Geordan retires from International rugby.

To be honest I thought that he already had.

A seriously under-utilised Irish player in the past.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18174073

Found it tought to break into the Irish set up and injuries hit him when he was on the cusp. Great player. Thanks for everything Geordan!

Thomond wrote:Found it tought to break into the Irish set up and injuries hit him when he was on the cusp. Great player. Thanks for everything Geordan!

Not as much as Tigers will miss him Thom. You don't want to lend us Kearney do you?

You can have Baby Kearney, could develop into a solid full back. Isn't in with much of a shout in Leinster. Not for a few years yet. Sure take D'Arcy while you're at it. Him and Manu would be class like!

I remember first seeing Geordan on page 3. What an impressive sight in full flight.

Sorry you mean Geordan Murphy. I thought that's how you spelled Jordan in Ireland. My bad. Thanks for the memories Geordan. Good fullback.

Portnoy wrote:

Thomond wrote:Found it tought to break into the Irish set up and injuries hit him when he was on the cusp. Great player. Thanks for everything Geordan!

Not as much as Tigers will miss him Thom. You don't want to lend us Kearney do you?

He is still playing for Tigers. Dont worrys Ports you have him a bit longer yet.

The official announcement was a long time coming. He must have been the A.N. Other in the squad and making up his mind on whether to tour.

Fantastic servant for Ireland but we probably never saw the best of him in a green shirt, not since his leg break anyways. Won plenty of caps though and put in some nice cameos.

Best of luck to him and I hope he has some more great days in a Tigers jersey .

Good player, but there's always the perception that he under-achieved as an international and performed better at club level. Whether that's because he's the Irish equivalent of Charlie Hodgson (i.e. fine club player but struggled to make the transition to full international level) or because of the style that Ireland played for much of his career is something of an unknowable. That Ireland would sometimes select the decent but limited (i.e. slow) Girvan Dempsey in preference suggests the selectors often felt the same.

Admittedly, having over 50 international caps suggests he did well enough...

I think thats unfair on Dempsey who played some excellent attacking rugby, especially later in his career.

Geordan did under achieve in relation to his club form mainly because he wasn't the orthodox full back that fitted the Ireland gameplan under EOS and he could be defensively frail at times.

At the Tigers he relished being the focal point of the side and roaming around into 1st receiver. He had big men like Tuilagi alongside him and was behind a dominant pack.

He was a good player for Ireland but a great player for the Tigers but theres no shame in that. He's had a great career.

He shone in the Lions mid week team in 2005 as well, forming a very good understanding with Shane Williams.

Young Kearney is going to eclipse older Kearney one day - so No...nobody is getting him!

On Geordan......... had everything until that injury that stopped his WC hopes dead in 2003. I know he's performed with Leicester and he's a real hero to them but with Ireland he had his good days and in my mind a lot of bad ones. I think he lost a lot of confidence in his abilities at International level for whatever reasons but he often looked timid, unwilling and tense.

Like I say, I'm not going to go blaming him but something was never quite right when he played for Ireland. He had good games with us but overall I was always anxious and seldom felt confident or comfortable with him at 15.

Others see his Irish time differently, I realise that. But that's my take on it. He was never as settled at International as he obviously was with his club Leicester

SecretFly wrote:Young Kearney is going to eclipse older Kearney one day - so No...nobody is getting him!

On Geordan......... had everything until that injury that stopped his WC hopes dead in 2003. I know he's performed with Leicester and he's a real hero to them but with Ireland he had his good days and in my mind a lot of bad ones. I think he lost a lot of confidence in his abilities at International level for whatever reasons but he often looked timid, unwilling and tense.

Like I say, I'm not going to go blaming him but something was never quite right when he played for Ireland. He had good games with us but overall I was always anxious and seldom felt confident or comfortable with him at 15.

Others see his Irish time differently, I realise that. But that's my take on it. He was never as settled at International as he obviously was with his club Leicester

It seemed like he just couldn't click with Hickie and Horgan, while Dempsey had that connection from Leinster.

Geordan did under achieve in relation to his club form mainly because he wasn't the orthodox full back that fitted the Ireland gameplan under EOS and he could be defensively frail at times.

At the Tigers he relished being the focal point of the side and roaming around into 1st receiver.

I think the freedom Tigers offered him was what set him alight, the guy is just a brilliant natural footballer. Not the quickest and no where near the biggest but his rugby brain is one of the best. Had he been built like D'Arcy then the Murphy/BOD centre pairing would have been unstoppable but because Murphy is in fact pretty small he was always going to be limited to the back three. As an out and out 15 then there are better but if his skill set is utilised then he can make any backline tick.

At 34 it was best he bow out gracefully rather than go on tours as 2nd or 3rd choice and take up a spot a younger guy could have taken. He'll have a couple more years at Tigers and the skill coach role will be sitting there waiting for him when he retires (from what I hear he does that part time already). The man bleeds Green (with stripes of red and white).

An ongoing theme is how some players star in the AP and then look mediocre playing for Ireland.
The broken leg really stopped all his International momentum when he was on the up. He was probably too individualistic to be a great Test player anyway as coaches like EOS/Kidney have a playbook that has to be followed at all costs.

The Great Aukster wrote:An ongoing theme is how some players star in the AP and then look mediocre playing for Ireland.
The broken leg really stopped all his International momentum when he was on the up. He was probably too individualistic to be a great Test player anyway as coaches like EOS/Kidney have a playbook that has to be followed at all costs.

I'd say close to nail-on-head Aukster. The old problem of overly regimented NH International rugby. By the numbers and stand to attention!!!, you're not at Club now, boy, we'll have none of that freeform nonsense. It might be changing but very slowly. And when you think of it, the old conservative, more coy approach to International, is still impacting on present Irish players who move from Provinces to international.

I know this is on the GM thread, but to extrapolate the argument slightly further, questions have to be asked of the IRFU regarding the instructions they give their management team. If they are really prescriptive and detailed about exactly what they want from a coach, that may in turn affect his approach to the game and selection.

If the goals are low then the coach may be far more conservative regarding his selections. OTOH if it was to say win the next World Cup the coach would be forced to think far more radically. How much direction/autonomy does the coach actually get from the IRFU?

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:I remember first seeing Geordan on page 3. What an impressive sight in full flight.

Sorry you mean Geordan Murphy. I thought that's how you spelled Jordan in Ireland. My bad. Thanks for the memories Geordan. Good fullback.

Or do you mean mammaries.