Player Opt outs for 2020 season

[southtyronegael]

Tiarnan Mc cann.

[regal]

Tiarnan Mc cann.

Quality player. But he is one of approx 10 half backs who line out in every match for Tyrone.

[rodney trotter]

Niall Murphy - Sligo. Another to opt out. He played on the International Rules team in 2017.

[Blowitupref]

Niall Murphy - Sligo. Another to opt out. He played on the International Rules team in 2017.

I see the re-introduction of the Tommy Murphy cup has played its part in him opting out.


"The tier 2 competition going into existence this year probably was another small little factor behind my decision to walk away. The GPA did surveys of the county teams and the result was a lot of the players were against that new motion.

"There's small things like that that probably play on players' minds. As players, we did vote against it as well and made the county board aware of it, but it came into play and the GAA went ahead with it

[Rossfan]

At this rate an Opt Out All Ireland will be a better competition than the Official one

[Look-Up!]

Totally agree re: training to games ratio. Mad stuff altogether.

The question is: How fit can lads get??  Surely if they are doing all this/too much training then they are overfit?

Junior soccer and rugby etc. has it right I think: training 2 nights a week with a game at week-end.  All these nights in the gym and S&C, even at underage and club level.  What's it all for?

The uncomfortable truth is Gaelic football is not all that silky meaning fitness, s&c is where you gain the advantage . Some top rated footballers haven't even the skill set to solo properly nowadays , I cringe when I see the big solo goin up in the air , it's embarrassing.

Genuine question who can't solo? I know MDMA is probably the obvious one in terms of the finesse of his skills but anyone else I see playing at county level is highly skilled.

I'd agree players nowadays are very skilled, more tuned in tactically and generally more composed in possession but I get the point he is making.
The rules now (or lack of enforcement more apt) have made for a different type of player to excel in the game where size and S&C are more important to natural flair. Back in the day you had 4 steps to beat/trick your man and it took craft and explosive speed. Defending players had to play the ball too and this was a skill in itself. It made for some legendary one on one duels in the game.
Nowadays players with the ball can over carry and charge/bull their way through. Defenders can grapple/hold up lads in possession and double up so it takes power more than anything to break the tackle.
For an IC setup now the first thing you look at in a forward player is his ability to break the tackle. But "breaking the tackle" shouldn't even exist in the game. As the term implies, which is in fact the reality, the player in possession is being held up i.e fouled as per the current tackling rules of the game.

[tippabu]

With the GAA's National Football League set to commence later this month, a number of counties are contending with the reality of losing a selection of their Gaelic footballers for the year ahead.

An All-Star winner in 2019, it was most recently reported that Tyrone's Cathal McShane will depart the inter-county scene to pursue his chances in the Australian Football League with the Brisbane Lions.

The latest in a long line of GAA stars to embrace the opportunity of playing professional sport in Australia, the allure of the AFL cannot be exclusively held responsible for the departure of a large number of players across the winter months of 2019, however.

From The Dundalk Democrat in Louth to The Clare Echo, regional outlets across the country have reported numerous instances of players opting to depart the county's senior panel for the foreseeable future.

The following is a list of those players who have opted, for one reason or another, not to participate at inter-county level for the year ahead.

Ulster:

Of the four provinces in question, the spread of counties hit by the optional departure of players is certainly widest in Ulster.

With McShane seemingly set to follow Connor McAliksey out of Tyrone, Dara McVeety and Conor Moynagh are opting out of the Cavan panel to go travelling; Killian Clarke and Conor Rehill opting out also.

Odhrán McNiallais (Donegal), Ryan Murray (Antrim) and Stephen O'Hanlon (Monaghan) all similarly look set to miss the year ahead.

Antrim - Ryan Murray (Travelling), Matthew Fitzpatrick (Opted out - Irish Premiership)
Armagh - Ben Crealy*
Cavan - Dara McVeety, Conor Moynagh (Travelling) & Killian Clarke, Conor Rehill (Opted out)*
Donegal - Odhrán MacNiallais (Opted out)
Monaghan - Stephen O'Hanlon (Opted out)
Tyrone - Cathal McShane (AFL)*, Connor McAliskey (Opted out)

GAA

Connacht:

The spread so far appears to be a little thinner in Connacht with only last year's two provincial finalists Galway and Roscommon suffering notable losses.

