John Fogarty, Melbourne
IRELAND must come out of the blocks quickly if they are to win back the Cormac McAnallen Cup, warns Tyrone’s Joe McMahon.
With tThe Australians are traditionally known for getting better the more they get become accustomed to the round ball, McMahon believes it’s
imperative the visitors go at Rodney Eade’s side from the outset.
“They’re not used to using the round ball, a thing that we always use, so we’d be looking to build up a good lead,” he said.
“We’ll look to get that and hopefully build on that in the second half.
“We would look at it as the first quarter being important. You need a good start, but every quarter is just as important because you want to build up a lead early on and then go on and build on that in the rest of the game.
“The Aussies have come out and done what they’ve done in the third quarter and that’s something we are going to have to look at.”
After some wayward shooting last year, McMahon believes Ireland have to be more clever in possession and putting forwards in better positions to take their scores.
“From watching myself last year, we need to settle our heads and take our scores. In the past we have taken the wrong options and maybe we need to work the ball in closer.
“Again, all the skills are there and it’s about having the belief that we can do it. On their kick-outs maybe we need to push up on them and put pressure on them early on.”
After being outpointed by Australia last year, McMahon knows there is an onus on Ireland to score goals which count for six points.
“Six points is a lot. It’s something we have been working towards. The way the Aussies set up, they can be defensive and it’s hard to get the space at times. If we play our game, Gaelic football, we won’t be too far away.”
McMahon, who admits he would have put club before country if Omagh had done better in the Tyrone championship, is keen to put the Red
Handers’ disappointing 2011 season behind him.
Considering the murder of Michaela Harte earlier in the year, it was an incredibly emotional year for manager Mickey and his players. However, it wasn’t until they were comprehensively beaten by Dublin in their quarter-final that the significance of the season dawned on the camp.
“It was the saddest changing room I have ever been in after a game [Dublin],” admitted McMahon.
“At that stage it hit home as to the year it was. All the boys put in the work and Mickey was there throughout. It was good that we were there to support him.”
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/vJK-Xl6iVd8/post.aspx
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