You’ve heard it some many times in the past: If you get on top in the midfield battle, you’ll go a long way to winning the game.

That’s why it’s important to have solid players there, ones who know exactly how to play midfield in the modern game.

Intersport Elverys is proud title sponsors of Mayo GAA and we’re delighted to have All Star midfielder Mattie Ruane sharing his secret sauce to the role.

In this blog, the Breaffy man talks:

• the basics of the role
• How plyometrics helped his game
• Seeking advice from AFL and basketball coaches
• Sharing advice for his younger self

And more.

This blog is part of our wider Gaelic Football Positions Breakdown, where we spoke to Mayo’s Eoghan McLaughlin about Wing Back too. 

Read on for Mattie’s advice.

You don’t want to miss this.

Understanding How to Play Midfield in Modern Day GAA

Mattie Ruane believes the basic principles of playing in midfield hasn’t changed as drastically as other positions on the field.

However, he says the athletic requirements and expectations have gone to another level.

An All Star winner in midfield in 2021, Ruane is currently one of the top midfielders and athletes in the modern game.

“A modern day midfielder needs to be athletic and needs to get around the pitch,” he said. “It hasn’t changed a whole lot from the basic fundementals which we would have seen traditionally.

“Essentially back in the day you needed to be strong on the kickout, strong in your defensive duties and able to get forward too.

“The biggest change or focus is probably on the athlete itself, in that you are now required to get around the pitch a lot more, rather than sitting and holding the midfield area and winning the ball from kickouts and being physically dominant.”

What are the main skills a midfielder needs in the GAA?

Breaffy clubman Ruane believes the midfield role requires players to be adept at all the basic skills as you are exposed to all different situations.

He also added that in terms of his own game, he likes to focus on individual targets for the different skills to help maximise his performance and role in the team.

“When you are in midfield you need to be pretty good at everything or you are going to be found out pretty quickly,” he laughed. “Because you are exposed to a lot of possessionand one-on-one situations.

“The main skill requirements are handling firstly, that is huge, along with kickpassing, handpassing and all the basic fundamentals.

“You also need good footwork in midfield, because beating your man is very important. As is tackling around the middle.

“I always focus on targets – trying to get 3 scores a game, 3 turnovers and getting good, strong contact on the ball for kickouts. So either catching it cleanly or getting a break where you are dictating where the ball is landing ahead of your marker.

“Number one, you want to catch it clean, particularly on your own kickouts. On the opposition kickouts, great if you can catch it clean but if you can box it forward and keep the pressure on there, that is also good.”

The Importance of the Midfielder-Goalkeeper Relationship & Plyometrics

It is clear that Ruane is a deep thinker of the game, and a player who leaves no stone unturned in his preparation.

A few years ago he sought out the expertise of AFL coaches to try and improve his catching ability, as well as basketball coaches to improve his landing and evasiveness.

Good football boots also help with this, check out this blog for our Top Boots for 2024. 

Fascinating stuff here.

“Your relationship [as a midfielder] with your goalkeeper is huge,” he said. “A couple of years ago when I wanted to improve that part of my game, I reached out to AFL guys and asked them about marks.

“One of the things they said was the relationship with the kicker, and their teammates, about getting a solid understanding with them.

“So in our game, that would be the goalkeeper. Learning and getting to know his strengths, the flight of their ball, and getting your timing right off the back of that. The timing was huge.

“They also do a lot of plyometrics; learning how to jump and land correctly. I reached out to basketball coaches on this too and watched a lot of videos. Plyos are essentially jumping and landing, so if you’re more confident landing on one foot, it’s a psychological thing that allows your body to jump higher.

“So I do a lot of these before gym sessions,” he continued.

“They are great for footwork. I didn’t like them at first because you feel like you are doing nothing, that it’s a waste of time because it’s not as sexy as doing bicep curls or shoulder presses and getting a bigger pump on.

“But this is training your body to land in the correct way and that can have a massive impact on your ability to turn and jump and it prevents injuries too.”