Galway - Peter Cooke, Danny Cummins (Travelling)
Leitrim - Michael McWeeney (Travelling)*, Jack Heslin, Gary Plunkett, Noel Plunkett, Cathal McCrann (Opted out)
Roscommon - Diarmuid Murtagh (Opted out)*

Munster:

Benji Whelan will have to deal with a serious drop-off in numbers as Waterford contend with the loss of a number of players in Munster. However, the entirety of the county's managers will be faring with different degrees of playing personnel dropping out.

Clare - Jamie Malone, Sean O'Donoghue (Travelling), Gary Brennan (Opted out).
Cork - Mark White (Travelling)
Kerry - Mark Griffin (Travelling)
Limerick - Darragh Treacy, Sean McSweeney (Travelling)
Tipperary - Michael Quinlivan (Travelling)
Waterford - Tadhg ó hUllacháin, Shane Aherne, Tommy Prendergast, Shane Ryan, Jack Mullaney & JJ Hutchinson (Opted out)

Michael Quinlivan

Leinster:

While Kildare welcomes Daniel Flynn back into the fold, they will be without Ben McCormack and Mark Dempsey in 2020.

Laois must contend with losing Donie and Paul Kingston who've opted out for personal reasons, while Stephen Attride has decided to spend the year travelling.

Kildare - Ben McCormack, Mark Dempsey (Opted out)
Laois - Donie & Paul Kingston (Opted out), Stephen Attride (Travelling)
Louth - Andy McDonnell, Jim McEneaney, Anthony Williams & Derek Maguire (Opted out)
Offaly - Peter Cunningham (Opted out - an obligatory tour of duty)
Wexford - Kevin O'Grady, Tiernan Rossiter (Opted out)

A list of almost 40 Gaelic footballers, it is likely that an even greater number have stepped away from the inter-county game over the winter months.

Excluding those young footballers who are pursuing the professional dream in the AFL, such a number comes as perhaps less of a surprise on the back of the recently published second half of an ESRI report sanctioned by the GAA and GPA.

A demonstration of the challenges facing inter-county players, the report highlighted that the primary concern of those performing at the elite level of the GAA fell between the season's excessive length and the time commitments demanded of them.

To what degree this draining of talent will continue as the demands of the inter-county game intensify remains unclear. For the time being, the allure of a life lived on more normal terms has proved to be of greater appeal for some.

Although the very best has been done to accurately determine that the players noted above have departed the inter-county GAA scene for the reasons stated, in certain instances, the presence of an asterisk indicates that it was not possible to entirely establish why they opted out.

Liam Casey and Liam McGrath both travelling aswell from tipp. That's 2 of our regular full forward line in quinlivan and McGrath gone. Casey would have been a starter more often than not.

Shame as it's a great opportunity for Clare and tipp losing big players in a very very rare year both avoid Kerry in Munster

[Mano]

Niall Murphy - Sligo. Another to opt out. He played on the International Rules team in 2017.

Adrian McIntyre gone from Sligo panel also. Sligo 2 best players of recent years not returning for 2020. No early return to division 3

[mrdeeds]

Tiarnan Mc cann.

Starts today???

[southtyronegael]

Tiarnan Mc cann.

Starts today???

wing half forward.

[Itchy]

Tiarnan Mc cann.

Starts today???

Mickey put out this fake news, he will to anything to win this mckenna cup. The game against Armagh will be like an ulster final.

[From the Bunker]

Mickey was caught up in winning McKenna Cups in the noughties (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) when his players should have been resting and concentrating on Ulster and All Irelands.  Madness!

[tonto1888]

Mickey was caught up in winning McKenna Cups in the noughties (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) when his players should have been resting and concentrating on Ulster and All Irelands.  Madness!

They won 3 all Ireland's in the noughties

[From the Bunker]

Mickey was caught up in winning McKenna Cups in the noughties (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) when his players should have been resting and concentrating on Ulster and All Irelands.  Madness!

They won 3 all Ireland's in the noughties

A Kerry team they beat every time they met, won 4 AI's in the noughties!

Tyrone at their height between 2003 to 2008 won two Ulsters (2003, 2007)!

[Ball Hopper]

Mickey was caught up in winning McKenna Cups in the noughties (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) when his players should have been resting and concentrating on Ulster and All Irelands.  Madness!

They won 3 all Ireland's in the noughties

A Kerry team they beat every time they met, won 4 AI's in the noughties!

Tyrone at their height between 2003 to 2008 won two Ulsters (2003, 2007)!

You sure about that?