Ciaran McDonald or Ronan Clarke?

[Mike Sheehy]

Everybody goes on about 2002 but he was playing against a player who wasn't, and never wanted to be, a fullback, his team was dominating possession and feeding him good ball and he was 19, if he failed no-one would hold it against him. It was a good performance but I think there are many corner and full-forwards that would have killed to have been given that opportunity and I'm sure many of them would have scored 3 points or maybe more.

I think its a non-contest. McDonald by a country mile. Much rather have him if he was qualified for Kerry. Wouldnt mind having clarke either but he would need to produce more than one big performance to get on ahead of McDonald.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Everybody goes on about 2002 but he was playing against a player who wasn't, and never wanted to be, a fullback, his team was dominating possession and feeding him good ball and he was 19, if he failed no-one would hold it against him. It was a good performance but I think there are many corner and full-forwards that would have killed to have been given that opportunity and I'm sure many of them would have scored 3 points or maybe more.

Maybe so Mike - but Clarke played against the three best full backs in the country that year (based on the All Star nominations) - Chris Lawn, Paddy Christie and Moynihan - each one was given a torrid time.

As stated above though - you're not comparing like for like. 

[tyroneboi]

Your comparing apples and oranges here, two different types of players one a scorer the other a play maker maybe you should compare Mc Donald to Brian Mc Guigan and Clarke to Donaghey (spelling) or Pauric Joyce.

Exactly! They are two different players. McDonald is comparable to McGuigan and I would have McGuigan in my team over McDonald any day of the week (biased i know). And for my money I think Clarke is a better full forward than Donaghy.

[western exile]

Topic: Ciaran McDonald or Ronan Clarke?

You must be joking right? I almost feel that I should report the poser of this question to the administrators of this board?

Clarke has achieved far and beyond (so far at his tender - current age) than McDonald has in his entire career. As a Down man it pains me to say that Clarke is the real deal  - an All Ireland winner, an Allstar and has returned this year from major injury to take his mantle as one of the best forwards in the country.

You are correct about one thing, that Clarke is the real deal and has achieved some great things at full-forward, and is still only aged 25.

But you must be a young fellow if you cannot remember some of the  genius that Ciaran McDonald displayed when he was at his prime, both for Mayo and Crossmolina.  He  has been one of the best footballers of all time.  If he were a Down man, he would be talked about in the context of Seán O'Neill, Paddy Doherty, Greg Blaney, etc.

And Ciarán Mac displayed his genius in every position he played, and not just at FF

[the Deel Rover]

Interesting to read your views ms on mc d all ways wondered what some of the kerry supporters thought of him .

[Joe Umbrella (hey)]

Topic: Ciaran McDonald or Ronan Clarke?

You must be joking right? I almost feel that I should report the poser of this question to the administrators of this board?

Clarke has achieved far and beyond (so far at his tender - current age) than McDonald has in his entire career. As a Down man it pains me to say that Clarke is the real deal  - an All Ireland winner, an Allstar and has returned this year from major injury to take his mantle as one of the best forwards in the country.

You are correct about one thing, that Clarke is the real deal and has achieved some great things at full-forward, and is still only aged 25.

But you must be a young fellow if you cannot remember some of the  genius that Ciaran McDonald displayed when he was at his prime, both for Mayo and Crossmolina.  He  has been one of the best footballers of all time.  If he were a Down man, he would be talked about in the context of Seán O'Neill, Paddy Doherty, Greg Blaney, etc.

And Ciarán Mac displayed his genius in every position he played, and not just at FF

Maybe Im a young fellow ....... with a better memory than you!

See if you can remember some of the following, for me they define genius:


Sean O'Neill : 3 allstar awards + 3 all Irelands

Paddy Doc :  3 all Irelands (0 all stars as he had hung up the golden boots by the time they were introduced)

Greg Blaney : 2 All Irelands and 3 all stars and he also played in 2 hurling All Ireland Semi finals just for the craic

We have different ideas on the term genius


C McDonald : 1 All star and a couple of club all irelands and nice dreadlocks ( a girly hairstyle of the modern )   

[stiff breeze]

Topic: Ciaran McDonald or Ronan Clarke?

You must be joking right? I almost feel that I should report the poser of this question to the administrators of this board?

Clarke has achieved far and beyond (so far at his tender - current age) than McDonald has in his entire career. As a Down man it pains me to say that Clarke is the real deal  - an All Ireland winner, an Allstar and has returned this year from major injury to take his mantle as one of the best forwards in the country.

You are correct about one thing, that Clarke is the real deal and has achieved some great things at full-forward, and is still only aged 25.