Learning how to cope with the Physical Demands to play midfield in the GAA

Aside from being required to be excellent at the basic skills, you also need an engine to play midfield.

It’s high volume, multi-directional running with a lot of accelerations and decelerations.

Quite similar to a corner forward in that way, as Mayo GAA’s Ryan O’Donoghue shares in this blog.

Ruane points out that your diet has a huge influence on being a successful midfielder right now.

“First and foremost, you need to be at the top of the running in training,” he said. “If you’re anywhere in the middle 8, you are covering a lot of ground, hitting 11 or 12km.

“But the big thing and what seperates the top players is how much of that you are doing at high speed, how many times you are able to change direction, accels and decals.

“Any junior player can cover 11km but it’s that stuff that seperates the elite.

“Your diet is also huge. I remember hearing a comment a few years ago: ‘Next time I see you you should be wearing an extra large jersey’, which was ridiculous.

“Most modern midfielders are barely touching 90kg now. You need to be really lean, carrying as little extra weight as possible, but still enough to be strong, and to tackle hard, break tackles and hold your ground in the jostling for kickouts.”

Advice for young GAA players wondering how to play Midfield?

The mental part of the game is a major element of Ruane’s football.

To get the best out of himself he is always looking for the small percentages in mindset and when asked for his advice, this side of him comes out there.

“I always say, I love marking someone who isn’t as quick or as agile as me, so if you flip that, that’s what makes a midfielder really hard to mark,” he said.

“It’s difficult to mark someone who is hungry for the ball, is constantly trying to get inbehind me and put me thinking defensively because is taking a part of my game away.

“So in terms of how to play, mdifielders should be forward thinking and trying to take a part of your marker’s game away.

“But also, I would say that you should be enjoying it. Go out and keep having fun.”

Conclusion

Follow Mattie Ruane’s advice and you can’t go wrong.

Working on basic skills, your atheleticism and constantly tring to find those little few inches of improvement is what has him at the very top of the game.

Intersport Elverys is proud sponsors of Mayo GAA.

Check out our website for a full range of county jerseys and training ranges.

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Half back, or wing back, is one of the most important postions in GAA (football or hurling) right now.

For a lot of young, up and coming GAA players, they really want to know how to play half back.

The position is the perfect blend of attacking and defending.

With a good aerobic base and ball skills, they can contribute at both ends of the field.

Intersport Elverys is delighted to picked the brains of Mayo GAA star and rampaging wing back, Eoghan McLaughlin, to share some advice and guidance on how to play the position.

Before you read on, his teammate Ryan O’Donoghue talks to us on how to play corner forward in this blog.

Understanding the role of a Half Back in GAA

According to Westport native McLaughlin, the role of a modern day half back is ‘to defend first and foremost’ but ‘then just give a good platform to the forwards to get scores’.

It is a position that has evolved massively in the past decade, with the likes of McLaughlin’s former Mayo teammate Lee Keegan and Dublin’s Jack McCaffrey revolutionising the role.

As McLaughlin, a former National Junior Cyclist, points out, it has became the springboard for most team’s attacks, while the traditional element of defending remains the same.

“From an attacking point of you, you are expected to be breaking lines, acting as that support runner for forwards create space for them while you also have to be able to take your scores when the opportunities come about.

“Defensively, I am obviously then trying to keep my man as quiet as possible, and also to make sure what I am doing is fitting in to the defensive principles of the team as well.”

Learning How to Play Half Back

McLaughlin’s path to the rampaging half back he is in the GAA started differently than most.

He was late to the game, having being involved at the top level of cycling in Ireland until 2018 when he decided he’d try Gaelic football.

That meant he had a lot of ground to make up in terms of the basic skills required to play and he needed extra sessions courtesy of former Mayo manager James Horan and Mayo GAA legend Ciaran McDonald.

“I came to football late,” he said. “James Horan was manager of Westport at the time. We used to train Tuesdays and Thursdays and then he used to meet me on Mondays and Wednesdays in Westport to do skills sessions.

