The Sunday Game premiered their 'right of reply' slot on the programme last night. This has previously been the preserve of Marty Morrissey on the Monday Six One News. You might remember Kevin Walsh answering Eamonn O'Hara after Sligo lost in Ruislip in 2013.
One has to assume, given Brolly's incorrigibility and the prodigious capacity for whining that exists out there, that this will become a regular slot going forward.
Craic
Quality banter early doors with Dessie taking no time at all to remind the world that Eddie recently presided over a Kilkenny team that lost to Westmeath.
The winner of the 'hurling man you'd most like to have a pint with' competition for the past twenty years in a row was in situ beside Brennan, making his first appearance on the evening show this season.
With the death of Muhammad Ali, Anthony Daly rises one step higher in the most charismatic living sportsman lists. As indeed does everyone. But Dalo is knocking on the door of the top 10 at this stage.
Unfortunately, there was little potential for craic beyond Sean Quigley's twitter account and Eddie's misfortune with the U21's, a point which Dalo didn't labour in his necessarily brief analysis of Westmeath-Galway.
Davy Fitzgerald, who has typically performed poorly in the 'hurling man you'd most like to have a pint with' competition delivered a graceful, borderline chirpy post-match interview. More shockingly, he appeared not to have read any newspapers. Little craic on that front.
On the football side, Tomás Ó Sé wasn't going to let the show drift off without one reference to Muhammad Ali.
According to Tomás, Muhammad's spirit lives on in John O'Loughlin. Who knows, perhaps even O'Loughlin chose to deck Michael Dara Macauley as a deliberate homage to the Louiseville Lip?
Anthony Daly - 6/10
Eddie Brennan - 5/10
Tomás Ó Sé - 7/10
Brian McGuigan - 4/10
Headline friendly
The football slot was nearly devoid of interest after the Armagh Co. Board business. While ostensibly an 'interview' in which Ger Canning's voice could be heard from time to time, Paul McArdle delivered his comments in the style of a 'statement'. Formal and intense and faintly robotic.
When the address had finished, we returned to the studio. Des broached it as a matter of some gravity but Tomás looked weary and unimpressed while Brian McGuigan had a mischievous smile on his face. Alas, his contribution contained no mischief. He re-asserted that 'Joe is Joe', a statement with which no one can have any quarrel. The best answer is to do it on the field, he said.
Tomás provided the 'mot juste' for the Armagh statement when he described it as 'daft'.
In fairness, Ger Canning cross examined him to within an inch of his life
— Joe Brolly (@JoeBrolly1993) June 5, 2016
We are deeply excited by the cringe-making potential offered by this right of reply slot. County board chairman after county board chairman will be trotted out, expressing his deep unhappiness at Joe Brolly. Hopefully, it's not the last.
Elsewhere, the analysis was of the common or garden, what-else-is-there-to-be-said variety. Dublin weren't tested, bit on Cluxton's kickouts, etc, etc.
Down manager Eamonn Burns said in his post-match interview that 'goals win games', though it could also be noted that scoring 13 points more than your opposition can be most helpful in that regard too.
Full marks to Des Cahill for flagging up that Bernard Brogan still hasn't scored a point in the championship outside Croke Park.
There was a rich potential to say something outrageous about the Meath-Antrim game. Daly suggested that they could just leave the score as is, and throw them both in the elite championship next year. Perhaps, he's recalling past experience there.
But they find some headline potential in the Nicky Rackard game. Without naming Mayo corner back Eoghan Collins - a diplomatic move - they zoomed in on the dirty jab on Armagh's Declan Coulter towards the end of the game.
Anthony Daly - 5/10
Tomás Ó Sé - 6/10
Eddie Brennan - 6/10
Brian McGuigan - 4/10
Tactics Truck
Brian McGuigan offered up a curious piece of analysis where he lamented Down's tendency to kick the ball into the corners in the first half rather than into the D area/scoring zone. (Oddly, one of the examples employed to criticise Down's forward play in the first half ended in Mark Poland working a score).
This tendency was rectified in the second half, he said. One could say that it takes a rare mind to examine Down's performance yesterday and decide that the real room for improvement lay in the first half. But maybe, McGuigan could defend it by saying that Down should have been scoring in the first half when they actually had a bit of possession. We remember Jarlath Burns' darting analogy from the afternoon edition.
As a topic for discussion, Waterford's defensive system has been done to death. Dalo and Eddie cited fitness as the primary reason they managed to score 1-21 all the while keeping bodies back. That and the fact that Austin Gleeson doesn't seem to hit wides ever.
Anthony Daly - 7/10
Eddie Brennan - 7/10
Tomás Ó Sé - 6/10
Brian McGuigan - 5/10
RATING:
Little to tell apart Brennan and Daly, who score 18 apiece. Tomás Ó Sé wins out for his reaction to Armagh statement and the John O'Loughlin business. The inexperienced McGuigan will grow into the role, we're hoping.
Tomás Ó Sé - 19/30
Eddie Brennan - 18/30
Anthony Daly - 18/30
Brian McGuigan - 13/30
Read more: 'Armaghgeddon' - The Monday Morning Sunday Game Review