But you must be a young fellow if you cannot remember some of the  genius that Ciaran McDonald displayed when he was at his prime, both for Mayo and Crossmolina.  He  has been one of the best footballers of all time.  If he were a Down man, he would be talked about in the context of Seán O'Neill, Paddy Doherty, Greg Blaney, etc.

And Ciarán Mac displayed his genius in every position he played, and not just at FF

Maybe Im a young fellow ....... with a better memory than you!

See if you can remember some of the following, for me they define genius:


Sean O'Neill : 3 allstar awards + 3 all Irelands

Paddy Doc :  3 all Irelands (0 all stars as he had hung up the golden boots by the time they were introduced)

Greg Blaney : 2 All Irelands and 3 all stars and he also played in 2 hurling All Ireland Semi finals just for the craic

We have different ideas on the term genius


C McDonald : 1 All star and a couple of club all irelands and nice dreadlocks ( a girly hairstyle of the modern )   

ha ha . Aul western exile may never be taken seriously again after this

[Zulu]

So by your criteria George Best wasn't up to much nor were the many fine Cuban boxers of the past 30 - 40 years. If McD had played with a more successful county he would be a GAA legend (he already is in my mind). As for Clarke, the best FF in the country by some distance IMO, and a great player in the making.

[wanderer]

McDonald for me.

Clarke is a very good player but when you make your biggest mark in a team with at least 2 other top class forwards, its always going to be easier to get a fraction more space and time. McDonald seems to be tainted by Mayo's lack of success. I don't care how exceptional you are, if the team falls apart (2004) there is very limited damage limitation you can do.

When Clarke is the main man we'll know more, he definitely has the potential to change my mind but McDonald has that something you can't teach and his physical attributes weren't/aren't as important to him as they are to Clarke

[fred the red]

Clarke is the best forward in Ulster at the minute, but time will tell if he is the best in Ireland.

[fred the red]

Clarke played FF in 2002, played right half back(after returning from injury) in last years county final for Pearse Og if i remember correctly.

[Uladh]

yes but medals cannot define a player's standing surely? frequently superb players are with club who haven't a hope in hell of even playing senior football.

[RedandGreenSniper]

People are here describing the fact that Clarke has won an inter-county All-Ireland and that this makes him the better footballer.
Nonsense.

That Armagh team was strong all over the pitch, they had some great players and Clarke was far from the sole reason why they got to and won the All-Ireland.

However in 2004 nobody had more to do with Mayo reaching the final than McDonald with some of the best performances on a football pitch I've ever seen in the four games that got them there (I won't count New York).

Even with all others struggling in the final, McDonald produced two of the finest points ever seen in an All-Ireland final.

He almost single handidly brought Crossmolina to the All-Ireland club title in 2001 and his performance in the first half of the 2003 final against Nemo was the best half an hour's football I have seen, bar none.

Clarke is a great player too but he went through a lot of poor form after 2002. He'll admit as much himself.

I agree its not comparing like with like but if you could only have one of them on your team, it would be McDonald for me. EVERY TIME.

And one more point - is there a more expressive player of the game around? I know we talk a lot about attitude, hard work, percentages etc but some of the things McDonald can do with the football are out of this world and make every game he plays in worth watching.

[mayoman dan]

To say Mc Donald didnt show up in 04 or 06 is nonsense.He was the ONLY Mayo player to show up in 04 he kicked 2 sublime points
and in 06 he never,not for 1 minute hide even though things werent going right for him.

[OirthearMhaigheo]

This debate is pointless in many ways, as alot of people have already said they are completely different players and how you came to comparing the two suggests plenty of porter was in your bellies on Sunday! Without a doubt Mac is the more skillful, Clarke is a big lad who can take a score and very good at it. However, he will not go down in GAA folklore, he will not be talked about like the greats of the past , I just don't think he has that quality. Ciaran Mac does, P Joyce does, Maurice Fitz does, Peter Canavan does. These are great players with that extra quality you just can't put your finger on, for me Ronan Clarke doesn't have it, not yet anyway. He had a good 2002 and has done relatively little since. Mac has done it consistently for his club, he was outstanding in the 2004 final when all around him were caught in the headlights, he played through the pain barrier in 2006 and took pain killling injections to get through that game. He went way beyond what he needed to do and got no thanks for it. He was way below par on the day, and lazy journos decided to jump on it and say he performed badly, he shouldn't have togged is what he should have done but we needed him and he knew it. Ronan Clarke is a fine footballer, but one of the most gifted I have ever seen? no, worth the entry fee alone? no.
Ciaran Mac? yes and yes.