Best Galway Player Since 1990

[ildanach]

as an outsider Joyce, Donnelan, Ja in that order. But probably the one i most admired was De Paor tireless running and nearly always got a point from wing back

[mouview]

1988 final was on again last night on TG4. Jeez, Cooney was some player - he could have been a surgeon or a concert pianist such was the artistry of his hands! And that wasn't even close to his best game.

[belleaqua]

Well said mouview, id say he was the most gifted skillful player i have ever seen. He was magic. had the pleasure of seeing him play years of club hurling here in galway with Sarsfields and some of the things he did were breathtaking, ya wouldnt dream them up never mind pull them off. a true gentleman too.

[kerryforsam16]

Paul conroy

[Syferus]

Donnellan by a mile. You can filter out the loopers by people who say Joyce was better.

Donnellan could do things with a football Joyce could only dream of. Joyce gets too much credit for having such a long career while Donnellan is downgraded for his relatively short career but his heights where better than Joyce's. The rest good but not in the conversation.

[BennyCake]

Donnellan was unbelievable in his prime. His fast mazy runs would have lifted any team/crowd. There was nobody like him back in the day.

[seafoid]

Everyone else has their own poll so why not us! So who in ye're opinion is the most talented, and well rounded Galway player since 1990? (I've only picked 1990 coz that's as far back as my area of expertise goes!Feel free to let me know of anyone I should have included!)

Michael Meehan maybe

I was at the 94 football final and everyone was talking about a minor called Donnellan even though Galway were well beaten. IThere is a video ogmf him soloing in the 98 final and it is very like his uncle Pat soloing in 1967.  I would think of him.as in the same class as Ciarán McDonald. In my opinion the main difference between Galway and Mayo in terms of all Irelands is the Donnellan family.  The will to win. He even says it in the documentary a year til Sunday. You would be looking at the father and the grandfather and wondering would you be as good as they were. And he was.

Ja was slaving away for years and had actually been playing rugby in 97.

[Manning18]

Ja wins imo. The best All Rounder being good in the air, as a runner and scorer. He was a quiet sort but any times the chips were down from 94-98 the other players literally sought him out with the ball and hoped he'd be able to take command. It is close between himself, PJ and Donnellan however.

Michael Meehan was probably playing at a level above the other 3's best in early 2009 when he his injury nightmare started. So frustrating, as he went from precocious teenager to just an inconsistent forward. However he was properly starting to get the full use of his talents during that league campaign before disaster struck

[Maroon Manc]

Its Joyce comfortably, Donnellan's form regressed a lot quicker than Joyce's. If Donnellan had played at his top from for a couple of years longer then it would be a debate. For 3 or 4 years Donnellan was probably the best wing half forward I've seen.

[rosnarun]

thread resurrected from 10 years ago
Is it so Shane Walsh can included in the poll

the bandwagon is rolling nicely

[An Fhairche Abu]

Walsh has massive raw talent, hasn't delivered to the potential of that talent in the Galway jersey yet. He's not even in the top 5 performing Galway players this year.

No idea why this thread has been resurrected but I see that I voted Joyce ten years ago, in the intervening years my opinion has only been reinforced on that front. Donnellan a transcendent talent but Joyce was the man.

[Rufus T Firefly]

If Savo had managed to find him with a pass we would be celebrating three All-Irelands in 4 years.

An extremely generous interpretation of that moment from a Derek Savage point of view. His refusal to give the obvious pass was criminal.

From the point of view of the debate, my own opinion would be Joyce - an All Time Great. I think it was the semi-final against Kildare in 2000 where, with the game on a knife edge, he looked out the pitch and signalled to his team mates to play the ball into him - I could see only one winner at that moment. Class act.

[GalwayBayBoy]

If Savo had managed to find him with a pass we would be celebrating three All-Irelands in 4 years.

An extremely generous interpretation of that moment from a Derek Savage point of view. His refusal to give the obvious pass was criminal.

From the point of view of the debate, my own opinion would be Joyce - an All Time Great. I think it was the semi-final against Kildare in 2000 where, with the game on a knife edge, he looked out the pitch and signalled to his team mates to play the ball into him - I could see only one winner at that moment. Class act.

Pretty much did the same in the 2001 final. Had a pretty poor first half in the final but spoke to the team in the dressing room at half-time and told them to keep giving him the ball and he'd win the game for them. Easy to go hiding when you're not playing well. Only the great ones demand even more ball when the pressure is at its highest.

[clarshack]

Michael donellan for me.

[Tubberman]

If Savo had managed to find him with a pass we would be celebrating three All-Irelands in 4 years.

An extremely generous interpretation of that moment from a Derek Savage point of view. His refusal to give the obvious pass was criminal.

From the point of view of the debate, my own opinion would be Joyce - an All Time Great. I think it was the semi-final against Kildare in 2000 where, with the game on a knife edge, he looked out the pitch and signalled to his team mates to play the ball into him - I could see only one winner at that moment. Class act.

Pretty much did the same in the 2001 final. Had a pretty poor first half in the final but spoke to the team in the dressing room at half-time and told them to keep giving him the ball and he'd win the game for them. Easy to go hiding when you're not playing well. Only the great ones demand even more ball when the pressure is at its highest.

Because he was thick enough. If you're thick and talented you'll go far