The sun is splitting the stones, it’s only the middle of July but here we are contemplating the final batch of Mayo match reports for 2022. I really do wonder what the GAA have talked themselves into by pulling down the shutters so early in the year on inter-county action but there you go.
The county’s women footballers were the final Mayo team standing this year and their campaign came to an end with defeat to Kerry in yesterday’s LGFA All-Ireland SFC semi-final at Croke Park. Here’s what’s online today in terms of coverage about that game:
Locals: Mayo Advertiser, Connaught Telegraph, Western People, Radio Kerry.
Nationals: Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Irish Independent.
Others: Ladies Football, RTÉ, The 42.
Photos: Inpho, Sportsfile.
Stats: GAA Statsman.
That’s your lot, not just for now but for 2022 as well. Back with more inter-county match reports next year. Enjoy the sun and the split season, folks.
First time to comment here and it’s to say thank you Willie Joe for providing this forum. Enjoy the break.
Has the Croke Park authorities no other song besides Trouble by Horslips .It always been played over the last few weeks it can be heard on TV it’s boring
Who was the stand out players in mayo league matches this weekend
I think all Mayo intercounty team’s are now out of the Championship, Our intercounty season is over.. Wonder who our player (s) of the year were?… Absolutely fantastic Match in Croke Park for the All Ireland hurling final.. beyond amazing.. Fair Play to Brian Cody in his 24th year in charge, he won’t be happy with the result, but he has to be very proud of the herculean efforts of his player … Congratulations Limerick, possibly now being rightfully taught of as one of greatest hurling team’s of all time… Congratulations to everyone involved in Limerick!
Congratulations to Limerick
They had to dig deep to win this one.
What a team they are, Gearoid Hegarty was unbelievable today, what a player.
Mayo are miles away from the Strength and Conditioning shown today by the Limerick Hurlers, young fellas oozing with confidence.
Limerick had to wait many years to make the breakthrough, had bad defeats, but now are Kings.
Galway Hurlers lost 6 finals before winning a few years ago.
That leaves Mayo still not able to get over the line.
Hoping Galway win next week, 2 All Ireland’s going West in 56 years is a terrible record.
Mayo 88,
When you have JP’s billions behind you it makes things a lot easier.
Can’t understand how anyone from Mayo wants a Galway victory next week.
I live in Clare where Kerry regard us as a joke. They still won’t accept 1992. Hate them.
However the lesser of 2 evils next week is a Kerry victory. Can’t abide the thought of Galway
winning. It would cut me to my core. And I’m talking as someone who remembers back nearly
60 years.
Someone in mayo has got to try their damdest to get Paul kinerk involved with mayo…mcstay as manager with rochford and kinerk as selectors anyone??
“ Mayo are miles away from the Strength and Conditioning shown today by the Limerick Hurlers, young fellas oozing with confidence”
Not sure what the relevance of this is?
They are miles ahead of all the other hurling teams for sure
Money can buy success ……
@KM, it means this.
When Mayo had great coaches and backroom staff, ie, O Neill, Donie Buckley, McEntee they still couldn’t win.
@moyside – We can only dream of having paul kinnerk involved and he is a massive part of limericks success .
Around 58 minutes in with the game in the melting pot and limerick are under pressure, the cameras showed kiely running over talking to kinnerk on what needs to be changed.
60 mins Conor Boylan comes in for Seamus Flannagan and 64 mins Cathal o’neill comes in for Tom Morrisey the game is still tied at this stage.
67th minute O’Neill gets a score and 68th minute Boylan gets a score and limerick start to pull away.
Thats top class game management from Keily and Kinnerk. Id move heaven and earth to get Kinnerk involved with Mayo if i some part of the selection process but it’s very hard to see why he would have any interest.
It would be great to get Paul Kinnerk but there is no way JP McManus will let him go.
I’m sure he is getting well taken care of in Limerick and is a vital cog in one of the best teams in the history of hurling.
They could be going for 6 in row only for a bad call in 19.
It would be a big effort to get kinnerk but think I read somewhere that he would be interested in getting back into the football coaching…why not with mayo. Surely the challenge of working with the calibre of players we do have and let’s face it we have a good young squad, would appeal to him and to help mayo over the line for Sam. After winning 3 in a row with limerick he may want a new challenge, its not really about the money althoughimportant. I really feel with the likes of mcstay as manager with rochford and kinnerk would be a very good ticket
Thanks WJ for a fantastic service and what seems like endless patience. Have a good summer.
