Midfield - Is it a thing of the past?

[Orangemac]

One of the depressing aspects of the Donegal v Dublin game was the almost total adherence to short kick outs.

Tyrone started the trend of looking for short kick outs as much as possible and it has been copied by teams such as Wexford, Cork and Dublin but Donegal conceding every kick out on Sunday to Dublin and starting defending at the 45 was particularly depressing.

One of the great skills and spectacles of football is high fielding and there have been many great exponents over the last 10/15 years. Men like O'Se,McGrane,Galvin, McDermott, Walsh and Whelan ( in bursts).

Theres nothing like a great catch to get a team going or the crowd on it's feet and it would be sad if all teams started going down this route.The GAA missed an opportunity a few years ago when they decided not to go ahead with the mark which worked well in the league a few years ago. I remember Mickey Harte coming out against it but it may have encouraged more kickouts if the chances of retaining possesion were increased.

[Rossfan]

I remember Mickey Harte coming out against it

Is there any innovation that Micky isnt against? 

[AZOffaly]

To be honest high fielding from kickouts is not going to be a factor if teams withdraw their half forwards from the kick out. Why would you risk kicking it 60 yards to a high catching midfielder, who is only going to have to come down in the bear pit anyway. You might as well kick it out short, maintain possession and try and work it up the field under less pressure.

If the game is more orthodox then you still see high fielding. Anthoiny Maher, Brian Sheehan and the O'Shea's caught great ball in the Kerry Mayo game, but if a team decides to crowd that area then you'd be silly to play into their hands.

[muppet]

To be honest high fielding from kickouts is not going to be a factor if teams withdraw their half forwards from the kick out. Why would you risk kicking it 60 yards to a high catching midfielder, who is only going to have to come down in the bear pit anyway. You might as well kick it out short, maintain possession and try and work it up the field under less pressure.

If the game is more orthodox then you still see high fielding. Anthoiny Maher, Brian Sheehan and the O'Shea's caught great ball in the Kerry Mayo game, but if a team decides to crowd that area then you'd be silly to play into their hands.

The solution might be in rewarding a clean catch at midfield (only for the catcher though).