This week’s Mayo News (which, according to Edwin McGreal on Twitter earlier on, contains one of their best sports sections of the year so it might be worth picking up a copy if it’s on sale where you are) contains the first bit of solid news as regards who might be coming in to the Mayo senior squad for 2012 as well as who may not be. This piece by Ed provides some names in this regard, which is based on details of those who were (and weren’t) asked to attend an assessment weekend at McHale Park last Saturday and Sunday.
Included in the list who were there were long-term injury absentees in 2011, Pat Harte and Conor Mortimer (the latter now plying his trade at club level up the road from here with Parnells). Also included were a clutch of the younger brigade, all of whom will still be eligible for U21 action next year, with this cohort including Danny Kirby from Castlebar, Aghamore’s Brendan Harrison, Ballycastle’s Micheál Forde, Knockmore’s Shane McHale and this year’s minor captain, Conor O’Shea from Breaffy.
Six championship panelists from this year weren’t asked to attend last weekend’s session and they were Mark Ronaldson and Dermot Geraghty of Shrule/Glencorrib, Ballaghaderreen’s James Kilcullen, Ballinrobe’s Kenneth O’Malley, Castlebar’s Neil Douglas and James Burke who plays his club football up here with Ballymun.
According to the same article, some of those taking part in this weekend’s senior county final as well as some who lined out in last Sunday’s Intermediate decider will also be assessed over the coming weeks. As regards the latter, the storming performances put in last Sunday by Davitts’ captain Michael Conroy and centre-back Colm Boyle could well result in both getting an overdue recall to the county panel for 2012. By the way, Mike Finnerty’s report in the Mayo News on the Intermediate final is here.
Amazing isnt it. Horan was quoted on hoganstand that he will look at the players for the SFC and IFC county finals also. Yet he didnt even turn up to the JFC final. More shite from Mayo GAA towards Junior football, even though Kerry is full of Junior players Mayo will as usual bury their heads towards it.
In fairness to James Horan he cannot be everywhere but now that the backroom team has been recently enlarged(this weeks Western People) perhaps he might get to see more teams.
Fair play to the county board for sorting a Mayo problem with a Mayo solution. There seemed to be some difficulty sorting out a liaison officer who would link (I think) the football management to the county board. Well despite his heavy work load and fair play to him , this weeks Western tells us that the county chairman will now perform that role too.
So we now have the poor man burdened with another job despite one of his comrades stating at a prior meeting that the county board was overloaded with work hence the need for the liaison officer in the first place. Now the chairman is the liaison officer who in effect will report to himself and his own board…or am I confused….aaaaghhhhhh
would be surprised if horan didnt have some sort of rep at that game to be honest.
Even John O’Mahony had the good grace to turn up at the County Junior football final.
i have a problem with this announcement…….., why is necessary to publish a list of new lads to the panel. all that happened was that 30 lads were assessed nothing else. ronan mac was not assessed this does not mean he was ‘dropped’. don’t think its fair to announce that young lads like harrison, regan etc have been added to the panel puts them under an unnecassary spot light.
It’s all very well asking James Horan to turn up and view lads at all levels. However the Kerry comparison is not valid. The fact is the reason Kerry have so many Junior players on their Senior team is because those Junior players have the opportunity to play at Senior level.
Thus the extra special Junior and Intermediate players who have a chance of playing Inter County will also consistently be playing regular football at the highest grade.
Asking a lad from Ballycastle or Islandeady to come forward for assessment is all well and good, but it won’t help that player as he won’t be used to playing against lads of Senior or Inter County grade (which most of the others on display will be).
In my mind it’s actually unfair and just really a token gesture from those in power. What is one assesment going to show anyway?
I’m not asking James Horan to turn up and view lads at all levels. But it would show a bit of respect if he attended the final of each level.
In 2010 9 of the starting 15 for West Mayo were from Islandeady, the rest were from Parke and Louisburg. The clubs involved wanted West Mayo to particpate this year but the Senior clubs shot it down. A neighbouring club to Islandeady led the way.
