when geraghty had trials with arsenal paul merson said he was the fittest athlete he had ever seen

premierman21 (Tipperary) - Posts: 429 - 09/06/2009 12:52:56    306093

This is not a thread about which game is better itsf about who are fitter and all studies show its soccer players even at league of Ireland level dont forget they play matches every week for about 35 weeks a year and a lot of those they will play 2 matches .The pitch size doesnt come into it as there are 8 more players on a gaa team if in a gaa game 1 team dominates for any lenght of time the oppisite full forward line and full back line are generally idle in soccer you are involved in the game at all times .If you ask any player who has played both games at a high level they will always tell you soccer demands more fitness ,the only aspect where gaa comes first is in strenght

tinrylandman (Carlow) - Posts: 387 - 09/06/2009 13:26:10    306141

not one premier league star could match the fitness of brian dooher at his peak!

eochair (Tyrone) - Posts: 213 - 09/06/2009 14:25:25    306213

Soccer in general is at a slow pace.

Real Kerry Fan (None) - Posts: 2957 - 09/06/2009 15:12:28    306276

real kerry fan, are you having a laugh?
have you never seen the pace cristiano ronaldo, thierry henry, theo walcott or aaron lennon run at?

eochair (Tyrone) - Posts: 213 - 09/06/2009 15:24:25    306294

I would doubt that they are fitter than Premiership players, who dont need to work and can rest and make sure they are always in prime condition and receive the best coaching, medical care, nutritional advice and fitness training available. However on a more general level I would say GAA players are fitter than soccer players. Going from my own experience when I walk off a football field I am absolutely shattered and have little or nothing left in the tank but soccer games tend to be far slower and played on a smaller pitch which means that you tend to have a bit left over at the end.

dolfos (Longford) - Posts: 128 - 09/06/2009 15:32:58    306308

Paul Merson would be one to judge fitness of course.

daytona11 (Kildare) - Posts: 4012 - 09/06/2009 15:35:07    306310

In the late 90's Jamsie O'Connor went over to Old Trafford, to get some physiotherapy on a hamstring , just a few weeks before one of Clare's big championship games. The physio himself could not believe Jamsie was an amateur athlete, he said he had never come across such a fittness specimen even in soccer. Gaa Inter - County players on a whole would be way ahead of Premiership players.

richiescats (USA) - Posts: 420 - 09/06/2009 17:45:38    306519

Real Kerry Fan
County: All
Posts: 1064

306276 Soccer in general is at a slow pace.

You must be jesting,

PJ (None) - Posts: 2288 - 09/06/2009 18:09:44    306560

Think it was actually Tony Adams who said Geraghty was one of the fittest players he had seen. Adams and Merson may have been 2 drinkers but they must have had a high level of fitness in the first place as George Grahams players would have been very fit anyway.

Fredthered (Donegal) - Posts: 1144 - 09/06/2009 18:25:59    306579

marin reilly is!!!!

Dougal (Cavan) - Posts: 543 - 09/06/2009 19:00:58    306615

defo GAA..there is far more running involved in a game and the pitch is a lot bigger..

ACtribe (Galway) - Posts: 401 - 10/06/2009 03:24:51    306953

do you think the old trafford physio would be able to get michael quirke rory woods or the behemoth dara into a premiership pair of shorts.id say the body fat of one of those boys would be the equivalent of a small prem squads total body fat. premiership players are constantly on the move whilst most gaa men are scratching their behinds shouting at refs and moving ever so slowly. as amateurs we are probably at the high end of fit, but as professionals we couldnt possibly compare look at the rules series.

reddoctor (Tyrone) - Posts: 1241 - 10/06/2009 09:07:22    306975

Now I am a big soccer fan.Its the only sport outside of GAA I would have interest in but I spoke a couple of years ago to a former Irish international who also knows his GAA and he reckoned that if a team he picked grom GAA players(he named them) took on the Irish Soccer team over the full lenghth of Croke Park they porobably would beat the soccer players in their own game as they would not have the stamina to keep running over a ptch twice the size.

Real Kerry Fan (None) - Posts: 2957 - 10/06/2009 10:31:53    307038