The man behind the wire: Big first round defeat hands Rhode a troubling dilemma

RHODE'S 3-20 to 1-17 Senior Football Championship defeat by Edenderry was the standout result in the opening round last weekend.

It was not that Rhode lost. Edenderry had won the Division 1 Football League and were marginal favourites to collect the two points in group 1. It was the scale of the defeat that captured attention.

Edenderry were 3-19 to 0-12 up with ten minutes to go and the Rhode mentors and players looked shell-shocked.

The way in which they dug deep and fought for their pride from here was hugely commendable. The majority of teams throw in the towel at this stage, stop working and trying and the scoreline would go in only one direction. Rhode didn't do this. They really worked hard, tried to stop them racing through them and got a lease of life, out scoring their opponents by 1-5 to 0-1 late on to at least ensure that the outcome was not as painful as it could have been.

It was good that Rhode achieved this and while a nine point defeat was still a heavy, thought provoking one, the deficit was sixteen points with ten minutes to go and could very easily have went north of twenty points. That would have been humiliating and thankfully Rhode didn't have to endure that.

They have been the most remarkable phenomenon that Offaly club football has ever witnessed. The Walsh Island six in a row team from 1978 to 1983 is rightly treasured in Offaly and was its greatest ever club side while a relentless Ferbane won five in a row from 1986 to 1990. Rhode never got beyond three in a row but no club in Offaly has ever enjoyed such longevity and consistency in such a condensed period

After ending a traumatic 23 year famine when winning the Senior Football Championship in 1998, Rhode endured a very tough few years before re-entering the winners' enclosure in 2004. They went on to complete three in a row in 2005 and 2006 and embarked on Offaly club football's most remarkable, consistent, sustained run of excellence.

They had players who featured in all their wins from 2003 while Alan McNamee was on the 1998 team. They won titles in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018, when they completed a second three in a row, 2020 and 2022.

They were a breathtaking force of nature, nearly always performed and they had huge big game performers. Alan McNamee was one while their current manager Paschal Kellaghan was another in the early years, the man who made Rhode tick for much of the 2000s. Roy Malone was a star in those years too and they had excellent club players such as David Bannon, Fergal Dunne, Joe Kilmurray and so many others.

The key to Rhode's success, however, was the brilliance of their best players, their county stars. Niall McNamee was the X factor, the best Offaly forward of the modern era and a scoring machine at every level. There was a long held view that if you took Niall McNamee out of Rhode and put him in with any of their main contenders, they would win the title. That of course is just a fun source for conversation and can never be proven but the question was an interesting one, notwithstanding the many great players around him and their ability to perform – Rhode would still have won championships without Niall McNamee, though they would not have won as many.

Niall McNamee, Brian Darby and Niall Darby all came more or less at the same time in the early 2000s and they were a breath of fresh air to the likes of Alan McNamee, Roy Malone and Paschal Kellaghan who were firmly established – along with one of the best defenders in Offaly at the turn of the millennium, Barry Malone. Rhode had suffered some heartbreaking losses in big games from 1998 to 2003 and the introduction of Niall McNamee and the two Darby's was instrumental to Rhode's fantastic run,

Two more generational talents, Anton Sullivan and Ruari McNamee followed within a few years and Rhode were almost unbeatable at their peak. They went for over a decade without losing a group game and they were the starters' favourites every year from 2004 until 2022 when the balanced of power switched to Tullamore – Rhode did have a great against the odds championship triumph in 2022.

Those great players named above had enjoyed fantastic underage success in Rhode on the way up, winning titles in all grades but they have struggled in the young ranks for some time now, though they have managed to make some progress – and they have been clearly working very hard at this level in recent years.

Fr Time catches up on everyone and Rhode players and managers have become accustomed to fielding questions about the future when the McNamee's, Darby's etc, finish up at county final press nights since the end of the 2010s.

These questions were prompted by Rhode's underage record and a realisation that this quality of player was going to be impossible to replace, that they would have to come back into the pack – the emergence of a brilliant Tullamore meant that titles became harder to win, Ferbane found that they could also beat them and Rhode's older statesmen did have to slow down.

Their team on Saturday included Alan McNamee, now in his 40s, Niall McNamee and Brian and Niall Darby who are heading towards the 40.

Anton Sullivan, Ruari and Conor McNamee, twins James and Paul McPadden still have a few years left where they will be very influential but they are all in their 30s, or close to it in the case of Ruari. In football terms, they are all now in the veteran ranks with a lot of mileage up and their legs can no longer carry them as fast or as long as they could a couple of years ago – they just can't get up and around the field the way they did, never mind the older cohort.