Seems weird the Inter-county season being overbefore July is out. Does it mean Croke Park will be available for umpteen concerts while the chance of fine weather is still there? Maybe I’m just being cynical.
Brilliant win for Limerick. Fair play to them. They suffered their fair share of heart break but are having wonderful times now. Not fair to credit JP so much. While money no doubt helps they have a brilliant management set up and some unbelievable players. Kilkenny were incredibly resilient and brave yesterday in what was a brilliant game. Hope kerry and galway strike a blow for football next week or we will never hear the end of of how hurling is so superior to football. Both counties have top quality forwards so it would be great of management to trust them, but I fear an overly defensive game especially in the first half.
Season over next Sunday. Rational, to shift focus to the clubs. However only league games being played in Mayo till championship starts in September. League games without a huge number of players who headed to the US. It seems clear now that we’ve lost August for no real gain.
I haven’t given a red cent to Limerick hurling.
OTB had an interesting piece on ‘Raising the Treaty ‘. The Limerick hurling development plan. The largest portions of it are not money related.
Some scoring by Paul Towey in Chicago last night. Whatever about the standard 1-15 is crazy. He was taken off 5 minutes before the end as well so could have notched up a 2 or 3 more.
Quite frankly there are lies told when money is pumped into a county development project . It’s a naive to think otherwise . Sure inter county managers don’t get paid a cent either other than expenses .
Eoghan McLoughlin also scored two goals last night in Chicago and Mattie Ruane scored one goal
Towey needs to get stronger and put on a few good lean kilos, has struggled to win and hold onto posession at Senior Inter County level.
Where is Paul kinnerk from?
Limerick hurling would have spotted Caolan Doris. Caolan was a teenager playing Gaelic football and rugby all for fun.
Played with the amalgamation team in North and he says he wasn’t county standard, few are.
It’s a logical certainty in athletic testing he would have blown away the field in speed, power and size measures. You can’t be the world class rugby player he now is without being a standout athlete with potential at 14/15.
So we would have had underage development teams with players who we know will never be athletic enough, yet we didn’t even know about the best athlete that age group in Caolan Doris.
We really need to modernize our scouting and underage testing, hopefully that is improved.
But I wonder.
@JP – Caelan is an international and pro rugby player. He went to boarding school in Blackrock playing rugby from a young age and started in the senior team at 15 years old, he won a leinster schools cup and then went on and captained blackrock at schools level and Ireland at u20 level in 2018. Even if he was a successful Gaelic footballer at underage level, its hard to see how he was ever going to choose playing for Mayo over the opportunity to play pro rugby. He is a proud Mayo man and Mayo GAA supporter but is now excelling at the sport he committed to from a young age.
@JKEL88 The point I’m making is we didn’t properly scout his age group with athletic profiling to even make such a sporting choice a thing. I know the details of his development.
Our Academies didn’t even know he was the best athlete that year.
There will be other players simply drift out of club football.
Separate case, the best midfielder of Evan Regans age group was not a part of underage academies and drifted out of football. Six foot five and mobile. Quite an academic person and went that route.
Limerick are not missing these athletes, we are.
@JP – Well they missed Conor Murray, Keith Earls and Craig Casey who were on the same tour to New Zealand as Caelan Doris.
JP I get where you’re coming from but Doris would not be near mobile enough for modern inter county GAA at the highest level
@JKEL88 I don’t want to get into someone is wrong on the internet back and forth, but …
– Conor Murray played Gaelic football underage for Limerick.
– Keith Earls Dad was a rugby legend, he was always going the rugby route
– Craig Casey is too short to be a top hurler, not a barrier to being a scrum half
@Our time has come
Right now Caolan Doris is not mobile enough for inter county GAA but if he had gone the GAA route he would be many kgs lighter and would be on a GAA based strength and conditioning program.
Really interesting conversation between Brolly, Tomás O’Sé, and Leeroy on O’Sé’s Comhrá podcast, available on Spotify or YouTube. They all think Kerry will win, and Comer will be contained. They talk a lot of tactics generally, it’s well worth a listen, also prep before matches, nerves etc.
