Really - who here has posted that Downey was flawless? I think most here accept that Joyce is a good player and we're a much better squad with him than without, and the Downey had two very good performances in the last two games. Where the fanaticism has crept in though is the insistence by some that Joyce MUST start at 6, which is clearly not the case.
You want the TEAM to be better than the sum of the parts. Even if Joyce is better this season at intercounty 6 than Downey (debatable) - the most important thing is the overall package from positions 1-15. If Downey at 6 and Joyce at 9 (for instance) is better in the overall scheme of things then that's how it should be.
Insisting that so-and-so is better individually at 6 (or 3 or 15 etc) than someone else, and as such should start there irrespective of how much better the overall team package might be with someone else playing there and the individual utilized elsewhere is shortsighted.
Put it this way - it was said that John Lennon was a better drummer than Ringo Star, but it's to the benefit of the Beatles that they didn't get hung up on that and they saw the overall package would be better with Lennon playing guitar
