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Conor Whelan is absolutely lethal.
The Kinvara club man is so confident in his own first touch that he turns and goes before he even has the ball in his hand. And when he goes, he chases that goals down as if his life depends on getting there in a flash.
He doesn’t give a damn what he has to come through because he knows that even if he doesn’t bulldoze them out of his way, he’ll still pinball around the place, wrestle his man to exhaustion and probably win a free then anyway. The next time then he’ll break free to tap over a hard earned score.
Crowd the defence all you like because this man just doesn’t care.
The best thing about it is the Galway defenders can give him any type of ball whatsoever and he’ll fight for it and more than likely win it. If the ball in is any way favourable, he doesn’t even have to get it into his hand because he’s so confident in his slick stick work that he knows he can manipulate the ball into his stride anyway.
And then he’s willing to get his hands dirty, he’s ready to roll up his sleeves and you can put the kitchen sink on it that he’ll be the one thumping his chest at the end of it all.
And just as Conor Whelan must be a dream to play with for Galway backs, he must be an absolute nightmare for opposition defenders.
Because, like a spoiled child that always has to get his way, he’ll always find his way around even the stickiest of situations and he doesn’t really care if he has to bend the rules a little bit to get there.
In Sunday’s defeat of Kilkenny, Whelan didn’t set the world alight but he still did what he always does and that’s making defender’s life a living hell.
The best players are always able to bend the rules when they need to and with Whelan never taking no for an answer, he’s often on the edge of what a referee pulls and what he lets go.
His my way or the highway approach came up for discussion on Monday’s GAA Hour Hurling Show and all of the lads had spotted Whelan’s method of putting a defender in no-man’s land, which often buys him the free when he doesn’t really deserve it.
“It’s borderline barging with him, because he is so direct. He’s turning and he’s almost going straight at the man where, you can’t stand to the side and let him through,” said Colm Parkinson.
Whelan won the frees. What were the defenders supposed to do?
“You have to hold him up and he got frees for it. I didn’t think they were frees.”
Former Dublin defender Michael Carton knows exactly what Whelan’s at.
“If you’re in the full back line, you can’t let him go by you, and he buries his head under your arm and then your arms have to go around him at some stage. I think the Kilkenny full backs were harshly done by a few times…He’s not trying to play the ball at all, after four steps it should be a free out,” said Carton.
All Paddy Deegan did was try to stand him up.
Yet Whelan wins the free. And Whelan isn’t the only one at this. Loads of attackers try it and they always get away with it. For God’s sake, Whelan won a penalty a few minutes later for something very similar.
JJ Delaney feels a defender’s best bet is to take a slight step back, before either crunching him or trying to catch him when he goes to solo the ball.
“It’s hard to know what to do. If you take a step back, then when he’s expecting contact, he’ll have to throw up the ball after four steps then and you can try flick the ball away from him.
But you still have to be wary.
“But then, if you do give him that space, he’s so quick that he can go either way. You have to pick and choose which way you do it. He’s so physically strong as well, you’re not going to wrestle him.
But why wouldn’t he do it when he keeps on getting away with it?
You can listen to this chat and much more from Thursday’s GAA Hour Show right here.
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