SHAUN Patton is keeping his cards close to his chest regarding speculation linking Michael Murphy with the Donegal goalkeeper’s jersey – but insists he is delighted to have the Glenswilly colossus back among the Tir Chonaill ranks.
The 35-year-old ended a two-year exile from the inter-county game when returning to training with Donegal in December, though he played no part in Saturday night’s Division One win over Dublin.
Having been part of the Football Review Committee that brought forward the new rules counties are currently getting to grips with, it was widely assumed Murphy would provide an attacking focal point upon his return.
However, with effective roving goalkeepers assuming greater importance - especially those capable of kicking two-pointers from outside the 40 metre arc - it had been suggested Jim McGuinness was weighing up whether to try Murphy at the other end of the field.
Niall Morgan, Rory Beggan and Ethan Rafferty have already shown the threat they can pose once advancing into the opponent’s half, though that won’t be the case for all as counties carefully consider their options.
Dublin are a case in point. Gavin Sheridan has made the occasional dash into the opposition square during the opening weeks of the League, though that will change upon the return of regular number one Stephen Cluxton.
Patton is made in the more traditional mould too; the former League of Ireland goalkeeper didn’t stray too far from his line at a windswept Pairc MacCumhaill on Saturday night – the Letterkenny man’s strength lying in a weapon of a right boot capable of negating any press.
“I suppose it just depends on the type of game you’re playing in,” he said.
“It’s a risky kind of way to play against a strong breeze like that… if you get caught turned over then you’re a long way from home.
“We’re only at an early stage of seeing how the rules are going to work so it’s hard to know. We’ll play it game by game and see where it takes us.
“It’s hard to say what’s good or what’s bad… at the end of the day, if you’re limiting the ‘keeper just to staying in his big square, it takes away from the likes of Ethan Rafferty and Niall Morgan. Does it take away from making Gaelic football an attractive game for a ‘keeper to play?
“We can only see where it goes week by week. I know there probably will be changes coming, but what they are is yet to be seen.”
As for the Murphy rumours, Patton was giving nothing away as Donegal look towards Saturday’s rescheduled clash with Kerry in Killarney.
“Well, we’ll see… we’ll see. It’s hard to know what’s going to happen.”
Having spent much of his county career with Murphy as the on-field figurehead, however, Patton admits he didn’t expect to see the former Donegal captain back after originally calling time in 2022.
“Maybe not,” he smiled, “but Michael’s a great addition to any team.
“The stature the man carries, and obviously what he’s done in the game, it’s a great boost for us to have him back involved.”
The Tir Chonaill are at the beginning of a run of five straight League games but, having spent so long on the training pitch and playing challenge game, Patton said it was a relief to finally get back to competitive action.
“First year without the McKenna Cup, it was probably missed in terms of getting competitive games under the belt before the League.
“We were looking forward to last week, unfortunately the game didn’t go ahead, but we’re glad to get back on the pitch, in front of a crowd, playing with the new rules. Hopefully there’s an exciting year ahead.
“There’s a lot of stuff we can tidy up on, a lot of turnovers, we’ll probably have to look around things like that. Without game-time it’s hard to know where you’re going to be coming into a competitive fixture, but we’re quite happy to get the two points and move onto Kerry.”