Contain Damien by who Foley? also Shane is due to deliver a big motm performance I can feel it in me waters. Kerry will feel they only have to turn up to collect Sam with the lad on RTE saying the Dublin match was the de facto final. We may well lose the final but we dont deserve to be so written off. It will give the lads some motivation and remember Galway in an All Ireland are a very dangerous opponent for anyone.
Kerry will know from last year`s game v Tyrone and 2020 game v Cork no game is a given and that the they will need to show up and play to win the final.
If Shane Walsh and Damian Comer run hard and straight I think there’s lots of frees, yellow cards and black cards possible.
Assuming Gavin White is out that Kerry defence looks a bit lightweight.
Shane Walsh is not getting stopped by Tom Sullivan. A possible match up, but one I think Walsh dominates.
Similar Comer is stronger than Foley.
Gavin White will be a massive loss (if out).
I think Brian O`Beaglaoich will pick up Shane Walsh. Foley will mark Comer with Morley dropping in front and Tom O`Sullivan will pick up Finnerty.
AHnow at least club players can take a holiday in the holiday season before schools open.
I think with Kerry a lot of pundits/media are letting history and “tradition” cloud their views a bit in the lead up. Galway will be delighted to be written off, and genuinely have more or less zero to lose, its complete bonus territory
Taking this Kerry side on their own merits, their recent knockout record in championship is certainly up and down, they’re a far cry yet from previous Kerry teams. We caused them lots of problems a couple of weeks ago and if we had any finishers at all we could have sent them packing.. O’Connor only being half fit and the absence of ROD and Conroy had a huge bearing really
Last week they beat Dublin, minus their star forward, by a single point with the last kick… would O’Callaghan have been worth more than a point to Dublin? People can make up their own minds on that one
They threw in a shocker in the semi last year as overwhelming favourites against a game, but far from outstanding, Tyrone side. There could be a lot of edginess on display Sunday…
Galway are getting better with every game, and all the “controversies” they’ve been faced with the last two matches have seemed to galvanise them more than anything.
Maybe this will be the game where Kerry truly announce themselves (and who knows they could go on to become football’s Limerick), but I’m definitely a bit disappointed by them to date. They had a chance to make a big statement against ourselves and Dublin (we were decimated by injuries and off form all season, while Dublin have been in big decline these past 2 seasons – these games were made for them to blow us both away), but the former was more an error strewn performance than anything and the latter they seemed to completely panic in the second half. They’ll need more than O’Shea and the Cliffords to stand up in the forwards if they’re to win Sam
That said, Galway have been far from perfect themselves and if Derry had any forwards at all they would have been in right bother in the semi.. However, there’s definitely a swagger (and serious momentum) to them this year and they have the individual players to get over the line. Hopefully for their own sakes they perform on the day, might be no harm to pack the defence early doors to stop any early goals (boy do we know all about them!) – the longer the game goes on and Kerry aren’t pulling away, the more nervous they’ll get as we saw in the semi and v Tyrone last year
Just have a feeling Galway will sneak it – this has eerie similarities to 1998 in a sense
Chesney, I think basically they were saying Kerry will block up the central channel on Comer, ie if he doesn’t have that freedom he is seriously curtailed, unlike Clifford who is unmarkable. And yeah, I think Foley was also mentioned.
Assuming Comer plays full forward Foley will mark Comer and Morley sit in the space in front of Comer to stop ball coming in to him.
Should Galway upset that plan and play Comer centre forward to draw Morley out of the holding position???
Southmayo Exile – could be a good shout and drop Patrick Kelly in full forward who will need a bit of watching as hes a monster of a man.
Ye are forgetting one thing, the close in tackling by the Kerry defenders is impressive, could this be attributed to Donie Buckley ? I think so.
Can Galway cope with a very fast game ?, Kerry play with alot of pace, remember what happened to Mayo in the 2004 & 2006 final, they were mesmerized by the pace of Kerry, could not play at that level.
It’s many a year since Galway beat Kerry in the final, maybe 1965.
We haven’t seen David Clifford explode in this championship do far, I’m thinking he will do this in the final.
