since becoming an ever-present for Dublin and two Footballer of the Year awards to evoke comparisons to Kerry’s modern midfield great Jack O’Shea.
So did Glass see Fenton as a step ahead at the minute?
‘A step ahead at the minute? Well yes, he has won multiple Footballers of the Year…’
But does he feel he himself has the ability to surpass that?
‘Yes. You’ve got to have that confidence. The weird thing about high-end sport, elite sport, there’s three or four teams that you could say on their day, it’s going to be a 50-50 shot. Us and Kerry last year (in the All-Ireland semi-final) was a 50-50, in my opinion. And that’s probably the same when it comes down to players too.
‘There are some players that on their day, or on your day, it’s just whatever way the ball drops.
But you’ve got to have that confidence, have that self-belief in terms of your ability to say, “I’m better than this player”. But not in a selfish or cocky way in going to outperform a midfielder. Because if you go to outperform the opposition and you forget about the team and all the other things that come with it and you’re wanting that spotlight, you’re not going to achieve the ultimate goal which is the Sam Maguire and the team’s success.’
IN so many ways, they mirror each other. And no surprise really when Glass has admitted that Fenton has been a role model in terms of midfield play and all the different strands to it, being five years his junior at 26. They are both very personable, good natural communicators, popular in the dressing room — clutch players who lead by example, particularly in those big moments of games.
Fresh in the memory is Glass driving forward to fire in a gamechanging goal for Glen in the All-Ireland club final at a point late in the game when it looked like St Brigid’s were going to win it. But it was the massive leap off the ground to get a huge punch on a later kick-out that took the breath away, another gamechanger of a play that led to what proved to be the winning point.
Since he ended his AFL sabbatical and came back home after a four-year stint with Hawthorn, he has been the closest thing to an ever-present with club and county. It’s no coincidence that his form has dovetailed with Glen’s breakthrough first senior title, then a hat-trick of county championships, a run that led on to back-to-back Ulster titles and more history in a first All-Ireland, all with Malachy O’Rourke at the helm.
Again, there are so many echoes of Fenton’s arrival into the Dublin starting selection and a winning run that broke all sorts of inter-county records.
When the two counties met in Celtic Park at the start of the month in the group stage of Division 1, Derry manager Mickey Harte decided to keep his powder dry, most likely with this rematch in mind. And so football fans were deprived the sight of the pair going head to head. Instead, and perhaps burned by the memory of how Brendan Rogers came up with some key plays in the corresponding group fixture the previous year when they were both in Division 2, Fenton was inspirational.
He gave an exhibition of all the qualities that have attached the words Rolls Royce to his performance capabilities — that graceful ability to cover the ground at full tilt while never looking like he is going full tilt; superb in the air; two-footed in his kicking and distribution and point-scoring.
Rogers is a commanding and hugely talented player in his own right but he cut a humbled figure by the end. So there are all sorts of other spicy elements feeding into the mix for this one.
Rewind to the first round defeat against Monaghan and Fenton’s crime in turning over the ball during a thrilling endgame. It was so shocking because it was so unusual.
Just like Glass, he cut a towering figure when it mattered most in the final quarter of last year’s All-Ireland final. Burst the myth that his Kerry marker Jack Barry was somehow a kind of midfield kryptonite.
Last year’s Division 2 final between these two counties was skewed by the injury that forced Glass from the field. Things unravelled for his side with Dublin scoring four goals by the finish and almost getting in for another four.
So an afternoon then to answer the question on everyone’s lips: just who is the best midfielder in Ireland right now?