The New Year has already seen football action at both inter-county and club levels, with Mayo edged out by Galway in the FBD League in the novel surroundings of the Air Dome at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence, while Kilmeena and Knockmore experienced contrasting fortunes in their respective Connacht football finals.
In this first Mayo News football podcast episode of 2022, we look back at that FBD semi-final and survey how things are shaping up for the county team ahead of the start of the National League campaign. Rob Muphy hosts the show and he’s joined by Mike Finnerty and Billy Joe Padden.
As well as reflecting on Mayo’s defeat in the Dome, the lads discuss Jason Doherty’s impending return to the fray as well as Cillian O’Connor’s rehab, which is now nearing completion. Oisín Mullin’s future remains in doubt and the lads discuss the lure of the AFL and the impact this has on up and coming Gaelic footballers.
There’s also a look ahead to what’s coming up on the podcast over the next while, including the special Colm Boyle episode that’ll be online soon. Finally, it’s back to the on-field action for a discussion on Knockmore’s loss to Padraig Pearses and Kilmeena’s big win over St Patrick’s last weekend.
This episode of the Mayo News football podcast is now online and is available to listen to on iTunes, SoundCloud, Podomatic and Spotify. You can also listen to it directly on the Mayo News website as well as here on the blog using the SoundCloud player below or the one on the panel on the right.
The Mayo News football podcast has its own Twitter presence, @MayoPodcast, so if you’re a Twitter user you should follow us there to make sure you get the latest podcast-related updates, including new episodes.
The Mayo News football podcast is produced and edited by Ger Duffy Media.
Does anyone know what the issue is with Oisín Mullin? I feel sorry for the lad if his dreams are being shattered by Covid. Even though I would love to see him continue in the Mayo colours, I cannot but feel sorry for him if he is not getting the chance he hoped for.
More often than not the GAA guys usually return from Oz in a few years. So, even if he did go, he would be back in all likelihood,
I hope he is okay from a psychological point of view. Having said that, he may be better off finishing his education, and then going to Oz. He is very young to be heading over to the other side of the world into a dog-eat-dog environment.
Professional sport is cruel. It can spit you out in the blink of an eye. And if you do not have something to fall back on, it can leave you with few options after you are dropped.
So here’s hoping all goes well for Oisin, whatever path he takes. He has already given us some great days in the green and red.
Good to hear a bit of positiveness around Mayo GAA from listening to the podcast. Looking forward to seeing Jason and Cillian back in the Mayo forwards this year.
I hope Oisin isn’t being rushed into a decision or feeling pressure from either Geelong or Mayo to make one when he is still uncertain.
As Billie Joe pointed out the main thing is that he is happy with what ever decision he makes. I think its only fair people give him and his family the time and space they need and not speculate on the outcome.
Whatever his decision might be the people of Mayo will support him and have his back.
Billie Joe summed up the Mullin situation well. Surely it’s not a covid issue keeping him from going though? Plenty of covid in Australia too. The AFL do have a vaccine mandate in place – Carlton defender Liam Jones quit his $500k per annum contract over refusal to get vaccinated. Would be amazed if that was the issue here though.
Speculating on a man’s medical history is permissible, mind boggles.
Highly doubt it’s covid tbh. He just can’t make up his mind but he will have to one way or another soon enough.
I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make there, Viper, aside from engaging in idle sniping. I don’t think any of the comments did what you claim – Covid is an ever present in all of our lives and its impact is being felt in all areas. Nobody’s “medical history” was being speculated about.
@Willie Joe, whether someone has been vaccinated is their medical history and there is a clear reference to vaccination.
There was no direct reference made in the way you’re alleging, Viper. I can only conclude you’re seriously bored at the moment if you’re willing to engage in this kind of argumentative ball-hopping.
Right, Viper – you clearly are bored and haven’t anything better to do right now. I have so I suggest you amuse yourself somewhere else as I’m done with interacting with you on this issue here.
We played Leitrim in a friendly last night in Bekan and it appears we had a star showing at corner forward who I believe was Paul Towey. Needless to say we need plenty of scoring forwards coming through.
Just as I predicted Spotlight! Sounds promising. Towey definitely deserves a shot. A real talent for sure. Fast, reads the game well (makes the right runs at right time), can win his own ball.
You’re up with the play there Spotlight! I really fancy Towey, but am a little concerned that he hasn’t made the breakthrough, when others like Mullin, MacLauglin, Tommy C, Ryan, and so on have done. Any details on the team that was out, or any media references to it?
I was surprised that Towey didn’t get a run out for UL during the week. It’s a star studded line up but I still would have expected him to start
Does Towey have the physique for intercounty football? I have to say any time I’ve seen him play I thought he looked a good bit behind in terms of S&C. Maybe that’s part of the reason he hasn’t made the breakthrough?