A lot of these Junior clubs play against lads of a Senior or intercounty grade in the league. Islandeady for instance is in Division 1B and have beat senior clubs like Tourmakeady and Kiltane regulary and last Sunday lost by a point to Breaffy in a game they should of really won.
John O Mahony turns up at funerals of people he doesnt even know Islandeady…..
IslandeadyGAA I’m not disagreeing with you. Fair enough JH should have the grace to attend the County Junior final. I don’t know him at all so I can’t defend him in any way here. But I have been calling for years now for the structure to be put in place to allow Junior and Intermediate clubs amalgamate and particiapte in the Senior club championship.
It’s no surprise that Kerry have been dominating football for generations. They are dominating at club level too. Club football in Kerry is simply stronger, tougher and harder than in Mayo (and the majority of other counties) and consequently better Inter county players are being produced.
And the reason for it is because they allow their Intermediate and Junior teams to bond together to form divisional teams that can play in the Kerry Senior championship. And as a result the Kerry Senior championship is hugely more competitive. In turn this breeds through a better, stronger and more competitive Inter County player as well.
The frightening thing is that this seems such a mystery to those in control in our county. I can’t understand why this is as it’s been structured this way in Kerry for donkey’s years. So it’s no great secret. And let’s be honest – they are the benchmark. But we cannot seem to grasp that this approach might work in our favour as well.
Finally I have to say I feel actually sorry for those Junior and Intermediate players who may be called on to the ‘Winter Panel’ now. They may even perform well enough to play at this stage.
But when it comes to Summer they won’t there! Because they cannot (and simply do not) have the opportunity to play consistent high-grade club football and this will hold them back and hold back their development. And they won’t be able to continue to compete for places at Inter County levels against the other Senior grade players.
Lads be fair to James.
Firstly do we know for a fact that he wasn’t there?
Even if he wasn’t he has been involved as Mayo manager non-stop since last November/December. We were knocked out of the championship in late August. Straight away the club championship started up again and there has been some form of game every week. He has been busy putting in place a new coach, a plan for next year and now carrying out fitness assessments and we are ready to roll again. Did he get a break, a weekend off in between? Maybe that was the week he did take. The point I am making is that he cannot be everywhere, do everything. This may have been an occasion where he saw fit to send his scouts along. Maybe he had seen both teams play earlier championship matches. I don’t know. But he should not be castigated on a statement of an anonymous internet forum poster.
And that’s the bottom line ’cause Stone Cold Says So
jpm, don’t feel sorry for junior or intermediate players, the fact is if they are good enough they are good enough. If not they will return to their clubs. There is no place for pity on a Mayo team. Horan needs to be cold, hard and clinical in putting a panel together. I would assume that if a Junior or Intermediate player was found wanting by Horan, due to playing lower level club football, he would tell that player. Then the player would have a decision to make.
James Horan was in New York………………..
Mayo tired badly against Kerry,so it was a good move bringing in an expert to get the training right. I like the cut of the horan approach, he looks like he has one goal on his mind and is making the moves necessary as soon as the become apparent. On picking junior or intermediate players, if they are skilled enough they should be picked and you would imagine he would pick them, time will tell. Mortimer will add a bit of actual scoring power and is welcome in my view. Mayo will need the panel and the possible panel fringe players training ASAP, within the rules of the gaa of course. The fitness they need takes more than a few months to build.
Spot on Ceideboy – the player will have a decision to make. And what will that be except that he will probably have to move to a bigger club to keep progressing.
Take the example for instance.
Junior or Intermediate Player A is recognised as possibly being good enough to play at Inter county level. He is a for example a natural Corner Forward with two feet and good pace.
However because he is playing at the lower level he has to move to midfield because he’s the best player at the club. So he’s stuck in midfiled trying to win dirty ball, chase back, instigate play and score as well. Will he succeed? No – becasue he’s being held back and cannot work to develop his natural instinctive game
And the only option for him to do this and progress is to leave his club and move to a bigger neighbour.
First of all unless I’m mistaken technically this is still not allowed and objections can (and will) be made.
