Post-final All Stars

kevmy

Now that the final is over we can make our final All Star predictions.
My team below:

Quirke (Cork)

M OSe (Kerry) McCarthy (Kerry) Griffin (Dublin)

OMahoney (Kerry) Moynihan (Kerry) AHiggins (Mayo)

D OSe (Kerry) McGarrity (Mayo)

Dillon (Mayo) Brogan (Dublin) Galvin (Kerry)

C Mortimer (Mayo) Donaghy (Kerry) Russell (Kerry)

SUBS: Cluxton (Dublin), KHiggins (Mayo), Bellew (Armagh), Cahill (Dublin), Spillane (Cork), Cullen (Dublin), Lynch (Cork), Ryan (Dublin), Murphy (Cork), Harte (Mayo), Brosnan (Kerry), McDonald (Mayo), Masters (Cork), Keaney (Dublin), McDonald (Armagh), ONeill (Mayo).

A couple of points a bad year for Goalkeeprs, Full Backs and Defences in general Quirke gets goalie only due to his number of clean sheets. A lot of full backs were cleaned by Donaghy and ruled them out of the running. Mortimer took Joe Higgins out of the running and Brogan did the same to KHiggins. Kerry full back line is vunerable but due to the fact that they won they get in.
Ciaran Whealan doesn't get in due to what he did to McGarritty. Gooch wasn't up to standard all year and Dec OSullivan only played one good game (admittaly the final).

dcr22B

Cluxton (Dublin)

M OSe (Kerry) J Higgins (Laois) Griffin (Dublin)

Cullen (Dublin) Moynihan (Kerry) O'Mahony (Kerry)

D O'Se (Kerry) Murphy (Cork)

Dillon (Mayo) Brogan (Dublin) Galvin (Kerry)

C Mortimer (Mayo) Donaghy (Kerry) Russell (Kerry)

Kills me to leave Mortimer in after receiving his "comeuppance" on Sunday but he has been an effective match winner for Mayo this Summer.

Culchie

Why is Joe Higgins in just about every 'experts' team?

He's a great player, but in 2006, he did nothing really as far as I can see.
Simply being picked on reputation AFAIK

I think Shane Ryan should get an All-Star, Aidan Higgins from Mayo.

I think Masters from Cork deserve an All-Star more than Mike Frank Russell who did run into form late on, but not enough to justify an All-Star.
Brogan is a cert.

I think this year, 10 or so positions pick themselves, we'll all differ on the other 5.

dcr22B

Culchie wrote:

Why is Joe Higgins in just about every 'experts' team?

He's a great player, but in 2006, he did nothing really as far as I can see.
Simply being picked on reputation AFAIK

I think Shane Ryan should get an All-Star, Aidan Higgins from Mayo.

I think Masters from Cork deserve an All-Star more than Mike Frank Russell who did run into form late on, but not enough to justify an All-Star.
Brogan is a cert.

I think this year, 10 or so positions pick themselves, we'll all differ on the other 5.

Sorry Culchie but if the OP decided to leave Ciaran Whelan out for what he did to McGarrity (not that I believed he merited an All Star over O'Se and Murphy) then Aidan Higgins has done his chances some harm with that stupid body check/charge he pulled off on Gooch last Sunday.

In relation to Joe Higgins, he is the one man who never gave up in the mauling against the Dubs and he proved his worth in the games against Meath and Tyrone.

Culchie

dcr22B wrote:

Sorry Culchie but if the OP decided to leave Ciaran Whelan out for what he did to McGarrity (not that I believed he merited an All Star over O'Se and Murphy) then Aidan Higgins has done his chances some harm with that stupid body check/charge he pulled off on Gooch last Sunday.

In relation to Joe Higgins, he is the one man who never gave up in the mauling against the Dubs and he proved his worth in the games against Meath and Tyrone.

Without dragging this off topic (too many threads heading that way). I never said Whelan should be left out because of his tackle, neither should Higgins.
It's my opinion Whelan didn't do enough to merit selection that's all, nothing to do with his McGarrity incident.

dcr22B

Culchie wrote:

Without dragging this off topic (too many threads heading that way). I never said Whelan should be left out because of his tackle, neither should Higgins.
It's my opinion Whelan didn't do enough to merit selection that's all, nothing to do with his McGarrity incident.

