Originally Posted by
joeSoap
They probably are. And what was to stop any of the aforementioned picking up the phone, or going to see Mike Kerley and asking him for a trial, or whether they stood a chance or not. Alan Barry and Keith Hartnett were there before, and to be honest both failed miserably. Pat McGarry won't commit to one sport as he loves the GAA too much and I don't know of this Carroll chap. The step up from Junior to EL is quite a big one, regardless what anyone else might tell you, moreso on the fitness side than anything else. Kerley has by and large opted for the youngest, fittest lads he can get that showed a bit of appetite and ambition. McGarry for all his ability obviously has no real ambition to concentrate on EL football alone, Hartnett and Barry both have attitude problems (in Hartnetts case he seems to think he's the be all and end all who loves Junior international caps).
So saying Junior players have the ability is fine. I have seen legendary junior players in my day that would have set the League of Ireland alight...Christy Reddan, Pat Cunningham, Adrian Lipper to name but three. But they had neither the mentality nor the fitness levels required. Its the same story today with a lot of junior players.