Replying To cavanman47: "A few people talking about stats, but I don't think that's fair on Sheehan. Remember, he takes on anything within 60 yards of the posts!
Michael Murphy does likewise (although his kicking in the 1st game v Monaghan probably rules him out of this argument).
Cillian O'Connor and Dean Rock look like the 2 best at the minute outside of Sheehan.
A good free taker is so so important and I think it'll be Tyrone's eventual downfall in this year's championship, possibly Donegal's too."
In my humble opinion I can name several free takers who excelled in eras spanning the last 40 years. The Two who stand out strangely are two from Offaly. Matt Connor and Tony McTeague. Both unrivalled at their time. Keaveney made a massive difference to Dublin. Stafford from meath broke many teams hearts over a period of 6/7 years as did Charlie Redmond. Fitzgerald from Kerry was lethal and nearly won an all Ireland on his own. I was in Thurles when he kicked a sideline with the outside of his right foot to draw with the Dubs (and repeated the dose in the All Ireland final for Paudi). - this while Tom Carr thje Dublin manager was screaming at him from close by. In the modern era Sheehan is certainly up there but most free takers nowadays kick from the hand which was not permitted in the olden days ;-( There were others obviously Mikey Sheehy and Larry Tomkins but for me the greatest will always be the two Offaly men.
Replying To Eagles: "In my humble opinion I can name several free takers who excelled in eras spanning the last 40 years. The Two who stand out strangely are two from Offaly. Matt Connor and Tony McTeague. Both unrivalled at their time. Keaveney made a massive difference to Dublin. Stafford from meath broke many teams hearts over a period of 6/7 years as did Charlie Redmond. Fitzgerald from Kerry was lethal and nearly won an all Ireland on his own. I was in Thurles when he kicked a sideline with the outside of his right foot to draw with the Dubs (and repeated the dose in the All Ireland final for Paudi). - this while Tom Carr thje Dublin manager was screaming at him from close by. In the modern era Sheehan is certainly up there but most free takers nowadays kick from the hand which was not permitted in the olden days ;-( There were others obviously Mikey Sheehy and Larry Tomkins but for me the greatest will always be the two Offaly men."
Think it's more than 40 years since Tony was scoring frees.
I've always thought Sheehan was a bit of a mixed bag, capable of absolutely monstrous scores off the ground but his accuracy isn't always as good as it should be. I feel he is a little overrated but still very very good. On frees alone Maurice Fitzgerald was certainly better, along with a few others mentioned above.
Replying To Mullerm: "Kevin O'Halloran emerging as a top free taker"
I put that on this thread weeks ago and it wasn't put up for some reason. Not bad for a lad who over a year ago was playing football to keep fit for the hurling!
Replying To ZeitChrist: "In addition to what I was saying above about Cillian O'Connor being the best free taker in the country, the Irish Times have an article up that outlines just how vital he is to Mayo and how overly reliant they are on him, with 62% of his return coming from placed balls. You're quite right that Kerry and Dublin don't rely on any one individual to a great extent and have a wider spread of scorers, but the statistics show that Mayo need O'Connor or their attack is severely blunted. The Irish Times referred to him as "the most relied upon forward in the game", even moreso than Conor McManus for Monaghan.
Dontfoul had a graph up last year that illustrates just how accurate he is with the placed ball. Between 2012 and 2014, he attempted more shots than any other player and was more accurate than any other player, and had an 86% success rate between the 20m and 40m line. They just published more statistics that show he has taken 76% of all of Mayo's dead ball attempts, can switch between left and right, and takes the majority of their 45s and penalties, all of this often in high-pressure matches. In the last four championships he has had 112 shots and scored 90. That's an 80% success rate.
It's true that Dublin and Kerry may not have one person that they really rely on for frees, but Cillian O'Connor is absolutely crucial to Mayo as a free-taker. They don't have anyone else with his proven accuracy or consistency. In fact, no other team in the country has a free-taker as consistent as him, according to the stats. Mayo really need someone to step up to the plate and share scoring responsibilities with O'Connor if they're going to get to where they want to be."
In all Ireland finals in the last 30 years it's the scores from play that have hampered us. The all Ireland winner usually would have a good free taker and decent amount of scores from play.