I know you didn't say that about Whelan, it was kevmy who said it. I'm not trying to drag it off topic.

kevmy

I decided to leave out Ciaran Whealan of the subs bench instead putting in Pat Harte. I thought there was very little between the two of them but the malicious tackle meant IMO he had to be left out.
I think AHiggins was the best wing back. I can see Cullen had just as good a season but i tried to keep everyone in their own positions. I only saw AHiggins tackle at the match and I was on the sideline on the Hogan stand side on the forty nearest the Canal. From my viewpoint it was a fair attempt at a tackle that went wrong and not malicious like Whealans although I accept that I may be wrong.
I agree with the view on Joe Higgins I thought he got skinned twice by CMort. Masters played two good games against Kerry and very little else IMO.

gbh

Quirke (Cork)

M OSe (Kerry) Canty (Cork) Higgins (Laois)

OMahoney (Kerry) Moynihan (Kerry) AHiggins (Mayo)

Murphy (Cork) McGarrity (Mayo)

Dillon (Mayo) Brogan (Dublin) Masters (Cork)

C Mortimer (Mayo) Donaghy (Kerry) O'Neill (Mayo)

kevmy

Interesting to see 3 full teams and 3 different full backs. What happened to them this year (apart from Donaghy)? Personally I thought that Leitrim had the best full back line in the country then saw them destroyed by Louth in the Tommy Murphy and even the Fermanagh full back (his name escapes me ... Bogue?) had a poor year this year.

Carcharodon

gbh wrote:

Quirke (Cork)

M OSe (Kerry) Canty (Cork) Higgins (Laois)

OMahoney (Kerry) Moynihan (Kerry) AHiggins (Mayo)

Murphy (Cork) McGarrity (Mayo)

Dillon (Mayo) Brogan (Dublin) Masters (Cork)

C Mortimer (Mayo) Donaghy (Kerry) O'Neill (Mayo)

I know your entitled to your opinion and each player you have picked is deserving of an all star in their own way but i just find it baffling that D O'Se is not picked, after winning both National League and Championship and after imo comprehensively beating your two chosen midfielders on his way to the two titles

Waylander

Firstly I think we should agree that you should only be able to comment on other peoples teams if you have one posted yourself. This thread last year got bitter as people who did not post there own team, kept picking fights with other posters who had. With that in mind my team would be as follows:

Cluxton

M O Se Mc Carthy Joe Higgins

Higgins Moynihan Cullen

D O Se N Murphy

Masters Mc Donald Brogan

Keaney Donaghy Mortimer

I know Mortimer was top scorer but he is the one I had to think about most as I think he makes a few bad decisions in every game he plays. GBH I am surprised to see Canty in your team, he did not play very many matches, same could be said for O neill.

cruiserweight

Waylander wrote:

Firstly I think we should agree that you should only be able to comment on other peoples teams if you have one posted yourself. This thread last year got bitter as people who did not post there own team, kept picking fights with other posters who had

I agree, and here is my team

                   Quirke 

M O Se		Canty		Joe Higgins

Dunnion		Cullen            O'Mahony

	D O Se          N Murphy

Dillon		Brogan		Galvin

Clarke		Donaghy	      Mortimer

Other players that could be considered or should get a nomination include Cluxton, KHiggins, Spillane, Lynch, Munnelly, Masters, McGarritty,Moynihan IMO

Erin Go Brath

Cluxton (Dublin)

M O Se (Kerry) Higgins (Laois) Griffin (Dublin)

Kernan (Armagh) Moynahan (Kerry) O' Mahony (Kerry)

D O Se (Kerry) Murphy (Cork)

Dillon (Mayo) Brogan (Dublin) Masters (Cork)

C Mortimer (Mayo) Donaghy (Kerry) Russell (Kerry)


Think Donaghy is the most important person on that team too. He transformed Kerry, and its arguable whether they would have won Sam without him.

gbh

Waylander wrote:

I know Mortimer was top scorer but he is the one I had to think about most as I think he makes a few bad decisions in every game he plays. GBH I am surprised to see Canty in your team, he did not play very many matches, same could be said for O neill.

I think you can say this about a lot of the players in this year's championship. Donaghy didn't impress until Kerry were in the qualifiers. Moyhihan was only coming good towards the end of the championship. O'Neill played in every game I think. He scored points and had a major impact when introduced in the Connaught final against Galway against, Dublin in the semi and of course scored two goals and set up another in the final. Without him, I don't think Mayo would have got out of Conaught.

I didn't see O'Se dominating McGarity, maybe i'll have to watch it again. The other Kerry midfielder caught some clean ball, but I don't remember O'Se being outstanding in the final. He had an average year and was cleaned by Nicolas Murphy a couple of times and was only able to get the better of him with a few knees in the back.

Canty did well against Gooch which is probably why I included him.

Waylander

Am I the only one with Mac Donald in my team? I am surprised at this, I think he has been the driving force for Mayo's run to the final, and although he had a bad day when he got there, he was outstanding in the other games. Several times this season I even saw him back helping out his full back line to good effect. For me Donaghy would be my player of the year, with Mac Donald a close enough second.