There’s literally no comparison between Kerry now and in the 00s
That team was packed with superstars and lads with all Ireland medals falling out of their arse pocket
Cut to today and this is only Kerry’s second all Ireland final in 7 years (won neither of those)..
Won neither of last two I mean!!
@Mayo88, Tyrone man Paddy Tally is coaching the Kerry defence. Donie Buckley was with Monaghan
Regarding JP, it’s not just the money, it’s the structures they put in place and the plan they had. They had a serious group of leaders from different walks of life, mainly industry came together and put a plan together. They insisted on getting the best possible people involved and executing on a plan.
You could easily spend 3 times what JP and others have put in and not get that success. Yes money is an advantage but you have to know how to use it and everyone MUST be rowing in the same direction.
Sound @JP, Tally has worked his magic with the Kerry defenders tackling.
I wonder has he really. If Con was there we would have found more out. Galway will be a step up for the Kerry defence with Comer a wrecking ball. Gavins potential absense a problem for Kerry. There is huge pressure on Kerry to win after beating the Dubs. Galway will slow it down and try to dictate the pace. Im hoping Tierney has his best game in the maroon and if Conroy is firing too the Kerry midfield may struggle. Huge reliance on Moran , a great servant that hopefully we can curtail him. Dangers abound for us though in this order in my opinion David, Seanie, Paudie,Moynihan,Geaney. I hope its not a very defensive game but it may very well be how it unfolds.
Kerry have conceded 2 goals all year playing mostly division 1 opposition and division 1 calibre forwards, Paddy Tally has done a fantastic job with their defence.
Im getting the feeling people are underestimating this Kerry team after beating Dublin. It might not be the same Dublin as a few years ago but they are still a top 3 team in the country.
Galway’s defence will be under massive pressure with the Kerry forwards having conceded 15 goals to mostly division 2 teams all year with the exception of Armagh.
I still think it will be a close game as both teams set up defensively and are probably on form the 2 best forward lines in the country. I just dont get this narrative that Kerry have poor defenders and Galway all of a sudden have top class ones to mitigate the Kerry attack.
Kerry can win by this match with a bit to spare.
In Tomás’ podcast this morning they suggested that Kerry should look to shock Galway in the first 10-15 mins, taking advantage of potential nerves given they’ve not been in a final in 20 years. Put ‘any type of ball’ into D. Clifford. Jack will be looking to finish the contest early.
Thanks WJ for everything and enjoy the peace and quiet.
Although, I can’t really imagine your absence reaching to next year…..
A neutral would barely know that it’s all Ireland week . There’s very little glam to this fixture . Maybe there’s a lesson in that for us . But it is a rather dull build up to the biggest day in the Irish sporting calendar. Are people even struggling for tickets ?
@Sean Burke – Spoke with a few Galway friends and most seem to be sorted with tickets through their club. Id say it would have been a different story if Dublin made the FInal.
Ciaran:I agree largely with your sentiment. As Willie Joe said in an earlier post, the game is there to be won. There’s no reason Galway can’t do it. Confidence (swagger)will determine a lot. These Galway boys are starting to have quite the swagger of their own. And why not? You look at their team and there’s no real weakness though Goalie might be a little under pressure.They have a great spine , fantastic stars,a well worked system, speed,able to play man on man, and hunger. They have a manager who will infuse them with belief. He’s been there,done that. He commands respect.
The St Jarlaths connection is as strong as always with this team.Jarlaths was a unique place where Mayo and Galway boys played together and created the foundation for a fierce rivalry between these teams. St Jarlaths was a winning football institution. It bred winners. Padraig Joyce was an all time great of Jarlaths. And a consummate winner. You can tell he has filled his side with this belief. They seem to always find a way.
They started very well under Joyce two years ago but Covid changed everything. It ended up being a good thing. He was forced to rejig his team.This is a well balanced team. As well as stars they have potential breakout stars in their half forward line and midfield. Make no mistake Galway will play with belief and hunger ,skill and tactics. They will be in the melting pot with ten minutes to go. Of that I would be confident.
