RORY BEGGAN reckons rumours of the death of the roving goalie have been greatly exaggerated — and vowed to keep on going on the attack.
Last week’s adjustment to football’s rules, killing off the possibility of 12-v-11 overloads in the opposition’s half, looked like it might spell the end for wandering keepers.
But it was business as usual for Beggan in Monaghan’s 1-29 to 1-20 Division 2 win over Meath in Navan on Sunday when he regularly crossed the halfway line and set up several scores.
Beggan said he has ‘been encouraged to do it’ and explained Monaghan’s thinking, saying: “We have 15 decent footballers on the pitch who can attack. Maybe there’s not as much pressure on me to go up each time but if the lads want me to go up, I’ll go.
“We’re confident the back four will do a job, whether it’s me or whoever.
“The fact I can’t touch the ball in my own half means I nearly become irrelevant whenever we need to control our attack. So when I get up, I’m not coming up to keep the ball. I want to contribute and try to get the ball forward.
“I think that’s where the whole thing of keepers coming up was creating that bit of controversy. Some keepers were coming up and taking the sting out of the game.”
Beggan noted that Armagh’s Ethan Rafferty, a key figure for them when 12-v-11 attacks were permitted, was replaced by Blaine Hughes at the weekend. Dublin may also have had the new rule in mind when they handed 43-year-old Stephen Cluxton a first start of 2025.
But Beggan still sees real value in keepers going up the field.
He said: “We got a couple of contributions from me coming forward against Meath.”
Monaghan appear to be thriving under the new rules and are on the verge of a return to Division 1 after relegation last year. A draw at home to Down this Sunday will guarantee promotion and they may even go up if they lose.
Beggan said: “We’re starting to see our forwards again and we were losing that. I suppose me as a traditionalist that likes to watch Gaelic football, it’s nice to see forwards really playing.
“People saw Meath and us play last year in the Championship. It probably wasn’t a great game to watch, or us and Louth.
“But we served up two really good games in the last couple of weeks when we met again.”
