BALLYMUN KICKHAMS APPROACHED last weekend’s Dublin senior football round two encounter with Lucan as 1/12 favourites to win.
Basically, if you wagered a tenner on opponents Lucan Sarsfields at 13/2, then you were probably going to win precisely zero.
As it happened, Lucan could, and perhaps should, have won. In the fifth minute of stoppage time, they led by a point and were on the verge of a landmark win.
John Small hadn’t been particularly influential for Ballymun up to then but suddenly came bursting forward and won a free that leading scorer Dean Rock converted.
Lucan, flustered and feeling the full weight of Ballymun’s heavy press, restarted with a goal kick that flew out over the sideline.
From here, Ballymun worked the ball in to warhorse forward Fiach Andrews who slotted the winner.
There was still time for one last kick-out, for Lucan to potentially work a move to rescue a result. Small intervened again, this time winning the Lucan kick-out with a jump and a fetch that would have piqued the attention of AFL scouts had he not already turned 33. And that was that. Ballymun by one.
Dublin selector Dean Rock. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Dublin greats
We left the Clann Mhuire grounds in Naul and reported how a couple of Dublin greats – Rock and Small have 15 All-Ireland senior medals between them – decided the game. Rock scored all but one of Ballymun’s second-half points while Dublin icon James McCarthy and former Longford senior Keelin McGann registered earlier two-pointers. Jamie Grant, who had a brief spell with the Donegal seniors, was influential from wing-back too.
If you’re a Clubber subscriber, or if you even flick through the highlights they post from club football and hurling games around the country on X, you’ll notice that county men dominating and deciding club championship games is increasingly the norm.
County players should stand out, of course, and always have, but a clear gap appears to be developing between the high-functioning, highly conditioned county players and their club peers.
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Which makes you wonder if you haven’t come up through the county underage ranks and been conditioned accordingly, or at least been exposed to a county development programme for a couple of years, what chance have you of making the great leap into a senior county panel?
Research
New research co-authored by Setanta College’s Head of Athletic Development, Rob Mulcahy, emerged recently examining the pathways taken by players to senior inter-county teams.
An article on the college’s website said ‘the research found a clear, dominant route’ and noted how, from a study of Kerry senior footballers and Tipperary senior hurlers, 76% had previously played for their county at both minor and U-20 level.
“Others entered later or reached senior level without playing at either underage grade,” the research acknowledged, but those players were in the small minority.
Earlier this week, at the Hurling for Cancer Research charity game in Carlow, former Kilkenny star Walter Walsh spoke about new Cats manager Henry Shefflin.
Walter Walsh in action in this week's charity game. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“I hear he’s at nearly every one of the club games going on, so he’s looking for talent around the county,” said Walsh.
Shefflin may well find a couple of rough diamonds from outside the current county panel, but the chances are he will already be familiar with those he upgrades, as established county underage players. In fact, he’ll probably include a few of the U-20s he managed himself earlier this year.
New Kilkenny hurling boss Henry Shefflin. Stephen Heaney / INPHO
Stephen Heaney / INPHO / INPHO
There’ll always be glorious exceptions to the rule, like Meath defender Seán Rafferty, who won an All-Star in his debut year of 2025. He hadn’t previously featured on Meath minor or U-20 teams, and was a genuine bolter.
The Na Fianna man had been part of a Meath senior development panel though, and had 12 months of that programme behind him before stepping up.
Squad select
As it happens, Meath have moved things on a little in terms of how they’ll select their inter-county football squad for 2027.
They have stated that performances in a revised regional championship, which will run throughout November, will be even more important than what happens on the club scene.
With just four teams this year, comprising players from clubs at all grades throughout Meath, it is the shop window that county boss Robbie Brennan will be peering through.
Meath manager Robbie Brennan. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
“Robbie Brennan has confirmed (that) Meath senior management will use the competition as the first gauge of potential before asking players they deem the most promising into the senior squad, or the senior development squad,” said Meath’s football development committee chairperson Conor O’Donoghue in an email to clubs.
“Performance at club level, to performance at regional, to performance at adult inter-county level, will be the football adult pathway in 2026.”
Maybe Meath will roll a six and uncover another Rafferty but, to make a mark in 2027 or even 2028, that player will have to already be well down the tracks in terms of developing the sheer physical capabilities required to cope with the ultra-conditioning of the senior inter-county game.
Demands
And that isn’t the only prerequisite for senior inter-county players now. The technical, tactical and psychological demands have never been as high either, and it stands to reason that this too will inevitably widen the chasm between club and county players.
That divide was particularly noticeable throughout August, the first month of the year so far without any inter-county men’s games. Cleared to focus exclusively on club activities, and championships in most counties, we saw some remarkable players doing some pretty extreme things.
Like Didier Cordonnier, in goals for Kildare during this season’s O’Byrne Cup, converting a free from almost 65 metres out for Two Mile House last Sunday, TJ Reid and Eoin Cody combining for a stunning goal for Shamrocks Ballyhale in their big win over Dicksboro on Wednesday evening, Mark Coleman nailing the winning goal from a free for Blarney at the start of the month or Limerick’s Tom Morrissey finding the postage stamp with a goal from 25 metres out for Ahane against Monaleen.
Cork hurler Mark Coleman. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Non-county players are capable of pulling off similar feats, of course. And regularly do. But the ability to deliver excellence on a consistent basis, all year long, is increasingly the preserve of a shrinking cohort.
“It can be a considerable jump,” notes the Setanta College research of the move up to a senior county squad. “It’s not just having the ability to play – it’s having the ability to deal with the demands of the game and the training methods. It’s not just, can you deal with playing the game on a weekend? It’s, can you deal with all the training that comes before that? All these factors, you have to be gradually exposed to.”
