The Sigerson stepping stone
Today marks the start of another career journey for many future stars of Gaelic football. Pens and notes will be swapped for boots and gumshields. Eager, intelligent and ambitious young men will don college colours in search of glory. Where you hail from doesn’t matter. What matters is the quality and style of your play, your willingness to showcase your talents and your total commitment to winning the next ball for your friend.
Sigerson football is about lasting friendships. Guys you can rely on. It builds character for the individual. It’s where intelligent inter-county managers can see future stars for their county. Current GAA role models also get to ‘play football’.
I’ve selected my fantasy Sigerson team and most GAA fans know of these guys and their capabilities.
But there will be another 300 or so players on view over the next six weeks or so. Here are a few others to watch out for.
A powerful full forward who is hoping to nail down a regular spot under James Horan. He is the perfect target for the offensive ‘mark’, while he’s also very accurate off both feet. The Moy Davitts player, studying a Masters in Accountancy, has excelled at underage and played very well against Sean Andy O’Ceallaigh in Tuam Stadium last Sunday. DCU manager Paddy Christie will be relying on more of the same over the coming weeks. A good Sigerson campaign and Reape may no longer be spending his summer in the States as he’s done in recent years.
Hyland burst onto the scene last summer in a memorable All-Ireland U20 campaign. He is agile, clever, and accurate and his first thought is always to take a man on. Defenders think they can handle him because he’s predominately left-footed, but I’m sure NUI Maynooth boss Johnny Doyle will have schooled him in how to become an even better corner forward. He’s a joy to watch and I’m sure that Kildare manager Cian O’Neill will be watching his spring progress.
The Computer Science student had a brilliant season with his club, Kilmacud Crokes, man-marking some of the best forwards in the Dublin Club Championship. He’s robust and extremely fast which makes him very comfortable anywhere in defence. Andrew is a very intelligent footballer and knows how to give quality ball to his inside forwards. His possible combination play with his DIT colleagues Brian Howard and Jamie Clarke will be very exciting and will surely strengthen DIT’s chances of winning the competition.
Garland hopes a good campaign will catch the eye of Monaghan boss Malachy O’Rourke. Like all good inside players, he has pace, directness and accuracy. He won’t be bullied and he’s very good at winning scorable frees. He has an eye for goal and will look to torment cornerbacks throughout the country for the coming months.
Michael and John Daly are big players for Maurice Sheirdan’s NUIG side. Sons of Val, one of Galway’s greatest ever forwards, they have massive potential. Michael is the better known of the two. The centre-forward has superb vision and passing skills off either foot and will hope an injury-free Sigerson campaign will make him a regular with Kevin Walsh in 2019. John has been plagued by injuries since his minor days, but has huge strength and resilience. If those testing times are behind him, we could be watching the new Galway centre-half back for the year ahead.
The St Mary’s midfield partnership of Oisin O’Neill and Jarlath Óg Burns could also be the Armagh midfield pairing in 2019. They face a huge battle against NUIG’s Peter Cooke and Celin Darcy this afternoon in Dangan Sportsground. Jarlath Óg is the new kid on the block but we’ve heard of his potential talent for the past several seasons. He has the midfield know-how that his father possessed and is an excellent free-taker. He was a target of the AFL but opted to stay at home and showcase his aerial prowess to the Orchard faithful.
Gavin O’Brien is another exciting forward that new Kerry boss Peter Keane will be keeping a close eye on.
He is around 6’3” and is hugely athletic and skilful. O’Brien loves to roam deep and pick up loose ball and glide through the opposition. He can score freely and his biggest strength is his fielding.
It might be too soon for a regular county role, but this lad has all the attributes to make it at the top level.
Fionn is a third year Civil Engineering student in UL. For now, the Westport native will be hoping to engineer his way onto James Horan’s NFL teamsheets.
He is a tall, quick powerful young man with a cultured left foot and is capable of two or three scores per game.
He can muscle his way into a half forward position for Mayo, especially if Diarmuid O’Connor stays in midfield.
A good performance against DIT tonight in Grangegorman would show Horan that McDonagh is ready for Division 1 league football.