I really really hope that Galway win. It would be fantastic for them and for football generally.
https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/you-lose-a-game-the-manager-has-not-got-a-clue-41849748.html
Best of luck to our neighbours Galway on Sunday. I wouldn’t be surprised if they landed Sam. As for Mayo, thanks for all your hard work, your resilience and thanks for all the enjoyment you gave us down through the years. You will be back next year stronger than ever and PG you will bring Sam home. Keep the faith everybody.
I’m not gone at all, Joet1480! There’s loads going on, even if our inter-county year is over.
As regards having the football Al Ireland Final on one week after the hurling final, it will I pray be acknowledged by even the most feeble minded administrators as one shooting one’s foot not once but twice. The limerick hurlers have barely returned to their county having won a titanic battle in a magnificent final against a noble Kilkenny team. We should be talking about nothing else this week after an epic like that and the nation, neutral or not should have time to absorb, discuss and read the experts opinions on the many intriguing ingredients that served up a final of such a high sporting standard. Instead they are trying to crowbar our National football final into the spoken and written conversation while that GAA community are still fizzing after that enthralling final on Sunday. No real landing time afforded to our hurlers and no real take off for our Football Final, I pray that this massive blunder will be dealt with and that we will still have many questions and unproven opinions well into late august at least in 2023. Rant over..
It seems to be me that lots of folk outside of Kerry are of the opinion that Kerry feel they are home and hosed after beating dublin in the semi final. This is not true I can assure you as we are acutely aware of the many top forwards, the excellent midfield and well tested defensive structure in the current Galway setup. Joyce is has become a strategic general and has tweaked his teams tactical approach several times in this campaign based on the oppositions identifiable tactics, in the division two final he played very much as expected from a Galway team and lost the game as a result of a late and very fortuitous goal by the Rosie’s. He knew well that the big game was a few short weeks later against the old enemy at the gate and he kept his defensive game sheathed until his team took to the field in Castlebar and the rest as they say is history.
Both Jack and Joyce will have many possibilities both favourable and concerning rolling around like a ball bearing on a roulette table and that’s the test of a good tactical brain, what if he uses comer to pull Morley out and deploys conroy for a quick long delivery with runners poised to run and create space etc. Joyce knows that Kerry have a very good record this year for not allowing goals to be scored against them so he will definitely have some kind of a plan to disrupt our defensive structure in the hope of getting supply to Walsh and comer, will that succeed ?? possibly so but jack will also be willing to sacrifice an outfield player to maintain this inner shell in the hope of frustrating Galway into committing too many players to attack and with at least two players covering Clifford we should have a numerical advantage and if we can turn them over followed with a few rapid kick passes and who knows.
I hope it’s a free flowing game and I hope the best team wins as in I don’t want to see any red cards, injuries or critical bad decisions by the officials deciding the game. Am I confident ? I have to say if I had a choice of playing dublin or Galway in the final I would go for Galway. We needed to beat the Dubs to get that monkey off our backs and the tension in the semifinal was palpable as for the Dubs they needed to keep their foot on Kerry’s throat for as long as possible and our victory will stand to us when we next meet in Championship, it has shifted the nervousness onto the dubs shoulders and given the Kerry lads a much needed confidence boost. Galway will be full of confidence going into this game having come out on top of so many serious challenges in the championship this year. The Armagh game was a classic and must have been like a pressure cooker going into extra time not to mention the penalty shootout, this kind of a game cements and binds the character of a team and Galway will be all the more dangerous for it.
Can Galway beat Kerry in the final, of course they can but they are going to have to play out of their skins to get over the line and if they do beat us it will be by a point or two. Kerry could be beaten as I said and we may barely get over the line and Winn by one or two (which I would gladly take) but if it’s a dry day and Kerry click we could beat Galway nice few points. By clicking I mean we get one or two early goals which would force them to throw caution to the wind and go toe to toe, well then it could be long day for Galway. I hope that there are not many Galway girls eagerly making humble pies on Sunday evening….