“It started with three or four of us and it just ended up being me and him, working on different skills and elements of the game.

“Then when I was involved with Mayo, Ciaran McDonald used to come to Westport and work on skills with me. We’d go through different game scenarios in terms of my positional sense on the pitch, and what to do when certain situations occur.

“It was very good.

“As a wing back, and this might sound weird, but I really hate marking a wing forward who actually plays that position. Usually they drop back and you get loads of space and time on the ball, but when they push up it’s different!”

What are the main skills you need as a half back to play GAA?

McLaughlin says that focusing on the basic skills is what all young players should be doing as a half back.

“As a wing back you’re going to be breaking lines and taking players on one-v-one, so having good basic skills is a must,” he said.

“You should be working on these everyday – kicking, soloing, catching and handpassing. The first part of all our training sessions with Mayo is 20 minutes of basic skill work.

“left hand, right hand, left foot , right foot, different tackling techniques, the high ball. This is hugely beneficial when you do it over and over again.

“I also bring a ball with me into the gym so I can work of handpassing and handling in between sets.”

Advice for Good Tackling Technique as a Half Back?

With the physical demands in inter-county and club football at an all-time high right now, tackling is a crucial component of the game.

McLaughlin highlighted that tackling and ‘good positional play’ now go hand-in-hand as a modern-day half back must be able to defend as a unit and an individual now.

“In terms of the tackle, you need to first see where the main threats are and where the ball is on the pitch,” he said.

“If the ball is over the far side of the pitch, you can afford to step off your main as a wing back and fitting into the team’s defensive unit, helping out the full backline and preventing kick passes.

“When the ball shifts across, you then have to press up and in terms of getting the tackle right, it’s about reading it and trusting your instincts for when to tackle and when to step off.

“When you do get in the tackle, it’s about getting in their face, taking his time away from the ball and influencing his game.

“You want to be the aggressor, be that stripping the ball back or slowing the man down.”

Interestingly, McLaughlin’s teammate Mattie Ruane had similar views in this blog on How to play as a Midfielder. 

The Physical Demands of Playing Half Back in the GAA

Wing back is one of the most physically demanding positions on the GAA pitch.

Inter-county players are expected to cover north of 10km in a full game – at a minimum really.

McLaughlin is renowned for his athleticism and running ability and recently against Roscommon in the 2024 National Football League, ran for over 600m at 25km above.

“Being a wing back is tough on the body,” he laughed.

“Probably one of the most important things as a wing back is being able to get up and down the field.

“I don’t follow our GPS stats that much,  but I saw I hit 600 metres of Zone 6 running (25kmh+) against Roscommon and then I obviously pulled my hammer doing it! So that’s a very high end.

“But the majority of your good runs need to be in the Zone 5 and Zone 6 categories, which is over 75%. It’s hard running and much different to a full back who are doing short aggressive runs over and over again, ours are long.

“That’s where scores come from – being able to get up and support the play, break a line or get on the end of an attack.

Advice for Young GAA Players Learning How to Play Half Back?

McLaughlin’s advice is simple – do the basics well and play as a team.

And stay out of the gym!

“If you’re playing wing back or half back, learn to play with the team and how to get the best out of your teammates.

“That means, for example, if I am playing with Ryan O’Donoghue, knowing how he likes to receive the ball to help get the best out of him. And that might be different to how Paul Towey wants to receive it.

“Every player has different trademarks in that sense.

“But it’s also all about working on the basic skills. The younger generation now are very focused on the gym but you really don’t need to be at that age. I didn’t start gyming until I was 19.

“Nowadays kids are starting at 13 and 14. They should be nailing the basic skills because size and strength will come. There is much better value in doing ball work.”

Conclusion

Mayo GAA star McLaughlin is an excellent example of a footballer who started out with little skill, and put the work in to improve himself.

In a few short years he managed to work his way into the Mayo senior set up.

If you’re interest in learning more about Gaelic Football Positions check out our blog on that.

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