DEFENCE IS NOT A DIRTY WORD
Fermanagh boss Gallagher believes rearguard excellence should be as revered in GAA as it is by fans of other sports
RORY GALLAGHER is talking about Tom Brady and LeBron James, two of the kings of American sport. In the NFL, the debate that trails in the slipstream of the New England Patriots quarterback is whether he is the greatest of all-time, his performance, even in defeat in this year’s Super Bowl, adding to the previous list of superlatives. Another player who came up short in the finals is NBA superstar James.
But Gallagher makes a pointed distinction between the codes of American football and basketball in terms of how they value their heroes.
His point is made for a reason, this afternoon’s Ulster football final between Fermanagh and Donegal is not so much about star wars as style wars, with the debate over defensive systems and how to set up a Gaelic football team one of the summer’s major plots.
‘Look at other sports,’ says Gallagher. ‘We are not American football, where you put on a new team to defend. Next to soccer it is probably the most commercial sport. I was at a game last year. It was phenomenal. The crowd there get so excited about defence, where we think it is a wrong word.
‘I was at the Patriots and Miami. Tom Brady is the most famous player in NFL and he doesn’t defend whereas LeBron James… a triple-double, you have to include something to do with defence in it. And we think it is a dirty word. I think that’s wrong.’
A triple-double involves a player hitting double figures in three different categories, for example in terms of points scored, assists, and rebounds. It’s not possible without that defensive element.
The basketball analogy is relevant. Fermanagh’s carefully choreographed defensive system might as well be styled on a hard-floor court. When Donegal have the ball, watch as the Fermanagh players retreat to fan out around the scoring zone that extends in an arc out to the 45-metre line.
This is effectively the Gaelic football equivalent of three-point territory, where Fermanagh want Donegal to try the lower percentage shot.
It’s a version of what Donegal employed in their evolution to All-Ireland success in 2012, when Gallagher was Jim McGuinness’ right-hand man. Yet he is happy to deconstruct the notion of a complex defensive masterclass in action.
‘I get blown away and smile regularly to myself with all this talk about the system. Having been with Donegal in 2011 and ’12, it was nowhere near as complicated or as organised as people think. I see it read where there are certain calls and different things – a lot of that is fabricated.
‘I would call it a game plan based on ferocious hard work. To try to control as much of the game with and without the ball. It took a wee while [with Fermanagh]. There were teething problems. Yeah, it did take time. It probably is a bit different to the way they have probably been coached. But a lot of it is based on getting the most out of themselves, their decision-making. Their decision of how hard to work, what to do with the ball at any moment in time.’
If it is reductive in terms of the spectacle, he takes issue with the idea that the players don’t enjoy the journey, not when Fermanagh are on the verge of a historic first Ulster title after landmark victories over Armagh and Monaghan.
‘The first thing for myself and Ricey [coach Ryan McMenamin] and the rest of us, if we don’t make this fun and enjoyable for our players there is no way they will give everything to it or give everything of themselves. With the Donegal thing – touch wood – you have seen very few of those players, if any, complain of the commitment. They enjoyed it – I’m sure they’re still enjoying it. Michael Murphy, whatever age he is now. Paddy McGrath, Frank [McGlynn] they are still enjoying playing. They love playing football. We said coming in here this has got to be enjoyable for the boys and the enjoyment coming from competing – that’s what any sportsperson wants to do, compete.’
He uses All-Ireland champions Dublin as an example in terms of how they took the sting from Tyrone’s game plan in last year’s semi-final. ‘Look at Dublin and how their performance against Tyrone was heralded. It was an absolutely phenomenal level of performance but they played a similar style in so many ways to other teams, without the ball. They stopped Tyrone’s running game – their counter-attacking game. If anybody wants to look at the video and see Paul Mannion sprinting back and turning Conall McCann and Tiernan McCann over – phenomenal the work-rate, but they get so quickly up the pitch.
‘They have some of the most exciting players with the ball that the game has ever seen. Brian Fenton, look, time will tell but he is going to be talked about like Darragh Ó Sé or Anthony Tohill, Jack O’Shea or John McDermott, as an all-rounder midfielder. They have a phenomenal group of players but it is based on hard work and really good skill execution.
‘That’s what we work hard on, our skill execution. Yes there is probably less risky balls given away, there is less kicking of the ball – particularly long kicking – because teams have extra men back. One of the reasons why so-called defensive football came in was because of the great attacking half-backs – I mean what is a wing forward supposed to do, let Tomas Ó Sé run up the field and not run after him?
‘Hand on heart, I can say that all the times Donegal played it and all the times Fermanagh played it, it was 50 per cent with the ball and 50 per cent without the ball. And all the time you are trying to get better at both. Going back to Donegal in 2011. We would have recognised that our scoring return wasn’t good enough and it was a limited style of attacking play. But you had to start somewhere. It is very hard to come in and just be everything early on. Just look at how Dublin have evolved under the one management, they have evolved into a phenomenal team. I see Mayo the same – the same group of players have evolved. You had Donie Buckley there – it takes a wee bit of time to evolve.’
When Fermanagh came calling after he stood down as Donegal manager, he quickly learned that the players were ‘not interested in a three-year plan’ but a ‘six-month plan’.
And so here he is, after guiding Fermanagh to promotion from Division 3 and a first Ulster final appearance in a decade. Trying to park the emotion of it all and what a first provincial title would mean.
‘I don’t honestly let my mind go there. I just look at it differently. I expect we should be good enough to win. I can understand what it would mean from the point of view of the first time ever. I recall coming up, my brother Ronan was playing in 2008, I hadn’t been home for a while as I was living in Dublin. Seeing the level of bunting was incredible. The general interest in it was huge. I can see what it would mean to people.’