As for D O Se, I thought he was the best midfielder in the country (again). I know Nicholas Murphy put it up to him in the Munster games, but in the game that mattered against Cork I felt he came out on top.

Kernan was also close to making my team, but I just felt I had not seen enough of him myself to include him.

Carcharodon

Waylander wrote:

Firstly I think we should agree that you should only be able to comment on other peoples teams if you have one posted yourself. This thread last year got bitter as people who did not post there own team, kept picking fights with other posters who had.

Agree,


Cluxton (Dublin)

M O'Se (Kerry) Canty (Cork) Higgins (Laois)

Mahony (Kerry) Moynihan (Kerry) Cullen (Dublin)

D O'Se (Kerry) Murphy (Cork)

Dillon (Mayo) Brogan (Dublin) Galvin (Kerry)

Mortimer (Mayo) Donaghy (Kerry) Clarke (Armagh)

kevmy

Waylander wrote:

Am I the only one with Mac Donald in my team? I am surprised at this, I think he has been the driving force for Mayo's run to the final, and although he had a bad day when he got there, he was outstanding in the other games. Several times this season I even saw him back helping out his full back line to good effect. For me Donaghy would be my player of the year, with Mac Donald a close enough second.

I wouldn't put Mac in. Not ahead of Dillon or Brogan anyway. I thought he wasn't half as good as he was in 04. A bit slower, a few more missed passes and not as much scored. Having said that he was very close though. If he had a better final he would have been in instead of Galvin or Russell.
Why is everybody picking Joe Higgins? He got roasted twice by Mortimor and the defence was diabolical against Dublin. He's a great player in other years no doubt but name me one top class forward he kept quite this year. At least 3 if not 4 better corner backs this year.

chubba1984

Quirke (Cork)
M O'Se (Kerry)
Owens (Fermanagh)
Higgins (Laois)
Moynihan (Kerry)
Spillane (Cork)
Cullen (Dublin)
Murphy (Cork)
D O'Se (Kerry)
Dillon (Mayo)
Brogan (Dublin)
Galvin (Kerry)
Mortimer (Mayo)
Donaghy (Kerry)
Clarke (Louth)

Blackjack

Remarkable number of all star teams leaving McDonald out here. I do find this quite surprising, I am biased as a Mayoman, but still surprised.

cruiserweight

The GPA nominees have been named

The nominations for the 2006 Opel Gaelic Players Awards for football have been announced by the GPA.

A total of 45 players, representing 12 counties, have been named on the shortlist for the Gaelic Team of the Year.

The four nominees for the Opel Gaelic Player of the year as chosen by the Football Selection Committee are: Kieran Donaghy and Darragh Ó Sé of Kerry, Ciaran McDonald of Mayo and Armagh's Ronan Clarke.
Click here to find out more!

All-Ireland champions Kerry received a total of eight nominations. Beaten finalists Mayo have seven players up for nomination, as do the side the Westerners defeated in their semi-final, Dublin.

The shortlists were drawn up by a selection committee consisting of John O'Mahony (Chairman), Kevin O'Brien, Martin McHugh and Tony Davis.

The winners will be selected by GPA members, all of whom have been issued with voting cards.

The winners will be announced at the GPA's Annual Gala and Awards evening on 10 November.

SHORTLIST FOR THE OPEL GAELIC TEAM OF THE YEAR:

1 Stephen Cluxton (Dublin), Alan Quirke (Cork), Gary Connaughton (Westmeath)

2 Karl Lacey (Donegal), Paul Griffin (Dublin), and Marc Ó Sé (Kerry)

3 Graham Canty (Cork), Barry Owens (Fermanagh), Francie Bellew (Armagh)

4 Tom O'Sullivan (Kerry), Joe Higgins (Laois), Keith Higgins (Mayo)

5 Seamus Moynihan (Kerry), Aaron Kernan (Armagh), Peadar Gardiner (Mayo)

6 Bryan Cullen (Dublin), Ger Spillane (Cork), Ciaran McKeever (Armagh)

7 Karol Slattery (Offaly), Barry Dunnion (Donegal), Aidan O'Mahony (Kerry)

8 & 9 Nicholas Murphy (Cork), Ronan McGarrity (Mayo), Shane Ryan (Dublin) Darragh Ó Sé (Kerry), Ciaran Whelan (Dublin), Paul McGrane (Armagh)