I thought he had bulked up Tubberman.
The game has changed with more stringent refereeing, better skills to “play in” the am small man.
Lots of teams now have a chunky low corner back and a chunky low corner forward.
Obviously they might be more suited to coming off the bench when they get more space.
Are there any playmakers that might jumpstart our half forward line ?
With Ryan, Cillian and Tommy hopefully rearing to go, that looks like it could be as strong as any full forward line in the country. Assuming the three played on that line.
We obviously need some help or a playmaker or two to get more from our half forward line.
Would the likes of Boland, Fionn Mcdonagh, Kevin Mc assuming he comes back, and maybe Jason Doc assuming that he’s back near his best, would these be the type of players to get our half forward line humming ?
I don’t for a second believe that we don’t have the forwards. I actually think the opposite and I think that our half forward line can be just as lethal as our full forward line if we get it right.
I like Towey but as another poster said I’d be worried he isn’t starting with UL
In other non mayo news huge blow to Galway in the sigerson with their fullback suffering a shocking legbreak, galway were already badly lacking in defenders as it is without losing their one competent defender
While this obviously weakens galway you hate to see any young player get such a bad injury so get well soon
There is no shortage of forwards in Mayo , what we have a shortage of is good coaches and tacticians.
Look at the hammering Cavan a division 4 outfit gave to Tyrone 1-17 to 0-05 and a team which included Rafferty, Hampsey, Brennan, Harte, Meyler, McGeary, Kilpatrick, and McCurry.
Mayo have better forwards than Tyrone and a far better panel of players generally so the focus on always looking for new forwards is wrong.
There is an article on Oisin Mullen in the “Geelong Advertiser”.. if anyone wants to pay the Aus$4 for the privilege of reading it.. I’m afraid it’s still in the realms of speculation.
@revellino I reckon we need to bring one of the 3 sharpshooters (rod/coc/tc) out to center forward.
Leaving 3 men inside in the modern age doesn’t really work as they all feed off space, as well at that we are improving our weakest line on the team by bringing out one of those guys.
I would start cillian at number 11 as he is a quality footpasser, he could appreciate the need for pumping quick quality ball into the 2 lads, and also his ability to pop points from 40 yards a good weapon against a blanket defence,your number 12 then would be a 3rd midfielder essentially
My forward line would be…
Hessian cillian Boland
Loftus (3rd midfielder)
ROD conroy
People saying ROD are in our full forward line are living in dreamland. They may well be named there but any decent team occupy Conroy going back the way as Horan has demanded that’s what he does. By the time hes done aimlessly running into his own half following a corner back, he’s zapped of energy.
ROD drops out to CF the majority of the time and had a great year, but he’s not a corner forward.
It’s 2022 and an FBD league game was used to trial Conor O’Shea there…
If you want players to be able to perform together on big days then that absolutely need to play together throughout the league. So that’s players in positions and give them bloody license to do their thing. What on earth has been done to James Carr? This is the same player who at top speed couldn’t be caught, yet in the bare minutes we see him looks to be under instruction to not lose the ball under any circumstances. Is that what we want? Or do we want to see about giving him or any other talented player 5 league games on the bounce and play close to every minute. Go through the negative moments and the positives, actually get the reps in rather than 5/15/25mins.
We wasted panel positions last year on players we felt an obligation to have there, or players who weren’t going to get back to full fitness. No new voice has come in. We drool over Ciaran Mac, but are our forwards any better? If anything I would say our half forward line is drastically worse in the last 2 years.
RO’D very clearly played full forward/corner forward last year and against Galway last Friday. How can you say otherwise? It’s definitely the place he can do most damage as well so I wouldn’t be moving him. Same with Conroy and Cillian if/when he gets back. I’d be naming those 3 as our full forward line. One might drop back at times to provide a link but ultimately you want the best forwards closest to goal.
I would encourage you to watch the Dublin game back. He handled the ball inside Dublins 21 from play less than 5 times out of 35+ possessions.
I have a question for bloggers . Is there a position for AOS this coming year ?
I’m an Ado fan before anyone thinks different but I came away after last years all Ireland think where can he really slot into team going forward ? Great against the likes of Sligo , Leitrim , etc where he can use his physicality to dominate opposition. But when we come up against teams are their peak of S&C I think he gets lost in the pack because he is not mobile but I’d be interested in hearing others opinion.
@mayomaningalway.
Of course there is a role for Aidan. He is still the top ball winner in the team. He won almost every high ball played in to him last year.
He just needs someone on the premises who he can feed the ball to after he has won it.