Saturday's defeat gives Rhode manager Paschal Kellaghan a considerable headache, a dilemma to consider.

There is absolutely no doubt that Kellaghan and Rhode have been operating this year in the belief that there could be another kick in them, that they could win one more championship before this golden generation drifts away.

They do have talent coming up. Cian McNamee will be a huge addition to them when he emerges out of minor ranks in 2027 – minor is U18 at club level in Offaly, he can't play adult football until he is out of that age group and it means that he is unlikely to get to play championship football with older brother Alan, while there is no guarantee that Niall will still be playing then.

Cian McNamee and Aaron Kellaghan should be their main men in the not too distant future. Ross Kellaghan should be a big game player, Ryan Kellaghan will be good for them and there is other decent footballers emerging. They will all get the right schooling and football will keep most of their youth around but Rhode are heading into transition.

Cian McNamee won't be able to win games at this level on his own and Rhode are likely to have a valley period before they come again – and they will come again at some stage, don't be under any doubt about that.

The question is: how long will this take?

For Rhode, the big dilemma is do they take a long term view and start to give vital experience to their younger players now?

You can be absolutely sure that Rhode are genuine in their title aspirations and believe that this group can win one more.

The evidence of Saturday suggests that they can't. The new rules just won't suit some of their older players and the way Edenderry ran through them when they settled after the 10 minute mark or so won't have been lost on anyone in Rhode.

Yet, it is a measure of the respect they are held in that no one will write them off. With Durrow and Ballycommon in the same group, they remain favourites for a quarter-final place and there could be a big game in them, they could take out one of the main contenders. Whether they can put three big games back to back and win another title is doubtful but you never know – Rhode are Rhode and their attitude and footballing ethos is exemplary.

At the same time, a nine point defeat is a nine point defeat. It is certainly the heaviest that Rhode have suffered since their 1998 breakthrough and you have to go back before that to find a game when they were beaten at such an early stage. Every team can have a horror show but when you fall sixteen points behind in a game, it does signify something.

There is a case to be made for biting the bullet now and giving their younger players their head. It is going to have to happen sooner rather than later and in many ways, the timing is ideal now. With senior football going up to ten teams next year, there is no relegation in 2025 and that is a big help to all teams in the championship. Mentioning Rhode in the same breath as relegation seems stonewall mad but again you never know. It has happened to Edenderry in the past, it has happened Clara; it's not that long ago since Ferbane and Tullamore were looking anxiously at the drop.

No club is immune from it and while Rhode certainly aren't in relegation territory at the moment, that is not to say they won't be down the road. There is an opportunity there now, however, to start throwing in young players – even if results may not be good and it will take time.

A few things will probably stop Rhode from doing this . One is their championship ambitions and a belief that they can get another one. It would take a silly man to tell Rhode that can't happen and I for one won't be telling them that but as things stand, they are the fourth ranked team, behind Tullamore, Ferbane and Edenderry - yet they are one of the few teams with the mentality and potential to knock Tullamore off their perch, even if it didn't result in a visit from the Dowling Cup.

Another is protecting young players and not exposing them to bad beatings too soon – they took off one new name, Eoin Smith after 28 minutes on Saturday and there is no way they will be introducing a lot of novices at the one time.

A big factor, possibly the biggest, will be loyalty to the older players. Paschal Kellaghan has a lifelong bond with all of those and he won't want to be the man to tell any of them that they aren't starting and that their day has come and gone. They have all earned the right to go on their own terms – their heart is in Rhode football and you would expect that they will be looking at the long picture and will want to see young players getting their chance.

Their leadership will be a great asset to young players and it is all a very delicate balancing act for Rhode. It is not simple and it is hard to know what the right thing to do is.

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We can, however, be certain that the end game is in touching distance for some of those players and the Rhode team will be a different one in three years time. They could well have to endure another famine of some sort, hopefully much shorter than their 1975-1998 one. It is very difficult to replace leaders like the Darby's and McNamee's and it is a time of flux for Rhode.

They are going to have to trust young players sooner rather than later and we await Rhode's response to Saturday's defeat with great interest – there will be a serious rallying of the forces going on there this week and they are unlikely to respond with dramatic changes at the moment, though the more young players they get into senior football action, the better it will be for them in the long term.