I am very suprised to see so many putting Forde in your their starting 15 . I havent seen enough in him that would make me start him . He played well against Kildare but was totally out of his dept against Dublin and Laois . I watched him in both the county semi final and final this year and he did not stand out in either of these games . Unless he is has huge ability with his size he would need to be top class to make it at county level . Also I would not start Forde , Gilsenan , and Carroll in the same team they all lack size you might get away with playing 2 of them .

mmc (Meath) - Posts: 307 - 25/03/2013 12:01:04    1355738

Hound there is a nervous situation regarding shane O'Rourke, many hear hope that what we have all heard regarding his injury is premature, but if not it would seem highly unlikely that he will return to ic football,
but let's hope he does but it certainly won't be this year.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 25/03/2013 12:17:03    1355767

I think both curran & dalton are good natural corner backs which could allow keoghan to move to wing back where i know some ratkenny people think is his best position so with that & if everyone was fit and available my team would be
1.p orourke
2 s curran
3.k reilly
4 d dalton
5.d keoghan
6.b.menton
7.d tobin
8c gillispie
9 c sheridan
10.a.n. other
11.d carroll
12 g reilly
13cillian osullivan (why not)
14shane orourke (still the best targetman we have)
15 m newman

bobjaffacake (Meath) - Posts: 1400 - 25/03/2013 12:18:10    1355769

Seen as we need a couple of good midfielders, Who do you think was Meaths best midfielder?

royalfan1316 (Meath) - Posts: 27 - 25/03/2013 12:19:19    1355774

mmc Thought ur comments on Alan Forde were way off he was outstanding against kildare and physically took a pounding off the kildare backs, was also involved in the meaths first goal. As for his club he came back from the meath camp carrying an injury which stopped him training with the club. He also needed pain killing injections before the games and still played a major role in the hoops bringing back the keegan cup, also badly missed in the leinster club championship so get behind the upcoming star or i will have to remind u later on about ur comments u should also go watch some club games and u might see these things for urself.

hoopfan (Meath) - Posts: 30 - 28/03/2013 17:48:44    1358130

Agree re Forde, saw him in the later stages of the club championship and he wasn't near as good as he was for Meath, then I heard he was carrying an injury so it made sense why he wasn't playing as well. And he was a big loss against the Longford champs. He is very young but is certainly a player that should be involved with the county team. Its a pity younger players like him, Carroll, Collins, S Tobin can't get a full league campaign under their belts because of injury. It would really bring them on, especially if they're going to play a part in the championship.

ClassApart (Meath) - Posts: 1200 - 28/03/2013 19:09:58    1358184

hoopfan you should reed my post as I said he had a good game against Kildare but I did say that that was his last good game for club or county . As I am not a hoop fan and not a fan of any of the teams that were in the Meath county semi finals in 2012 but I will tell it as I see it . As a neutral at the semi final and final he did not stand out and since I dont live in Meath I watch club football in the county I live in but because I have a huge interest in Meath football I go to the games that the cream should come to the top in . If you have to remind me of my comments about Forde I would be delighted . I believe he is to small to make it at county level

mmc (Meath) - Posts: 307 - 28/03/2013 21:35:45    1358270

mmc (To small Forde) are u for real he's not playing in midfield ,the days of big men in gaelic football especially in the inter-county scene are over its all about speed and stamina . just look what happened last year with kildare in the end we were crawling all over them. Its the lack of pace in our team thats causing all our problems especially our midfeild and with this black card on the way next year we need to looking ahead imagine the pace of Wallace , Forde, Carroll, running at teams, the opposition would find it impossible to keep 15 lads for 70 minutes.

hoopfan (Meath) - Posts: 30 - 29/03/2013 16:13:53    1358516

To be fair,Forde may be small,but he is lightning fast and has good upper body strength

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 29/03/2013 16:53:51    1358539

I would add Gilsenan to that list,hoopfan...

