Tyrone County Football and Hurling

[TabClear]

Looks like Conor McKenna is doing well in the Aussie Rules. His current contract expires after this year though I'd expect him to be offered a new one.


Former Essendon captain Jobe Watson has said that former Tyrone minors star Conor McKenna has got some 'real talent' in Aussie Rules and that the 21-year-old reads the game very well for a player that is only in his second season in the AFL.
McKenna, who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2014 AFL Rookie Draft after playing a starring role in Tyrone's run to the 2012 All-Ireland Minor Football Championship quarter-final, enjoyed his best game in the AFL last weekend as Essendon prevailed over Port Adelaide with a 70-point win at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.
McKenna notched a career high 22 disposals in the landslide win and also racked up six inside-50's ( passing the ball inside the 50m arc, a statistic frequently used to evaluate the effectiveness of midfield players) as the Bombers bounced back from their loss the previous weekend to the Greater Western Sydney Giants.

Watson, who was originally awarded the 2012 Brownlow medal before being stripped of the medal for his involvement in the club's supplements saga in 2012, said that McKenna is a 'beautifully balanced' player and that he is improving with every game he plays.
"He's got some real talent and like all Irish guys they kick the ball so well," Watson told Melbourne radio station 3AW on Saturday.

"They're not afraid to back themselves and he's a beautifully balanced player. The more he plays the better he's going to get and we're really fortunate that the recruiting staff found him, and that the coaches are starting to develop him, and credit to him.
"He sees the game so well for a guy that hasn't played a hell of a lot of footy. Not only can he run at such high speed but he actually has composure at that speed.

"That's a rare thing to have, a guy who can really break the lines and be running at full pace, but then still find targets long or short, and he's just going to get better and better the more games he plays."
Watson has been mightily impressed by what he's seen from McKenna on the field, but away from the pitch he admits that he still has great difficulty understanding what the Eglish native is trying to say, with his affinity for mayonnaise particularly puzzling to the two-time All-Australian.

"I still can't understand anything he says," Watson joked.
"He actually lived with me for the first three months when he arrived and all he wanted to eat was mayonnaise.

"I don't know what goes on in the Irish diet but every meal he would just go 'Have you got some mayonnaise? Have you got some mayonnaise? I need some mayonnaise' That's all I know."
McKenna has played eight times so far this season for Essendon with his contract with the Bombers set to expire at the end of the 2017 season.

He was superb in that game.  Really distinctive kicking style that is a mix of gaa and afl but effective. Serious athlete

[sam03/05]

Not many on mouthing about Tyrone management tonight I see!

[Fuzzman]

1.21 today against Donegal was very impressive.

Just shows you don't need a top quality forward like McManus to put up a big score.
12 different scores and we had about 5 really good goal chances.

[Duckquay]

Not from Tyrone but from skimming this thread over the past few months it's clear that there's a good few posters that haven't one clue about football. Talk about utter dung being talked. Harte masterminds a rout of Donegal and Peter harte, mccann and mcrory all excel

[Il Bomber Destro]

Not many on mouthing about Tyrone management tonight I see!

Their Ford Anglias probably broke down enroute to the game.

[The Trap]

Tyrone let of the leash and players allowed to show their talent today....excellent to watch.....imagine watching them play a similar style in Croker against the dubs......would be a fantastic spectacle......only problem with today was that Donegal couldn't live with them and it was too easy and over as a contest a long way out......

[square_ball]

Tyrone let of the leash and players allowed to show their talent today....excellent to watch.....imagine watching them play a similar style in Croker against the dubs......would be a fantastic spectacle......only problem with today was that Donegal couldn't live with them and it was too easy and over as a contest a long way out......

Let of the leash? Really? They played the same way they always play except a lot of key men performed really well and our shooting was excellent.

Encouraging stuff all round today. Sludden really is a class act while C-Cav, McCann and Donnelly performed very well.

[The Golden Years]

Not from Tyrone but from skimming this thread over the past few months it's clear that there's a good few posters that haven't one clue about football. Talk about utter dung being talked. Harte masterminds a rout of Donegal and Peter harte, mccann and mcrory all excel

Fair play to Tyrone today. Some really impressive performances but how can you say Mccrory excelled? He is a serious weak link in the Tyrone chain and as the old saying goes your only as strong as your weakest link. I say he has touched the ball 10 times in 140 + minutes of football. Tyrone have some serious talent on the bench that Mccrory is keeping out of the time And I just don't understand how he starts week in week out.

[The Trap]

How was that the same as tyrone have played in the last couple of years? Long kick outs were a massive and very welcome addition. Making 5 or goal chances for a team that usually don't make any...    could have scored 4 25 today......pushing up on Donegal kick outs was another new dimension......they all worked.........and will work because tyrone have very good players.

[Duckquay]

You're displaying symptoms of football snobbery. You dont need to be able to kick a 40yard pass off the outside of your weaker foot to deserve a place on a team. He's not there to get on the ball. His role is to nullify the opposition go to men. His teammates sure value him and that's what counts.
By the way, he didn't excel, that was tongue in cheek. Just makes mes me laugh the calls for him to be benched that ive read this year

[longballin]

Not many on mouthing about Tyrone management tonight I see!

Their Ford Anglias probably broke down enroute to the game.

Thats because they got back to playing football which is what we wanted!! Management listened! Shows what they should have been doing all along. Excellent today.

[sam03/05]

fickle as fk, will be on slagging the whole thing again the first sign of a bad pass.

Not many on mouthing about Tyrone management tonight I see!

Their Ford Anglias probably broke down enroute to the game.

Thats because they got back to playing football which is what we wanted!! Management listened! Shows what they should have been doing all along. Excellent today.

[The Golden Years]

You're displaying symptoms of football snobbery. You dont need to be able to kick a 40yard pass off the outside of your weaker foot to deserve a place on a team. He's not there to get on the ball. His role is to nullify the opposition go to men. His teammates sure value him and that's what counts.
By the way, he didn't excel, that was tongue in cheek. Just makes mes me laugh the calls for him to be benched that ive read this year

Football snobbery? Being able to kick the ball with your stronger foot would help.

[Fuzzman]

Did you get excited Trap?
It's been a long time since we beat a decent team that convincingly.
Of course some will question how poor Donegal were today but Tyrone put on a show today and kicked some great scores. No doubt the critical analysts will again point to our inability to take goals and that could prove costly in tougher games.

Colm Cavanagh certainly surpassed his brother today I thought and must be one of the top midfielders in the country.

[sam03/05]

Tyrone played the same system they always play today - getting 13/14 men behind the ball
And break at pace - that is no different to what they have done over the last two years. There was no change of style. The only difference today was that they scored65% of their shots
They didn't kick the usual 13-15 wides that we usually get!
They have always created a lot of scoring chances despite being labelled as being all out defensive
For example against Dublin in the league this year they created almost double the amount of scoring chances that Dublin did, against Mayo it was a very high total - but in both games they kicked a massive amount of wides/ shorts.
The difference today was no change in tactics or style - they just managed to convert a lot more chances