Niall Morgan believes the next step in the evolution of the goalkeeper in Gaelic football is not far off. "It isn't going to be too long before a team - club or county level - plays without an orthodox goalkeeper," the Tyrone All-Ireland winner told BBC's The GAA Social podcast.
"What I mean by that is nearly a last man back system. There will be somebody in the fullback line that hit a kickout if the goalkeeper is up the pitch. I do think that will happen at some stage soon. I definitely think it's only going to take off now."
Morgan is one of several players to have moved the remit of the goalkeeper in Gaelic football beyond shot-stopping, kickouts and taking the occasional placed ball. The Edendork man, and Monaghan's Rory Beggan, have been making contributions outfield for their county teams in recent years. They were joined by Armagh's Ethan Rafferty this year.
5 June 2022; Armagh goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty kicks a point during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 1 match between Armagh and Tyrone at Athletic Grounds in Armagh. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
"A lot of people are going to be looking at Rory, myself, Ethan and saying, 'We'll just try an outfielder in nets'," said Morgan.
"You can't buy the experience of a kickout press, whenever Donegal or another team decide to squeeze you up. You can't just tell an outfielder how to start saving shots. There is a level of coaching that has to go into it, and good, clear instruction of when we want you to go, and when we don't.
"My worry for how the game is evolving is that there's a time to do it, and a time to not do it. That comes through experience. There's a time to really push on. The game develops into leaving a space for you to go into, or the other team have all sat back, and you're being a pivot man, spreading the ball out."
16 March 2019; Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan is congratulated by manager Mickey Harte following the Allianz GAA Football League Division 1 Round 6 match between Dublin and Tyrone at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Morgan explained that his role with Tyrone started evolving during winter training when he simply wanted to stay warm.
"When I started playing this way for Tyrone, I was doing it in training a bit, but I was doing it in training because I was freezing, and wanted to get involved and get running about," he said.
"It could have been December time, 14-a-side because it is cold, and boys didn't want to train, so they were injured. There was a wee bit more space so you were getting up the pitch.
"Mickey (Harte) and Gavin (Devlin) came to me and said, 'Look, we want you to play like this in a game'. I said, 'Right, but what if something goes wrong'.
"I wasn't surprised by Horse (Gavin Devlin) being willing to do it because Horse is seriously innovative in how he goes about things. I was surprised that Mickey was happy to do it because he is a wee bit more reserved. He is innovative in his approach but is a wee bit more old school in how the game should be played.
"Whenever I said about making a mistake, Gavin said 'Whatever happens, we'll back you. If something goes wrong, you've got our support, but keep doing it'."
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