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 29/03/2013 16:55:30    1358540

Hoopfan
I would'nt say the day of the big man are over.
Big mobile athletic players will always have a place in football, think Liam Hayes, John McDermott, Jack O Shea who covered acres of ground when playing.

hound (Meath) - Posts: 234 - 29/03/2013 17:19:56    1358557

you need a balance of both,but the days are over for big men who are not athletic..

ziggy32001 (Meath) - Posts: 8354 - 29/03/2013 17:46:53    1358571

hoopfan
County: Meath
Posts: 16

1358516
mmc (To small Forde) are u for real he's not playing in midfield ,the days of big men in gaelic football especially in the inter-county scene are over its all about speed and stamina . just look what happened last year with kildare in the end we were crawling all over them. Its the lack of pace in our team thats causing all our problems especially our midfeild and with this black card on the way next year we need to looking ahead imagine the pace of Wallace , Forde, Carroll, running at teams, the opposition would find it impossible to keep 15 lads for 70 minutes.


That's a good point, a lot of people are against the black card but if it is done properly I think Meath will be one of the teams to benefit from it. even last year we seen a lot of cynical fouls on our players in the Dublin and Laois games. with the black card being used teams won't be able to do this a much anymore. Even in the Kildare game last year forde and graham reilly were a nightmare for Kildare defence and they had to resort to pulling them down every time they were going towards goal.

meathalltheway (Meath) - Posts: 789 - 29/03/2013 18:01:22    1358574

Interview with Colm O'Rourke in today's independent . . .

link

MarkMyWords (Meath) - Posts: 526 - 29/03/2013 18:02:21    1358575

My strongest 15 would be
1. Paddy o'rourke
2. Donal Keoghan
3. Kevin Reilly
4. Sean Curran
5. Donnacha Tobin
6. Bryan Menton
7. Ciaran Lenihan
8. Shane O'Rourke
9. Conor Gilispie
10.Alan Forde
11. Damien Carrol
12. Graham Reilly
13. Eamon Wallace
14. Joe Sheridan
15. Michael Newman

NMG1 (Meath) - Posts: 33 - 29/03/2013 18:11:57    1358584

ziggy32001
County: Meath
Posts: 2372

1358571 you need a balance of both,but the days are over for big men who are not athletic..
_________________________________________________________________________________

Were you at the U-21 game against Kildare? The Kildare lads taught they were playing the Meath U-14 team.........

RossiesRock (Meath) - Posts: 369 - 29/03/2013 19:39:15    1358623

so hard with the way players are playing and with injuries to pick a strongest 15, if i had to at this stage

1. Paddy O Rourke

2. Donal Keogan
3. Bryan Menton
4. Sean Curran/davy dalton

5. Micky Burke
6. Kevin Reilly
7. Seamus kenny/Ciaran Lenihen

8. Conor Gilespie
9. Graham Reilly

10. Alan Forde
11. Damien Carroll
12. Peader Byrne/Eamonn Wallace

13. Stephan Bray
14. Joe Sheridan
15. Micky Newman

the players in bold are the ones id be almost certain will be in the starting 15 come championship time. Personally I think meath have missed the pace and direct running of alan forde, similarly definitely have missed the work rate of micky burke, as consistent as anyone on the panel. If seamus kenny gets back to the player we know him to be hes a certainty in the half backs. Kevin reilly at centre half back backs up the midfield well, The other corner back spot is still up for grabs as are both wing half backs

Conor gilespie needs to push on now to keep his place, best of a bad bunch comes to mind, graham reilly's direct running from midfield was a revelation last year and i think thats where he should be played again, very hard to plan or mark him as we saw last year.

Thejoeshow (Meath) - Posts: 687 - 29/03/2013 20:24:57    1358653

Thejoeshow Would agree with that team sounds good to me,think we could again be the surprise packet this year and catch a few teams on the hop. hopefully we put Antrim away and set up a big day against Fermanagh and get the season back on track.

hoopfan (Meath) - Posts: 30 - 29/03/2013 20:56:42    1358668

Joeshow
It is a good team but so hard to pin down who the solid defence will be.
I think in the forward line with Peader Byrne/Wallace as rotational players on and off the bench could be very dangerous for opposition. Wallace running the legs off defence for 45-50 mins and Peader coming on as super sub like last season.

Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 844 - 30/03/2013 11:33:27    1358745

Would you play wallace and forde in the same team ? could be a lethal combination down either wing ? not many intercounty players have the pace to match either men ?

HandsOn (Meath) - Posts: 11 - 04/04/2013 12:27:54    1360744