Círraí Abú
Out of interest, curious to know who posters and reader’s think was Mayo’s Player of the Year…My shortlist is very short indeed just 3 players, in no particular order…Lee Keegan!, Probably goes without saying at this stage as to why, Mayos greatest ever player in my opinion, but I think he has had better seasons.. Robbie Hennelly, has had an excellent season between the posts for Mayo,.. Consistent..Making excellent saves, outstanding restarts, and our best long range free taker, possibly his best season to date… Ryan O Donohue, no doubt in my mind but has been consistently Mayo’s best player in the entire league, and v Galway in the Championship, ( all the games he has played) unfortunately missed the last 3 Championship match’s due to injury!..I don’t believe that Mayo will win any All Star’s this year, losing to Kerry in the Quarter Final by 9 points, can’t see it.. But we might get a few nominations, certainly the 3 players I referenced would easily be in the 3 top candidates for their relevant playing position’s and well entitled to a nomination!.. Going over the entire season League and Championship, my vote goes to Robbie Hennelly by a short head , after the Stewart’s have examined the Photograph…As the week progress’s I am feeling more confident about Galway’s chances versus Kerry.. I’m hearing from a few that All Ireland tickets are nothing like as nearly impossible to get as the GAA would have us believe.. And then I made a few inquiries for Galway and Kerry friends, and the same as usual.. Nothing doing yet anyway!
Leantimes – hard to look past Keegan for our player of the year. A guaranteed 7 or 8 out of 10 every game, league and championship. Hennelly and Ryan were excellent, probably better than Lee but missed games through injury.
All stars are only picked on championship form however. Oisín Mullin and Eoghan McLaughlin were very good in our championship games so deserve a mention.
Most improved player is definitely Jordan Flynn. His kick passing gives us something completely different in midfield.
Not a hope of mayo winning any allstars this year, keegan was the only one who played anyway near the level required in championship and I cant see him getting in ahead of mckaigue, Rogers, mcdaid, Kelly, foley, Tom sullivan etc.
Agreed with most of wide ball picks
Player of the year: Keegan, as ever
Player of the league: ROD
Most improved: jason flynn
I’m thinking of heading into hq on Sunday for my sins, I can’t think of a single pleasing outcome from the kerry galway game bit yet I’m going to go in and punish myself anyway ?
@Wideball.. Agree with you Oisin Mullen, Eoghan McLoughlin excellent, and most improved Jordan Flynn..all missed some playing time due to injury..If my shortlist was 6 instead of 3, they were next on my list!
On the discussion of Pauric Joyce its easy to forget how much pressure he was under ahead of the mayo game this year, they simply had to beat mayo this year or he was surely out the door. They were by far the better team but somehow nearly got caught on the finish line and fell over the line….but beating mayo was a huge monkey off the back.
I don’t particularly rate joyce as a coach, and many of my galway friends would have said similar before this year. He had nothing on his managerial cv and appeared tactically old fashioned,…. but what he has done is shown enough humility to surround himself with very modern successful coaches in cian o’neill and John divilly. O neill is an excellent number 2 and could be the winning of the AI for them.
Joyce even admits in an interview today that him and o’neill aren’t buddies and disagree a lot. That’s the way it should be, a management team with strong personality and varying opinions.
Something to be said for that I reckon ,I give them a right good chance on Sunday
Supermac – that’s a good point. Some in Mayo made out it was a scandal that James Horan appeared to be having a disagreement with selectors last year. Joyce has pretty much said it’s a regular occurrence.
Having a disagreement is one thing, it’s whether or not James listened to them that is the real question…
I’ll put up a poll on our Player of the Year once the All-Ireland is over.
Liberal – Yeah sure McDonald and Burke quit the setup because Horan wasn’t listening to them. Or at least that was the bullshit rumour at the time.
I know in Seán Boylans time in Meath a team would be picked and a different one appear on the paper the following day. There was a big turn around of selectors.
Kerry are confident after beating Dublin but its hard to say for sure they would have won if O Callaghan played. They are both still ahead of the pack with Mayo and Tyrone slipping back and Galway, Derry, Armagh trying to move into the challenger role. We have had two battles against the northern teams which will stand to us on Sunday. Kerry should be winning, beating Mayo and Dublin and winning the league easily enough. Galway will as Gamechanger says need top drawer from all players but its not a Kerry team that has won multiple All Irelands so its still a game thats winnable. Also of course anything can happen on the day as our friends in Mayo know only too well.
“ Kerry are confident after beating Dublin but its hard to say for sure they would have won if O Callaghan played. They are both still ahead of the pack with Mayo and Tyrone slipping back and Galway, Derry, Armagh trying to move into the challenger role.”