10 Alan Dillon (Mayo), Sean O'Sullivan (Kerry), Ross Munnelly (Laois)

11 Alan Brogan (Dublin), Ger Brady (Mayo), Paul Barden (Longford)

12 Ciaran McDonald (Mayo), Paul Galvin (Kerry), Rory Kavanagh (Donegal)

13 Conor Mortimer (Mayo), James Masters (Cork), Steven McDonnell (Armagh)

14 Kieran Donaghy (Kerry), Conal Keaney (Dublin), Paddy Bradley (Derry)

15 Ronan Clarke (Armagh), Niall McNamee (Offaly), Brian Kavanagh (Longford)

yurmothrintites

Here's my team Im probally biased towards Mayo but anyways!
Cluxton (Dublin)

M OSe (Kerry) Canty (Cork) Higgins (Laois)

OMahoney (Kerry) Moynihan (Kerry) Heaney (Mayo)

Murphy (Cork) McGarrity (Mayo)

Dillon (Mayo) G Brady (Mayo) Masters (Cork)

C Mortimer (Mayo) Donaghy (Kerry) McDonald (Mayo)

I know there's alot of mayo players but I think Ger Brady should get an allstar for his work his year definately. He's set up so many points and goals and played brilliantly in so many matches. To gain a starting position for your first year playing inter county level is a great acheivement.
I would have fitted the gooch in somewhere but he was missing something this year and didnt play his best.

Kojak

My team:
Cluxton(Dublin)

M O'Se (Kerry) Owens (Fermanagh) Higgins (Laois)

Moynihan (Kerry) Spillane (Cork) O'Mahoney (Kerry)

Murphy (Cork) D O'Se (Kerry)

Dillon (Mayo) Brogan (Dublin) Galvin (Kerry)

Mortimer (Mayo) Donaghy (Kerry) Clarke (Armagh)

I think that the Footballer of the Year award is between Dara O Sé and Kieran Donaghy and I have a sneaking suspicion that Donaghy will win it as it was his move to full-forward that changed Kerry's season, IMO.

kevmy

I'm suprised the Mac got a nomination for player of the year. Not saying he played badly but IMO Dillion, McGarrity and possibly CMort had a greater influence in the Mayo team alone. I'm not even mentioning other teams. Looks like Donaghy is hands down winner for the player of the year O Se didn't perform consistently he also didn't play great in the final

Gobán Saor

OK, my Kerry bias declared up front:D
Here we go...Cluxton, Marc and Dara O'Sé, Moynihan, Brogan and Donaghy pretty much are automatic picks. Murphy just about shades the 2nd midfield spot. Whelan would be close behind. Galvin's work-rate (ahem!) and Gooch's sheer class are worthy of inclusion though that's harsh on James Masters and Stevie McDonnell. Dillon and Clarke were always among the most threatening scorers throughout the year. Not convinced about Mortimers or McDonalds claims for inclusion - must be something about the hair-jobs:D Canty gets the benefit of not having to mark Donaghy, Higgins was impressive on a very mediocre team. Karl Lacey is there or therabouts too, but most of his year was against inferior opposition.
Spillane could easily replace O'Mahony or Cullen at wingback but both had very consistent seasons.


Cluxton (Dublin)

M O'Sé (Kerry) Canty (Cork) Higgins (Laois)

O'Mahony (Kerry) Moynihan (Kerry) Cullen (Dublin)

D O'Sé (Kerry) Murphy (Cork)

Dillon (Mayo) Brogan (Dublin) Galvin (Kerry)

Gooch (Kerry) Donaghy (Kerry) Clarke (Armagh)

squire1

10 Alan Dillon (Mayo), Sean O'Sullivan (Kerry), Ross Munnelly (Laois)

11 Alan Brogan (Dublin), Ger Brady (Mayo), Paul Barden (Longford)

12 Ciaran McDonald (Mayo), Paul Galvin (Kerry), Rory Kavanagh (Donegal)

13 Conor Mortimer (Mayo), James Masters (Cork), Steven McDonnell (Armagh)

14 Kieran Donaghy (Kerry), Conal Keaney (Dublin), Paddy Bradley (Derry)

15 Ronan Clarke (Armagh), Niall McNamee (Offaly), Brian Kavanagh (Longford

Only three nominations from Kerry in the forward line and they will probably only get one for Donaghy. Who would have guessed that at the start of the season?

Anyway heres mine.

1 Alan Quirke (Cork),
2 Marc Ó Sé (Kerry)

3 Francie Bellew (Armagh)

4 Keith Higgins (Mayo)

5 Seamus Moynihan (Kerry)

6 Ger Spillane (Cork)

7 Karol Slattery (Offaly)
8 & 9 Ronan McGarrity (Mayo) Darragh Ó Sé (Kerry)

10 Alan Dillon (Mayo)

11 Alan Brogan (Dublin)
12 Ciaran McDonald (Mayo)
13 James Masters (Cork)

14 Kieran Donaghy (Kerry)

15 Ronan Clarke (Armagh)