I think it was an Aidan fetch and dish off to Mattie that started the comeback against Galway in the Connacht final.
Aidan also won most ball that was sent in his direction for the semi and ai finals.
If he was used correctly he could be very useful.
Viper you say there is no good coaches in mayo.
That’s some statement.
Not sure are you taking the piss or what but the fact you just popped up here since the allireland makes me wonder.
Everyone’s entitled to their opinion just wish some what you have to say is more balanced.
My inside line would be carr , tommy c and rod . Scorers, fast shot , some of our players we play in there are too obvious and slow at shooting . I’d play cillian on the 40 ,kev mc and possibly fionn mcdonagh either side . Brings a different dynamic , anyway whatever happens surely Horan will try something a little different. You have to at this stage ,take a little more risk , I’d love to see it ,just that bit of freedom .
Paul Galvin, who I respect, talked about the Mayo problem of the half backs running on top of the half forwards, crowding them out and giving them no space. A nightmare scenario for a HF is what he’s essentially saying.
It’s an interesting observation. Given that this is the central tenet of Horanball, it’s unlikely we’ll see a change. However, it’s clear that Mayo’s biggest problem is a completely dysfunctional HF line.
Is it a case that our individual half forwards are just not playing well, or is the system letting them down? A bit of both I suspect.
@All41n14all, read what I said before jumping the gun and misquoting me.
What do you mean by pop up “here” ?
I saw Galvin say that but I don’t think we’re much different to others in that regard. Tyrone’s entire full back line scored in the first half of the semi final last year. Tom O’Sullivan, Brian O Beaglaoich and Gavin White do it for Kerry. Sean Kelly and Johnny Heaney for Galway.
I just think we had a weak half forward line last year especially. Although Kevin McLoughlin was on top form in the 2nd half vs Galway.
The main thing that comes out of watching the All Ireland back is you see how bad our half Forwards performed, we only got 1 point of that line scored by Kevin McLoughlin and all 3 together kicked a total of 7 wides.The Tyrone half back line did alot of damage going forward too, so I would question management going with the same players again for championship in the starting 15 it was by far our weakest line. But there are a lot of options of good half forwards in the County its just a matter of them getting game time in the League. I would include Enda Hession, Jason Doherty, Fergal Boland,Fionn McDonagh, Connell Dempsey, Mark Moran, Conor Diskin, and Darren McHale.
The emphasis seems to always be “Mayo search for all Ireland after X years”. That narrative is bound to weigh heavily on any human psyche. Maybe we all in Mayo need to change the narrative among ourselves for a start and just say we are striving for all ireland glory in a new era. Change the narrative, forget the past – its gone and a waste of time brooding over it. We have the footballers but maybe we need to have not one plan but three or four. I’m going to stick to my guns of a 2023 all ireland win. Lets forget last year – deep down we all know that we punched above our weight. I hope for an injury free year for our players, good health to all, and may we be able to roar as loud as possible over the next few months.
We were in an All ireland final in 2020, the year before last, so I don’t subscribe to the notion that we punched above our weight in 2021. We had the youth, the experience from the previous year, a seasoned top intercounty manager.
No, the simple fact is we had too many passengers in the final. The nerves got to us. That’s all the analysis you need. Look at all of the opportunities we squandered? The positions we got into? And all of that despite what overall was a flat performance.
@Proud Mayo Supporter, I agree with what you are saying in principle but I can tell you that it is impossible to forget the past and it is also impossible to change the psyche until Mayo actually win an All-Ireland.
But I do know what you mean when you say forget the past, you mean stop referring to it, and I totally agree with that.
I detest references to any final apart from the last one. What is the point of talking about 1996 and so on, an absolute waste of time and energy, not to mention those who are still living in the early 50’s but our local media also need to take a look at themselves when it comes to this sort of nonsense that goes on particularly in the build up to finals. This isn’t to take from the good work they do of course.
As for punching above our weight, absolutely nothing wrong with that at all or nothing to feel guilty about, it didn’t bother Tyrone in the slightest when they really punched above their weight.
Agree with you regarding plans and systems also but a fairly common trend in opinions here seem to focus on half forwards in the main but I think we have more serious issues to resolve before that which right now a tweaking of the system is the only real option to resolve this and to help our exposed full back line which will consequently help our goalkeeper as well.
In my opinion a coach is not doing his job if he cannot eradicate many of the totally avoidable and repeated mistakes a goalkeeper is making when it comes to being caught out of position and this needs the involvement of a strong full back who is constantly reminding the keeper of this.
Start by eradicating those mistakes and helping Rob and already you are on the right trajectory.
That’s what good coaching and management is all about, getting the best out of what you have.
