Brian Dooher must be pound for pound the best footballer of his generation, he has all the skills, well able to take a tackle and never goes to the ground easy. He never looks for soft frees, and never mouths off to the ref, he was brillant against the Dubs. Dooher still has a terrific engine, and surely can go on for another couple of seasons, discuss.

royce (UK) - Posts: 30 - 04/08/2010 09:41:33    735031

Royce, no offence to you or Dooher but you must be taliking about someone else! He looked done on saturday, the old legs & spark werent there.

And as for never going to ground or looking soft frees check with WEstmeath people about that. His behaviour was terrible against them a couple of seasons ago.

Dooher was a great servant to Tyrone & the GAA, he had a great engine & fitness & stamins levels, was a driving force & inspiration to his team, great determination to overcome injury & adversity, & crucially stood up to be counted by scoring crucial points & leading by example. He did, like us all, have his flaws though. I'm not sure if we will see him at this level again. If we do then fair play to him, if not fair play to him also.

blu (Down) - Posts: 1240 - 04/08/2010 10:15:02    735079

He never looks for soft frees,

You must be wumming cos you cant be serious. iv been saying it here for the last 3 years, just as he's about to be tackled he puts his neck back so it looks like a high tackle from the defenders. then he throws his legs out in front of himself and hits the ground holding his face. he gets the free, his man gets booked or a stern warning and OHMYGOD, he's up.ready to run around again. as Blu said, and im not fond of westmeath, his antics that day were disgusting.
On saturday he looked a spent force too

Rhodejim (Offaly) - Posts: 2888 - 04/08/2010 10:28:34    735103

I agree; Dooher has been a towering figure of his generation. No one can deny his status as one of the best half-forwards of a generation. Brian Dooher and Dara O Se would be my top players of the 2000's.

kerryring (Kerry) - Posts: 14 - 04/08/2010 10:34:07    735116

if you look the dubs hadnt realy got anybody marking him cos there was no need to they knew he wasnt going to do much he is well past it now and should have gave up years ago while he was still good he is no threat to any team now just a soft old man who goes down with his neck back and legs out

delboydub (Dublin) - Posts: 665 - 04/08/2010 10:37:37    735121

Brian Dooher is the image that's in your brain after you have played Tyrone, Canavan got plenty of Scores, Mugsy got pretty scores, but the heartbeat the rythm the mind bending intensity and consistency was provided by Dooher.

Legend is a word thrown around now but in the real sense of the word the indefinable qualities, the heroics and the vitality required to be a legend resided in one Brian Dooher.

ochonlir (Cavan) - Posts: 4343 - 04/08/2010 10:42:16    735128

Dooher is a poor mans Michael Donnellan

BigTom2050 (Tipperary) - Posts: 289 - 04/08/2010 10:42:23    735129

He's great footballer. Simple as that...

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 04/08/2010 10:44:55    735135

Brian Dooher - great servant to Tyrone GAA and demands respect by all.

Read interesting piece in The Irish News yesterday by Paddy Heaney - he basically stated that the days of needing to be a really skilful player in order to succeed are gone. In the modern game the biggest asset a player could have was determination and great fitness, for me that sums up Dooher. I don't mean that as an insult to Tyrone Gaels but they have produced far more skilfull players than Dooher.

artisan (Down) - Posts: 1794 - 04/08/2010 10:53:42    735161

Yeah great footballer, but I did think early in the first half on two occasions he was in acres of space under the Cusak stand, Dooher of old would have ran the legs off someone and scored one of those off the outside of the boot points of his, but this time was happy to just offload and kicked away the ball poorly. Actually dont remember him on the ball much at all in the second half.

LB (Wicklow) - Posts: 37 - 04/08/2010 10:53:47    735162

A great and isperational figure for Tyrone over the years,dont think he played well on saturday though.

bistokid (Dublin) - Posts: 65 - 04/08/2010 10:57:48    735171

What I hope is that people are prematurely reporting the demise of Brian and that the life of Brian has another kick!

ochonlir (Cavan) - Posts: 4343 - 04/08/2010 10:59:56    735175

Dublin deliberately left Dooher free on the wing last week with the object of concentrating on the inside forwards and closing down that space. Of course there was always the chance that Dooher might kick over a few 45 yard points from the sideline but he didn't! Same with the Tyrone kickouts. They gave Dublin chance to close them down further up the field. He was/is a good player but agree with rhodejim that his gamesmanship detracts from his overall legacy.

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 04/08/2010 11:08:43    735192

I pretty much agree with all the above replies.

royce, you could have done more justice for the man.... next time you want to dedicate a thread to a player at least try to be honest and accurate and concentrate on their strengths.

Floops (Dublin) - Posts: 1623 - 04/08/2010 11:20:37    735209

Dooher is the kind of player we all love, when the backs are against the wall he is the type of player that will take the ball from mid-field and thump it over the bar when needed most. He's the type of player to lift a team but he's not the type of player that could kill a team off. He is the catalyst to lift the players who can.
You probably wouldn't class him as one of the greats as far as skill would go. He's not a Canavan, Spillane, Fitzgerald, Joyce etc..

ColinWex (Wexford) - Posts: 901 - 04/08/2010 11:30:24    735226

A true legend. What a player is was and is

LohansRedHelmet (Clare) - Posts: 2697 - 04/08/2010 11:30:50    735228

What is amazing about this thread is the fact that Dellboypolecat has not posted on it as yet and it about Brian Dooher !!

On a personal note Brian Dooher was and is a great servant of Tyrone G.A.A. and will go down as a legend. Who can forget his marvelous point in the 2008 final !!

Cavan_Slasher (Cavan) - Posts: 10253 - 04/08/2010 11:33:03    735239

An outstanding player who drove Tyrone to success in 2005 & 2008. Without him they would not have won these titles.

MARNELL (Westmeath) - Posts: 728 - 04/08/2010 11:44:53    735269

04/08/2010 10:42:23
BigTom2050
County: Tipperary
Posts: 148

735129 Dooher is a poor mans Michael Donnellan


Yeah a poor man alright with 3 all irelands. Donnellan was a great talent but was a header!

Rio Bingo (Tyrone) - Posts: 788 - 04/08/2010 11:47:57    735278

Dooher was an above average footballer with great leadership qualities.
But his race is run now and time to move on.
You are only as good as your last game !!!!!

BIG SACKS (Tyrone) - Posts: 1681 - 04/08/2010 11:53:37    735293