SHANE RICE: Off-season speed training


SPEED is a crucial element in Gaelic football, and how you train for it in the off-season can make all the difference when the season kicks off. Off-season speed training isn’t just about running fast; it’s about preparing players to meet the demands of the game, reducing injury risk, and improving overall fitness. Here’s how […]


STEVEN POACHER: A whole new ball game


ALL eyes on the league this weekend as the competitive action for 2025 begins, or should I say all eyes on the referees. Of course I am referring to the new rules which are sure to create many talking points after the opening weekend. What should supporters expect? A lot of the unknown, I would […]


PATRICK MORRISON: Making not taking


By Patrick Morrison IN the modern game of Gaelic football, we are under no illusions about the sudden rise in focus on restarts. This rise has also coincided with the rise in importance of the goalkeeping position as a whole. What the goalkeeper can offer to their team has grown exponentially over the past 25 […]


PATRICK MORRISON: Who’s in goals?


WHENEVER I was younger, Sherry’s Field in the heart of Armagh City was our playground. A very large field that included five full tennis courts, a soccer pitch, a playground as well as some fringe areas for building tree huts and the like. No matter what the weather was like most of our time was used playing […]


GERARD O’Kane: Keep it achievable


GOOD luck to anyone trying to get a space at a local gym this week or to book in with a personal trainer or gym instructor who are all offering eight-week new year courses. There are so many people who wake up with a turkey hangover (or indeed a normal hangover) and say – “I […]


PATRICK MORRISON: One-to-one goalkeeping coaching


By Patrick Morrison IN 2015, my first year with the Armagh team, we played a challenge game against Dublin down in the DCU sports complex. This was the first year of their five-in-a-row dominance. We had started with a strong team with a handful of our regular starters rested. Dublin on the other hand, had […]


STEVEN POACHER: Empower youth through a child-centred approach


THERE is always a lot of debate over methods to coach young children, particularly those in the very early stages of their development. The debate will rage on what is the best method – is it the traditional approach to coaching, where a skill is taught, broken down and used at beginner levels to help […]


PATRICK MORRISON: Regress to progress


By Patrick Morrison DURING the Korean War in November 1950, the 1st Marine Division of the US Army were surrounded by 120,000 soldiers of the Chinese Army at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. They were led by Major General O.P. Smith, a native of Texas with 33 years’ experience in military combat. The Battle […]


Ó Cairealláin joins Paddy Tally’s backroom team in Derry


By Michael McMullan DERRY manager Paddy Tally has added Strength and Conditioning coach Cairbre Ó Cairealláin to his backroom team. A former Antrim hurler, he was part of both Tipperary and Limerick hurlers’ All-Ireland winning formula. Ó Cairealláin, from St Paul’s on Belfast’s Shaws Road, also had a spell at Arsenal where he looked after the academy […]


MÁIRE TREASA NÍ CHEALLAIGH: Easing the return


USUALLY at this time of year, GAA journalists are squabbling about All-Star awards and ‘rediscovering’ the joys of the club championship. However, 2024 has given us much more to talk about thanks to the proposed new rules, the managerial merry-go-round and the biggest news of all: the return of Michael Murphy to a Donegal jersey. […]