I would be far more downbeat if I thought that was the case but there is massive scope for improvements in the whole Mayo set up without burning the house down.
But at the same time people need to see this in 2022 or they will lose faith as to whether the capability to learn is there and if it’s not then Mayo deserve absolutely nothing.
Stephen Coen should be fullback and yeah as captain I think he has the authority to remind Robbie on position etc.
Maybe Robbie comes to early because he is not sure of his fullback.
I think the Coen move to FB is critical. The first thing we have to do is stop conceding the standard issue 2 goals every game.
I think thats as good a plan as any to tackle that issue.
If we do that then we are All Ireland champions because you just cant concede 2 goals in every big game and expect to win..
Build from there ODonaghue and OHora in the corners and Keegan, Paddy, Hession/ Eoghan McLaughlin in half back.
Ruane in Midfield (not sure of the second midfielder Probably Diarmuid) McLaughlin, Cillian, Loftus in Half Forward and Tommy AOS an Ryan in FF line.
Cillain and AOS can alternate…….see how that lineup works.
Maybe Cillian should be FF…….but its worth trying to have in at 11 for a period.
Fergal Boland and James Carr can equally do top jobs in HF line and Conor OShea and Jordan Flynn can back up at midfield .
Otherwise you have a find in Sam Callinan, and Paul Towey seems to have massive potential.
Jason Docherty and Brendan Harrison are coming back and hopefully can get to a competitive level…….
There is no reason that line up cant win finals.
Sure in fairness management pick the team.
Just a question or two, what makes people here think that all will work in 2022 even in the final ?
Are management going to finally get it right on the big day ?
Do the older players really have that motivation after so many final defeats ?
I’m just curious.
Decent game in the Dome right now, the Rassies are lively
At the moment we need to put a team together to try to keep us in division 1 of the national league, and match Galway in the first round of championship before we think of picking a team to win the final.
@2 hops, yes of course but the core principles remain the same, the goal in every game is to win it and with the panel of players Mayo have with high level experience plus one of the most experienced managers on the circuit then we should not fear any team in Division 1 and we shouldn’t be putting Galway up on a pedestal either.
I think we are a little more advanced than “putting a team together” to be fair.
Very true 2 hops, let’s try and get our own house in order. First game back in Div 1 is only 2 weeks away now. Would be lovely to get the campaign off with a win.
Well done to our neighbours picking up the first silverware of the year, hard to believe it’s 10 years since we lifted the FBD trophy.
Mayo 88
That’s a very good question.The only reason anything will change is that there is a different approach maybe have guys in more natural positions.
Motivation is a real question…this might be a down year but with the players we have we are top contenders any year.
There’s no reason why we won’t be at the business end again this year. I feel for the team, because the pressure and expectation is immense. Crack that and we’ll take beating.
2 hops, you’re dead right. No point looking further ahead until we get passed those two tasks. Perform enough in league to retain division one status and win quarter final. There’s many players in the squad that won’t be there later on in the year for the obvious reasons. Certain players will be suited to these conditions etc. We have two big boxes ticked if we get over those two hurdles, can’t look any further for now.
Are you coaching with any club at the moment Viper. Genuine question by the way. You seem to be quite knowledgeable on the coaching front and the lack of quality coaches in Mayo.
Most here have identified the problem line, Tyrone also have hard workers in HF line but they had better impact on score board than ours last year. We have lots of options so it’s not an impossible task to significantly improve this line. I think either Ryan or Cillian can do a job there if we find a Bolter in FF line. Diarmaid can do a better job for us in midfield than in HF line so it frees 1 space. When ghosting into FF he sometimes does damage, that’s another possibility.
The area we overlook is goals scored. Anyone who saw recent Brolly interview about his playing career will pick up how much time he spent on goal drills. Several players can goal but would be nice if one or 2 players had an aura of he’s sure to score like Kerry’s Clifford. Cillian has been that man at times. If we ship 2 goals in a big game it’s not as big a deal if we score 2 or 3. We did that in league final vs Kerry a few years back.
As you mention @shuffly deck Cillian has been and hopefully will again be in that category, maybe this year. I also think Tommy Conroy and James Carr, when they are in the zone can be goal scorers when goals are needed. Tommy had that “scuff” last September but got some crucial ones during the year. The important thing is to continue to create and be confident enough to go for goal opportunities even when they all don’t go in.
Andy name checked Ciaràn Treacy for praise when he didn’t take the easy option in the league final of ’19.
They don’t always go in for Clifford either . Hopefully these lads have the swagger back in ’22 and who knows where it takes us.
What tge craic for the loser of Galway v Mayo we know it could go either way but advantage Mayo after last year. Is the loser out?