Ruling the roost: A team of players suited for the new FRC rule enhancements

From his days watching football, Michael McMullan selects a team of players that would excel under the new rules with a limit of one player per county and with every Ulster team represented…

1 Michael Byrne (Antrim)

I HAVE watched Antrim a few times and Byrne has impressed. An excellent shot stopper, safe with the basics and well able to kick over a long-range free. Cool on the ball outfield too and his outside of the foot point against Fermanagh was sweet.

2 Sean Marty Lockhart (Derry)

THE first name on the teamsheet. One of the best defenders to have played the game and the homework he put into marking the best players was off the charts. In the day of one v one battles, you’d want Lockhart in your corner.

3 Padraig Faulkner (Cavan)

WHO can forget that cracking goal against Monaghan a few years ago? He has that in his game but has experience at midfield which make him a brilliant man to police the high ball at the edge of the square. His ability to break the tackle is a great tool with defenders not allowed to pass back to the ‘keeper.

4 Tom O’Sullivan (Kerry)

A FOOTBALLING corner-back. Tough and can fend his corner but the outside of the boot kick is a trademark at this point. Can pass and kick points with the best of them. The fact he is the Kerry selection here speaks volumes. Teams would not let him sit free at the edge of the 40-metre arc.

5 Michael Donnellan (Galway)

OKAY, I cheated. Donnellan made his name as a midfielder or at half-forward. The king of ball carriers. Who can forget that run in the ’98 All-Ireland final against Kildare? The full pitch. Imagine him peeling in behind a bottled-up defender. The ball would be out of danger in no time. He’d be some wing-back.

6 Aidan Forker (Armagh)

SEE the comment about Tom O’Sullivan’s outside of the boot kick. Forker is the same and he is a leader. A brilliant all-round player and a tough customer around the breaking ball. If a team tries the kick-out over midfield, he’d just eat it up.

7 Lee Keegan (Mayo)

IS there a better player never to have won Sam? Not many. He’d get on any team, anywhere in the country and in any era. An engine, a footballer, a passer and can kick points. Has also excelled on the biggest of days. He has another string to his bow – could easily drop back into the 3v3 battle. An all-rounder.

8 Larry Tompkins (Cork)

MY favourite player until I laid eyes on Anthony Tohill. As tough as they come. Could field the ball, drive at defences and an absolute savage on the breaking ball. Nobody would bully him. Not ever. Plus, his long-range free-taking. Anything inside halfway, he’d have a poke. What a player.

9 – Brian Fenton (Dublin)

I CAN’T believe I’m referring to him as former Dublin midfielder Brian Fenton. Like Donnellan, he’d be some man to peel back to help a team break from defence. The best footballer at making everything look simple. Dessie Farrell must have thought about ringing him for a recall.

10 Ultan Kelm (Fermanagh)

TOYED with the idea of lining him at wing-back, but his pace will take him back there. How do you displace Lee Keegan? His speed is scary and it would be some weapon to play to be the link from back to front. Can still see his lightning sprints from watching him a few seasons ago.

11 Greg Blayney (Down)

WITH Kelm as the man to drop, Blayney would be able to do what he does best – spray passes. When Brian McIver used to talk about a “head up” footballer, Blayney comes to mind. What a playmaker. And he was well able to mix it.

12 John Heslin (Westmeath)

ANOTHER man just stepped away, but what an artist he was. He could play inside if Michael Murphy pulled out to the wing. A boomer of a kick and would take some watching both on the wing or at the edge of the square. I’d love to see how much hay he’d made if still in maroon.

13 Peter Canavan (Tyrone)

FIRST forward I put on the page. Carried Tyrone to the ’95 final despite being kicked from pillar to post. That centre of gravity was something else and the quick hands. The Geaney brothers made goals against Derry doing the same. A man for the big occasion and one of the game’s best ever forwards.

14 Michael Murphy (Donegal)

IMAGINE being a full-back going out to mark Murphy if it’s three one three. When I think of him, I think of that ball from Lacey and that bullet to the net early in the ’12 final against Mayo. Would be interchanging with Heslin to keep teams guessing

.15 Conor McManus (Monaghan)

STARRED against clogged defences, ‘Mansy’ is made for the game as it is now. A man to kick points when the temperature was at its highest. He’d have kicked two-pointers for fun. Imagine him coming on the loop from a Kelm or Donnellan run upfield on this team. One glance and the posts and over it would go.