I’m not convinced that’s the case at all and I’ll go even further in saying If Tommy and Ryan were fit to play against Kerry , we might of been looking at all Connacht final without the prize of a Nestor cup.
Kerry are a very good side and indeed a better team than Galway but nowhere near a team who will dominate like Dublin did . All this waffle from the likes of spilliane if they get over Galway they’ll rule the game for years to come , it’s nonsense, just cause Dublin did it doesn’t mean Kerry are going to . I think they are suffering from an inferiority complex with Dublin . They know deep down they will never achieve what Dublin did , what the dubs achieved was surreal when ya look back on it , it’s only now the battles are completely done and dusted you start to be honest about it all , fookkng hell like six all Irelands wins on the bounce .
“ Kerry are confident after beating Dublin but its hard to say for sure they would have won if O Callaghan played”
Honest Question. Are people now rating this Galway team on par with a full strength Dublin team ?
Dublin have lost 2 championship games in 8 season’s and only for wonder scores from Robbie Hennely and Sean O’Shea at the last kick of the game they would likely be going into Sunday chasing their 8th all Ireland in a row.
Kerry might have had an easy run in to get to 1/4 final stage but they had the hardest possible route to make the final outside of Munster. I really feel people are underestimating this Kerry team based on digging out a win against Dublin who performed poorly in the league.
I do believe Galway have a chance as any team does in a one off game but they will need to have their best performance since 2001 to get over the Line. It should be a great game as both camps appear to be confident they can take home Sam and IMO Galway have nothing to lose by going for it.
I feel I should give my opinion on Sunday here as I have been critical of P Joyce over the last few years.
Firstly whatever happens Sunday it has been a great year and one where hopefully we will build on immediately in the next few years.
Joyce has gone all out this year in going for Sam. He made the changes that were necessary.
The appointment of Cian o Neill has been a masterstroke, but he has also brought in Bernard Dunne ( who spent years with Jim Gavin ) and Jason Harris Wright from a pro rugby background as the squads Strength and conditioning coach.
He even organised flying Ronan O Gara over before the Armagh game to meet the panel and spend a few hours with the group.
On the game.. I think if we frustrate Kerry early and make it difficult I fully believe we will win Sam.
Sean Kelly has already kept Clifford scoreless from play this year!
And with Pat Comer involved and shooting footage since January for a year till Sunday 2 the omens are all there for a repeat of 1998..
Here’s hoping…..
Sean kelly keeping Clifford scoreless has become a bit of an urban legend, it was actually his clubmate Neil Mulcahy
Kelly was sweeping that day though, so is entitled to credit too in fairness 🙂
Joyce deserves massive credit indeed, I have always maintained he was desperately unlucky the last two seasons though.. was well entitled to a break. Was always the case the losing manager of Mayo/Galway this year was likely to be their last season – very small margins
“Honest Question. Are people now rating this Galway team on par with a full strength Dublin team ?”
Not much in it. A combined team (based on form) would be very evenly balanced between the two. Its clear as day Dublin are a long way from their 2017/2018 brilliant best, even in 2019 we had them well rattled in the first half and Kerry should have ran them the first game. 2020 was a farce of a championship, and we know how poor they were last year. the only 2023 division 1 teams they beat this year were Donegal and Tyrone, who both ended up having poor championships
In most circumstances Dublin would probably win by 2 or 3 points, but this Galway team have some serious momentum on their side this year, I think people are really underestimating the magnitude of all their victories (3 of them as underdogs and improving every game).
By the way one-sided finals are more a rarity than people think in GAA, and taking out the Dublin dominance (they could well have been beaten in 2016 and 2017 and should have been in 2013 and 2019) the past few seasons, there have been many underdog winners the last 30 years. Finals can very much take on a life of their own. I feel Sunday is set up for Shane Walsh to give a Joyce-like tour de force performance a la 2001
I’m afraid keeping Clifford scoreless on a stormy winters night in Carlow IT and keeping him scoreless during the summer in croke park (even though it might rain on Sunday) are two very different animals. Galway are a fine side but I can’t see anything other than a 5 point+ win for Kerry
A common debate on here since last September was if Tyrone were the worst team in years to win the all Ireland. I wonder what people will say about this year’s winners.
