No-one could accuse former Dublin footballer Diarmuid Connolly of being risk-averse and holding on to possession for possession's sake.
The gifted St Vincent’s forward bowed out of the inter-county game with 11 Leinster titles, seven All-Irelands and four All-Stars, but it would be a disservice to measure his worth solely on numbers.
"It is the players with personality who stand out and live on in our memory," former Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice once said of Connolly.
Jonny Cooper, while Dublin were in the midst of the six-in-a-row, insisted his team-mate was right up there with anyone he had played with for "his ability to probably do every skill in the game at a really high and efficient level".
With his long-range shooting, pinpoint kick-passing and an eye for finding space, Connolly is at odds with what many feel are the ills of the modern game: packed defences, methodical build-ups with mainly hand-passing and low-risking shooting.
Speaking on The GAA Roundtable, which will be broadcast on the RTÉ Player on St Stephen’s Day, the 36-year-old believes a lot of defensive football on display comes down to fear and that positive coaching is the only way to overcome it.
"What are players afraid of?" he asks. "Are they afraid of making mistakes? The whole game revolves around making mistakes and trying to make the opposition try to make mistakes so you can score.
"If you are risk averse in that scenario, what is the point?"
Connolly recalled a dour 2015 league encounter as one of the low points in his own experiences of coming up against defensively-minded opposition.
The previous year Jim Gavin’s men had been shocked by Donegal in an All-Ireland semi-final, but that game was at least a free-flowing encounter, unlike the infamous 0-08 to 0-06 semi-final three years previous.
Watch Sean Cavanagh, @Jamesod7, Diarmuid Connolly and @leeroykeegan review the year and chat all things Gaelic football on 'The GAA Roundtable', exclusively on @RTEPlayer from St Stephen's Day 🏐 #GAA pic.twitter.com/qNg6CsUnHx
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) December 22, 2023
Still the Jim McGuinness template of being exceedingly difficult to score against was in vogue, and Derry came to Croke Park on a Saturday evening in March knowing they needed to leave with a win to avoid relegation to Division 2.
Connolly drilled a long-range point on the stroke of half-time as the Oak Leafers retired to the break with a 0-03 to 0-2 lead. Just three points in total were added by the 60th minute before Dublin reeled off the final four points to win in front of 19,224 spectators.
"I came in at half-time thinking, 'I don’t want to play football anymore’. That’s how bad it was. It was terrible, not enjoyable.
"If we go around and start promoting that type of crap, it will stick. It has stuck. It stuck for about 10 years after Donegal did what they did. People adopted that because they got a bit of success."
The two-time All-Ireland club winner sees green shoots however. Galway entertained with a direct approach when required as they reached an All-Ireland final two years ago. Dublin and Kerry remain the standard bearers, but Tailteann Cup winners Meath also showed what can be gained from a greater emphasis on foot passing.
"Now we see the complete opposite change," he says. "Dublin, Kerry, Meath, are trying to kick the ball and they are getting joy out of it.
"We [in St Vincent’s] were always told to kick the ball. It looks like it’s off the cuff, but it’s not, it’s been coached. If you are coaching guys to be defensive, that’s what they are going to do. If you coach guys to be attack-minded, that’s what they are going to do."
During the roundtable discussion with James O’Donoghue, Lee Keegan and Sean Cavanagh, Connolly’s ability to play heads-up football and make an incisive play was highlighted, with 2014 Footballer of the Year O'Donoghue picking out a moment of magic from the 2019 All-Ireland final replay victory over Kerry.
The Kingdom enjoyed the rare feat of turning over a Stephen Cluxton kickout, but immediately Connolly was alive to the breaking ball and ripped the ball from Adrian Spillane’s grasp.
The half-time substitute took one solo before unleashing a spectacular pass for Ciarán Kilkenny to gather over his shoulder without the Castleknock man needing to break stride, meaning Connolly signed off on his Dublin career with a seventh Celtic Cross and arguably the moment of the match.
Sublime pass by Diarmuid Connolly here to set up a Ciarán Kilkenny point! pic.twitter.com/gg7Tabwqls
— The GAA (@officialgaa) September 14, 2019
"Outrageous," was O’Donoghue’s verdict of the 45th-minute play that gave the Dubs a two-point cushion, but Connolly is more circumspect of the play.
"We had lost the kickout and turned it over," he recalled. "I got a step ahead and we had five-on-five inside. What am I doing carrying the ball? Give it to the forwards.
"It was a nice pass. It wasn’t outrageous because I was thinking I’d keep possession and try and create a score for my team. That’s exactly what I was thinking."
Watch The GAA Roundtable on St Stephen's Day on the RTÉ Player
