Green and gold dye is cast

The way it is.....Anthony Moyles

We had a fantastic weekend of Gaelic football action. No less than seven games were played with the favourites for each coming out on the right side of the results.
The only game where the bookies may have lost a few euro was the Meath/Wicklow tie which had a handicap of plus 11. Meath eventually won by four, but not without giving the large crowd in Navan some major heart palpitations along the way.
I will reserve my judgment on the current Meath team until after the Westmeath game because of two reasons.
One, it was Meath’s first day out and I do not care what kind of inter-county team you are, but an 11-point handicap is an insult and should exact a response.
The other reason is because Meath were missing so many front line players.
They essentially were robbed of a full-back, two half-backs, a midfielder and two forwards.
The other point to this is that not only are these first team players, but amongst them are some of Meath’s biggest leaders.
Bryan Menton has been Meath’s most consistent and outstanding performer in the league this year and his size, pace and scoring power would be a massive loss to any team.
Conor Gillespie is also a player I really like. Apart from his physical attributes, he is an intelligent player who knows what’s required in situations.
Midfield is not only about catching ball from kick-outs and as a matter of fact this has become even less important over the last number of years.
What it is about, is being everywhere on the field and providing that get out option for your defence and attack.
This is something that young Rooney and Flanagan will learn, but what Gillespie understands and executes very well already.
His loss as a leader is also felt.
But enough of that because, as I say, this is something we will come back to again.
Last weekend was another chance for a lot of people’s favourites for the All-Ireland, Donegal, to show their wares.
They annihilated an inept Armagh side within 20 minutes and strangled the life out of them well before the half-time whistle.
It essentially was a cat with a mouse. They pushed them left and right, pulled them in, pushed them out, hit them the odd slap and basically ensured that they knew who was boss. Armagh were helpless to resist.
This can be a very disheartening moment for an opposition player. You have trained very hard all year and feel that you are in top physical shape. You have trusted the management and the game plan and are confident that it will work.
You start the game and within 10 minutes are a goal and three points down. Now this might be okay if you were playing a team who will continue to attack wildly and leave gaps, but against a well-oiled machine that works ferociously and does not give up scores easy - you have no chance.
Game over, lights out. Armagh certainly did not help themselves, but we are now talking about one of the country’s top teams.
Donegal have it all. They are now the quintessential inter-county GAA team. They have all the required attributes an inter-county team or indeed any team should have in this day and age - pace, fantastic conditioning, power, fitness, skill, patience, trust, understanding, massive work rate, discipline and not only one game plan but a number of them.
They also have the personnel to carry out these strategies as well as they possibly can be. They have an excellent mix of what is required in a top four team.
Tough, uncompromising full-backs (McGee brothers), sticky, man-marking defenders (Paddy McGrath), unbelievably fit and skilful half backs who never stop working (take your pick between Lacy, McGlynn and Thompson) the same in the half-forward line and then tough, classy, skilful, confident full-forwards (McBrearty, McFadden, MacNiallais).
Let’s not forget that they also have one of the best players in the country at the moment in Michael Murphy. He is not only their leader with regards to his football ability, but is also their spiritual leader.
Many teams have tried to quash him and in doing so rip the heart out of Donegal, but they have failed. He is always present, always willing and it seems the greater the challenge the more he responds.
If any young person is looking to become a leader for their team and to become as good as they possibly can be, look to this guy in what he does and how he does it. He is belligerent, unwavering and is massively important to his team.
They also have something that a lot of managers miss. They have balance amongst the team, age-wise. I hear a lot of managers, especially those recently in inter-county jobs, saying that they are building for the future and that they have a very young team.
Well that may well be true, but that is not because there are no experienced players in that county. Look at Donegal. McGuinness before and Gallagher now, have found places for the likes of Christy Toye and Neil Gallagher to flourish and bring what they have to the team.
Now they have plenty of things, but one of their greatest attributes is their experience. They have been there in the bad times with Donegal.
They can be used as a reference point for younger lads who may be getting ahead of themselves, but above all they bring the knowhow and calmness to situations that only experience can give you.
The ability to know what to do in vital situations. The ability to see a situation happening and know that you have seen this before and how to react. A lot of managers discount this, but not Gallagher and not Donegal.
Clearing out the older members of a squad just because they were part of an old failed regime is not always the answer. Getting these players re-focused and utilised in a different way just may be though.
So can they be beaten? Yes of course they can.
I firmly believe every team can be beaten on any given day.
Are they getting even harder to beat? Yes they are.
They are now a well-oiled machine that know what is required for each different challenge ahead of them.
How they set up and played in those first 15 minutes against Armagh was different to the Tyrone game. How they do it versus Derry will be different again.
This is the level Donegal and possibly Dublin, Kerry and Mayo are currently at.
They take work rate, passion, discipline, fitness, power and all of those attributes I outlined above as a given amongst the squad and now concentrate on team performance and game strategy.
Who are we playing?
What strengths do they have, what weaknesses?
How do we set up to exploit and counteract these?
How do we adapt?
And like a well-oiled machine they do adapt and they overcome.
Time will tell if they overcome everyone, but the template has been set for the rest of Ireland. Fail to reach the levels they are at and you are going nowhere.
A realisation of this fact at the very least may just be a good starting point for most teams.