Also it does nothing to encourage smaller clubs and makes the gulf between top and bottom wider.
It also makes him a loathed person in his own parish or village becasue he is seen as refusing to play for them and moving down the road to the enemy.
Also he has to start again at the new club where he knows no one and will be viewed by many as just stealing a place from one of the local lads. So he will be loathed there as well.
Is that the scenario you want. Why can’t the divisional option be looked at. It’s a simple answer to all of the problems above. And we know it works.
Yes you are right, jpm. The divisional team is the way to go, I cant understand why Mayo don’t see this. We will have to stop agreeing with each other.lol
Fair enough Ceideboy. Didn’t know you were agreeing with me.
But would you not sympathy for that player and all of those decisions he would have to make (under our current structure) to attempt to fulfill his potential?
Does it not seem like an awful lot of hard lonely work and serious professional attitude forced upon young shoulders. Not to mind the lonely road he has to take. Is it any wonder lads fall by the wayside ?
That’s why I feel sorry for these fellas. To be put in this position by ridiculous demands when a workable solution is available.
i dont know about you lads but when i was a young player had my name appeared in the paper as having been added to a county panel i would have been feckin delighted !
And does anybody think for one moment that the Mayo county board are a blind bit interested in adopting a system that works well in Kerry re divisional sides. Mark my words or the words of a man whom I am not fit to scrape the muck from his boots .Eamon Mongey once said long after he finished playing “What we won was despite the county board not because of them”.
Am I seeing things right. Moving clubs to progress your inter county career? Jesus lads cop on to yourselfs.
can anybody name a junior player that would make it at county level that was playing in this years final.
Islandeady – i’m not encouraging fellas to move clubs to further their careers. In fact I’m trying strongly to advocate the opposite and keep them in their resepctive parishes and homelands.
Raz – to answer your Q. over 50% of the starting Kerry team that lined out in this years ALL Ireland final came from Junior or Intermedeate clubs.
Ollie Feeney Raz in my opinion would make it, Peter Collins would struggle but is still a good player and Danny McGowan is one for the future.
Since Horan got the job a serious number of players have been involved with the Senior panel and no doubt will be again this winter and on into the FBD-id like to know just how many-the point being if there were a number of outstanding junior players out there im sure they will get a chance if not had one already. The reality is, as we all agree, it is a serious commitment to become a county panellist and be fellas from junior/inter/senior they need to have had a lot of pre-training done to even stand a chance of impressing once on board. Its difficult but thats the reality and i doubt Horan or his selectors give one curse whether a fella is from a Junior Z club if he has the commitment, the ability, and the potential to improve the panel.
jpm i am aware that alot of kerry players play with junior or inter clubs but alot of them play senior championship.I agree that ollie had a fine campaign but in your opinion islandeadygaa why do u think he has not recieved a call up. also why are so many senior clubs against the likes of west mayo playing in senior championship .
The reason that so many clubs particulary the covies are against it was relegation and one five team group. Top two qualify and the rest of the group goes into a relegation. Of course in a five team group three go into the relegation battle. Westport did last year and didnt like it. So we were voted against getting back in.
I dont know why Ollie wasnt picked. He was brilliant for West Mayo last year in the senior and massive for us in the Junior this year. Without him we wouldnt be half the club.
I meant to point out that similar to other counties the divisonal side cant be relegated.
it should have continued and people who vote against progress and development of that kind i have no time for them.It can only enhance players profile and make them more compeditive. By the way i thought ardnaree,s no 14 was handy enough against ye.
Ollie feeney is a good player but I honestly believe that he wouldn’t make the castlebar or ballintubber club teams. I remember Alan Dillon marking him two years ago in a game and let’s just day that Dillon had a good day. Feeney may have improved since then but there is a huge difference in terms of fitness and ability between junior and senior. There is no comparison really. I go to many junior games and there isn’t one in my opinion good enough for the county set up. Pat casey (the neale) was given a chance under Mickey Moran but he didn’t make it. Michael forde (ballycastle) just might.