Is the full-forward line in danger of extinction?

To the victors go the spoils. For Galway players though, it will be weeks and months of inner turmoil.

Galway have better, more talented footballers than Armagh but history is written by the victors. In an unremarkable final, the records will state that Armagh are the 2024 All-Ireland Gaelic football champions. Galway let this opportunity slip and it will haunt them for a while.

I have huge respect and admiration for what Armagh have done. They are a small, football-mad county that got the max out of themselves. They showed patience with their iconic, totemic leader and boy did they get a mega payback. Right now, Armagh are in dreamland.

For 10 years, Kieran McGeeney fanatically dedicated his life to the Armagh cause and he got his just desserts on Sunday. Of course, it’s not much good just having your manager zealously devoted to improvement and progression if his players don’t buy in. However, those Armagh players drained every last morsel of effort, energy and skill from their bodies and minds to just fall over the line at the weekend.

The huge regret for Galway will be that they chronically underperformed. Of course, it was not easy to play blinding, flowing football against Armagh’s miserly system but Galway had more than enough chances to outscore their rivals in a low-scoring final. They dominated possession and just didn’t really go for it. You just felt that they were playing within themselves and almost lulled into a cat and mouse affair when faced with Armagh’s rigid structure. Improvisation, spontaneity and a bit of derring-do were all thin on the ground.

When they finally got some daylight and went two up at the start of the second-half, that was the time to kick for home. Instead, they retreated, gave the impetus back to Armagh and allowed the Orchard County to equalise within minutes. This match reminded me of a game of badminton in the Olympics. On Saturday night I watched Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen take on his Israeli opponent in Paris. It was an entertaining game as Nhat would go ahead, only to be brought back each time, with the lead changing hands repeatedly. This went on for three sets before Nguyen eventually went for the kill at the end of the final set.

Gaelic football has become like that when big teams play each other. You score, we score, you score, we score, before we settle it all in a dramatic, tension-filled last ten minutes. That type of tight tit-for-tat game suited Armagh. Galway needed to play it more on their own terms.

But, in spite of Armagh executing the perfect game plan and Galway playing within themselves, this final was still decided by Galway’s profligacy. Talented, skillful shooters only kicked 13 points out of 25 chances. They fluffed at least four kickable frees and marks. All these kicks were under severe defensive pressure and the stress of a massive occasion but still, they were golden chances to win the game. Interestingly, Armagh kicked all their scores from play. Has a winning All-Ireland finalist ever done that before?

All-Ireland Finals are always wonderful affairs but I don’t think anyone came away from Croke Park buzzing about the state of Gaelic football. It was a turgid enough game for the guts of an hour. In the time it took an Armagh player to get his first touch of the ball, Cork had already scored three points in the hurling final a week earlier. The excitement, colour and noise following the parade quickly dissipated once Galway won the throw-in. Every Armagh player retreated behind the 45-metre line, creating a quagmire of 29 players in the attacking half as Galway passed the ball back and forth for several minutes. The seagull’s appearance under the Cusack Stand drew most attention and chatter in the opening period.

Most worryingly for me, as a lifelong practitioner in the position, is that we may be witnessing the death of full-forward line players. Conor Turbitt, Rory Grugan, Andrew Murnin, Shane Walsh and Damien Comer barely touched the ball. I noted that the first ball kicked into the full-forward line from the middle-third happened in the 31st minute when Oisín Conaty overcooked a kick pass to Turbitt. Granted, these players are being marked by top quality backs but these defenders are more protected and conserved than the endangered Giant Panda or Sumatran Tiger. They are in zero danger of being exposed because they are surrounded by bodies who are gobbling up the space and channels.

That Johnny McGrath or Barry McCambridge will deservedly win Player of the Year tells its own tale. The underwhelming season of David Clifford, widely regarded as one of the most talented forwards of all time, should serve as the canary in the coal mine for all football enthusiasts. If Clifford cannot navigate his way through these impenetrable, impregnable defences then what hope the rest of us? Look at the paucity of goal chances in both semi-finals and final. Goalkeepers are no longer needed for shot-stopping but for restarts and acting as an out-ball to kick back to once your team is pressed.

I’m sure Sean Hurson couldn’t believe his luck at how easy and controversy-free the match was. Apart from the odd technical foul or time-keeping issue, there were no tough decisions to make as there was so little engagement and contact between the teams. It was a sanitised, sedate affair that Hurson could have reffed in his sleep. Johnny Murphy, the hurling final referee, had no such luxury.

We are all sick to the back teeth talking about the state of Gaelic football and rule changes. Thankfully, with the intercounty season done, change is nigh and we will probably see some new, transformative alterations recommended for next season. I would just urge the Football Rules Committee to try and promote one-on-one battles again and to protect the maestros, virtuosos and artistes in the full-forward line. I’m incredibly and unashamedly biased, but they’re the ones that put bums on seats.

Irrespective of the quality of ball on show, the full-time whistle on All-Ireland Final day is the pinnacle of sporting drama and emotion, especially when games are tight. When that whistle blows, it unleashes a torrent of raw, visceral emotions – joy, pain, elation and despair – that capture the very essence of the human experience in sport. Time seems to stand still for a moment but you never feel more alive.

Sunday was my 17th All-Ireland Football Final. As always, they are epic, monumental occasions; nonetheless, the quality of Gaelic football on show can be better. Vintage football or not, Armagh won’t care a jot.

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One more thing...

In the last 40 years, between football and hurling, Galway have lost 12 All-Ireland Finals. In the same period, Mayo have lost 11 football finals. Brother, I feel your pain.