The Ian Madigan Thread

[Jackass]

Maddigan currently 3rd choice OH in Ireland. He should / will start for the wolfhounds and should tour with Ireland in the summer, especially since they will be playing mid-week games.

Should get first competetive cap in the November internationals and we'll see by the 6 nations next year what happens, he may well be second choice for Ireland, but not yet.

Fantastic player though and superb option at 10 with Leinster, behind Sexton. Could potentially be phenominal. Worth a shot in the 9 jersey, although I didn't think he was great there for the 10 mins v Connacht, but with the break, acceleration and pass he has, he could potentially be a unbelievable scrummie, with the 9/10 option, similar to what they breed in France, instead of the traditional 10/12 type player of the Brittish isles.

Jedwardian

I'm not convinced about calls to try Ian Madigan as a scrum half. Being brutally honest, last season he looked out of his depth at outhalf. He's made rapid progress since the beginning of this season and I believe he should be left to round out his game at outhalf before considering switching him to another position where he may or may not be a success.

Madigan brings different qualities to the table to Jonny Sexton. In much the same way that Eoin Reddan and Isaac Boss' different styles compliment each other at scrum half and Cian Healy and Heinke van der Merwe are interchangeable at loosehead prop, Madigan and Sexton could form a potent combination at out half. Trying Madigan out as a scrum half could turn him into a jack of all trades, master of none. Two or three years down the line, it's quite possible that Leinster will be well set at scrum half anyway with Luke McGrath and John Cooney coming through and Cillian Willis only on a short deal with Sale.

thomond2006

Keep Madigan at 10 where he's playing well for jebus sake.

We don't want to turn him into Earls or even a McFadden!

vinny chase

thomond2006 wrote: »

Keep Madigan at 10 where he's playing well for jebus sake.

We don't want to turn him into Earls or even a McFadden!

Full agreement.

This business of turning Madigan into a 9, SO'B into a 12 etc is just nonsense. The sort of stuff you really only find on internet forums, not a serious consideration or discussion.

smurphy29

vinny chase wrote: »

Full agreement.

This business of turning Madigan into a 9, SO'B into a 12 etc is just nonsense. The sort of stuff you really only find on internet forums, not a serious consideration or discussion.

Agree 100%. It's not like we're stacked with international quality 10s either.

Benny Cake

vinny chase wrote: »

Full agreement.

This business of turning Madigan into a 9, SO'B into a 12 etc is just nonsense. The sort of stuff you really only find on internet forums, not a serious consideration or discussion.

Exactly, we've also got enough quality 9's for three teams!

tolosenc

With Marshall and, particularly, McGrath coming through, it'd be madness to move Madigan to 9. I think all that we are saying is that Madigan has the skillset to be a French style halfback, which is totally alien to the Irish setup.

irishbucsfan

Reddan and Boss are ageing. Murray is ok, Marshall (he's 26 btw, hardly "coming through") is ok. Nothing says either of them are going to be great international 9s.

Don't think we have enough quality 9s for three teams at all. I agree that moving a guy like Madigan is madness, but not because of anything we've got there already. Personally hoping that McGrath lives up to his hype.

fergywergy

think Madigan answered a lot of his critics with his 17 point haul from his place kicking on Friday night.The future.

[Jackass]

Yup, but he is still very much a rough diamond. Far from the finished article, but he has been managed very well. His game management / tactical kicking still needs work, which is why he should be, but isn't in the Irish squad, and learn off guys like ROG, and is the reason why guys like Murray and O'Mahony are featuring in Irish camps and involved. Munster regeneration Project.

But hopefully he can continue to learn at Leinster. One thing he's done a few times has been missing touch with penalties, which he's done about 3 times in recent matches, which is absolutely criminal and schoolboy stuff. As I said on another forum, he should be called into training 2 hours early on Monday and made hit 100 in a row from the middle into the field to touch so he'll make sure he doesn't do it again, it's so basic. But being very picky about it, in all though this has been a massive season for him and he has an extremely bright future with both Leinster and Ireland. His trade mark break and distribution are already world class.

DeLillo

Madigan has stepped up to the plate without doubt.
I do feel he is probably difficult to play with however, which isnt exactly what you want from your No 10. What I mean here is that, players struggle to tune in on the same wavelength as him, or more likely he keeps jumping between wavelengths.

When I was a young lad, one of my favourite football players was tony daley of aston villa / england. he got the ball, and no one really knew what to expect most of the time. included in this were his team-mates, most of which said he was a nightmare to play with. some parallels here with ian i'm afraid.

sure, it is early days and he is still finding his feet in the starting 15. sure, it is early days and he is trying to be the new 'innovative, exciting no 10'.
maybe needs to relax a little.

he has huge talent. i hope this translates on the pitch for the next 5 years with ireland and leinster.

dregin

tolosenc wrote: »

With Marshall and, particularly, McGrath coming through, it'd be madness to move Madigan to 9. I think all that we are saying is that Madigan has the skillset to be a French style halfback, which is totally alien to the Irish setup.

At 27 (28 in July) I don't think P Marshall will have much of an international career.