Hanley wants to lose 'nice' image
May 22, 2013
Galway's Finian Hanley
Renowned for their free-flowing football in the past, the Tribesmen's full-back - who missed the humiliating defeat to Mayo because of a shoulder injury - reckons it's time for a different approach and adds that Under 21 success doesn't guarantee anything at senior level any more.
"We're probably the most traditional county, along with Kerry, with regards to our free-flowing football," Hanley said to the Irish Independent.
"Our supporters and our local media would always say that Galway play the nice football, traditional football, and that's why they won All-Irelands in the past and that's when they're playing their best.
"But the game has changed big time and I think that's something that has to be looked at."
He continued: "We find it hard to come to terms with it. People in Galway look at defensive styles and say, 'well, this isn't for us, we play the free-flowing football'.
"And listen, when we do play it, when we play football well, it's great to watch. But obviously coming up against Mayo on Sunday, a very physical side, it was a different story.
"It's probably an underlying issue that needs to be looked at, with the structures. We've won four (All-Ireland) U-21s (in the last 11 years) but that doesn't necessarily mean senior success. It did 10 or 15 years ago, because an U-21 player could come into a senior team.
"If you look at the top teams in the country now, there's not many of them coming through because of the physical demands, and you need the head for it a bit more now.
"It's not happening as much, so we can't say that we're going to pull in 10 or 15 U-21s and they're going to turn into brilliant senior footballers.
"But I do think that the whole thing needs to be looked at, probably at the end of this year, regardless of how we go in the qualifiers - sit down and see what's gone wrong, what's gone right, and how to change the fundamentals." Tweet