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Physical and tactical - how GAA's county stars are standing out more in the club game
BALLYMUN KICKHAMS APPROACHED last weekend’s Dublin senior football round two encounter with Lucan as 1/12 favourites to win.
Basically, if you wagered a tenner on opponents Lucan Sarsfields at 13/2, then you were probably going to win precisely zero.
As it happened, Lucan could, and perhaps should, have won. In the fifth minute of stoppage time, they led by a point and were on the verge of a landmark win.
John Small hadn’t been particularly influential for Ballymun up to then but suddenly came bursting forward and won a free that leading scorer Dean Rock converted.
Lucan, flustered and feeling the full weight of Ballymun’s heavy press, restarted with a goal kick that flew out over the sideline.
From here, Ballymun worked the ball in to warhorse forward Fiach Andrews who slotted the winner.
There was still time for one last kick-out, for Lucan to potentially work a move to rescue a result. Small intervened again, this time winning the Lucan kick-out with a jump and a fetch that would have piqued the attention of AFL scouts had he not already turned 33. And that was that. Ballymun by one.
Dublin greats
We left the Clann Mhuire grounds in Naul and reported how a couple of Dublin greats – Rock and Small have 15 All-Ireland senior medals between them – decided the game. Rock scored all but one of Ballymun’s second-half points while Dublin icon James McCarthy and former Longford senior Keelin McGann registered earlier two-pointers. Jamie Grant, who had a brief spell with the Donegal seniors, was influential from wing-back too.
If you’re a Clubber subscriber, or if you even flick through the highlights they post from club football and hurling games around the country on X, you’ll notice that county men dominating and deciding club championship games is increasingly the norm.
County players should stand out, of course, and always have, but a clear gap appears to be developing between the high-functioning, highly conditioned county players and their club peers.
Which makes you wonder if you haven’t come up through the county underage ranks and been conditioned accordingly, or at least been exposed to a county development programme for a couple of years, what chance have you of making the great leap into a senior county panel?
Research
New research co-authored by Setanta College’s Head of Athletic Development, Rob Mulcahy, emerged recently examining the pathways taken by players to senior inter-county teams.
An article on the college’s website said ‘the research found a clear, dominant route’ and noted how, from a study of Kerry senior footballers and Tipperary senior hurlers, 76% had previously played for their county at both minor and U-20 level.
“Others entered later or reached senior level without playing at either underage grade,” the research acknowledged, but those players were in the small minority.
Earlier this week, at the Hurling for Cancer Research charity game in Carlow, former Kilkenny star Walter Walsh spoke about new Cats manager Henry Shefflin.
“I hear he’s at nearly every one of the club games going on, so he’s looking for talent around the county,” said Walsh.
Shefflin may well find a couple of rough diamonds from outside the current county panel, but the chances are he will already be familiar with those he upgrades, as established county underage players. In fact, he’ll probably include a few of the U-20s he managed himself earlier this year.
There’ll always be glorious exceptions to the rule, like Meath defender Seán Rafferty, who won an All-Star in his debut year of 2025. He hadn’t previously featured on Meath minor or U-20 teams, and was a genuine bolter.
The Na Fianna man had been part of a Meath senior development panel though, and had 12 months of that programme behind him before stepping up.
Squad select
As it happens, Meath have moved things on a little in terms of how they’ll select their inter-county football squad for 2027.
They have stated that performances in a revised regional championship, which will run throughout November, will be even more important than what happens on the club scene.
With just four teams this year, comprising players from clubs at all grades throughout Meath, it is the shop window that county boss Robbie Brennan will be peering through.
“Robbie Brennan has confirmed (that) Meath senior management will use the competition as the first gauge of potential before asking players they deem the most promising into the senior squad, or the senior development squad,” said Meath’s football development committee chairperson Conor O’Donoghue in an email to clubs.
“Performance at club level, to performance at regional, to performance at adult inter-county level, will be the football adult pathway in 2026.”
Maybe Meath will roll a six and uncover another Rafferty but, to make a mark in 2027 or even 2028, that player will have to already be well down the tracks in terms of developing the sheer physical capabilities required to cope with the ultra-conditioning of the senior inter-county game.
Demands
And that isn’t the only prerequisite for senior inter-county players now. The technical, tactical and psychological demands have never been as high either, and it stands to reason that this too will inevitably widen the chasm between club and county players.
That divide was particularly noticeable throughout August, the first month of the year so far without any inter-county men’s games. Cleared to focus exclusively on club activities, and championships in most counties, we saw some remarkable players doing some pretty extreme things.
Like Didier Cordonnier, in goals for Kildare during this season’s O’Byrne Cup, converting a free from almost 65 metres out for Two Mile House last Sunday, TJ Reid and Eoin Cody combining for a stunning goal for Shamrocks Ballyhale in their big win over Dicksboro on Wednesday evening, Mark Coleman nailing the winning goal from a free for Blarney at the start of the month or Limerick’s Tom Morrissey finding the postage stamp with a goal from 25 metres out for Ahane against Monaleen.
Non-county players are capable of pulling off similar feats, of course. And regularly do. But the ability to deliver excellence on a consistent basis, all year long, is increasingly the preserve of a shrinking cohort.
“It can be a considerable jump,” notes the Setanta College research of the move up to a senior county squad. “It’s not just having the ability to play – it’s having the ability to deal with the demands of the game and the training methods. It’s not just, can you deal with playing the game on a weekend? It’s, can you deal with all the training that comes before that? All these factors, you have to be gradually exposed to.”
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