For what it’s worth, I think last years Tyrone would beat both of this year’s finalists. It’d be pretty close between them and Kerry in fairness but I’d argue that Tyrone had more championship pedigree.
I find this a little odd, as I think in general the quality of football has improved this year. It does though feel like the outstanding teams from the last few covid seasons have gone backwards. As such, how should we be viewing this season?
@Ciaran – Fair enough points, we will soon find out if Galway are on a par with a full strength Dublin team.
However, the same could be said for Galway, they have only beaten 2 division one teams all year Mayo and Armagh who were both beaten in first round of their provincials and came through the back door.
I definitely wouldn’t write Galway off but i think Kerry are a different animal to anything they have faced all year.
I’d fancy Kerry and Galway against last year’s Tyrone
Kerry couldn’t have played any worse last year, yet if Clifford stays fit they win that match in extra time
No matter how much we try to console ourselves that Tyrone team was only decent at best, probably the weakest AI winners of the 21st century (although not a whole lot between them and Kerry of 2014) but fair play to them
Cork 2010 weren’t great either Ciaran, bet a limited enough Down side
My big fear at the moment is not so much that Galway will win Sam (which is a definite possibility, mind) but that the MacHale Park debt will result in us becoming uncompetitive for several years like Galway themselves in the early 2010s, or indeed Cork for the past decade or so (15 years if you count their hurlers).
To be fair to Cork they had a few great years’ previous though (except against kerry in CP) – made 2 out of 3 all Ireland finals, won a few Munster titles against a peak Kerry side, bet Tyrone in a great win in 09, and their semi win v Dublin was very impressive in 2010 also. Very similar to ourselves the last few years, generally ultimately beaten by all Ireland champions. Easy to forget Down had absolutely serious momentum in 2010 also, beating Kerry and a hard fought win v Kildare.
The thing about Limerick is that they got their money from within their own borders and put it together without any favours from the GAA. And fair play to them. JP is a mad hurling supporter, and I would say that Limerick’s success – and indeed his other pet projects in healthcare, horseracing, golf etc – mean more to him than any trappings of wealth he enjoys.
Dublin, on the other hand, got their success through money as well, but much of it was received at the expense of the other 31 counties subsidising it through GAA headquarters. Of course Dublin got millions in corporate sponsorship. I do not have a problem with that. The money-doping by the GAA is what I have a problem with.
By the way, that “Raising the Treaty” podcast was the greatest load of waffle I have heard in a long time. The McManuses – JP and Gerry have made Limerick hurling what it is. Without them Limerick hurling would still be a joke. The podcast brushed over like it didn’t exist. A joke
Re Kinnerk: Mayo cannot afford Kinnerk – and never will. Full stop.
If anyone thinks that Kinnerk will leave the McManus/Limerick set up … dream on.
The money involved in Limerick hurling is eye-watering.
The McManuses have put in a terrific management and support structure. It doesn’t happen by magic – it is put together with multiple millions of euros – something Mayo will never have.
As an example, in the white heat of battle it was the influence of Kinnerk and Caroline Currid who came to the fore.
If Mayo had Currid over the last 10 years we would have at least 3 AIs. Without a shadow of a doubt. But these top people come at a price.
Claremorris , good post . Is there any transparency for fees these guys get , like can I look up limerick gaa accounts and see how much they pay Caroline C & Paul k ?
I cant see why Kinnerk or Currid would come anywhere near Mayo GAA unless they are head hunted and paid a decent wage. The are currently in a very successful and professionally ran environment. We need someone like them a lot more than they need us and neither of them appear to have any connection to Mayo GAA.
It will be interesting to see what Management tickets are put forward but it will likely all be internally from Mayo.
@Claremorrris 1951… Agree with you that Dublin have gotten their GAA wealth overwhelming from the other 31 Counties of Ireland. And most disproportionately Dublin have benefited from the Gaels of Mayo especially in the last 12 year’s. No County has contributed more Euro’s to the greater Dublin GAA project than the Gaels of Mayo, we have contributed to this sad state of affairs by our own playing of match’s in Croke Park ie V Kildare and v Westmeath a few years before that, Game’s that should never have been played in Croke Park. .Our Country Board hasn’t just tolerated this, it often seems like that our County Board have been more than willing for the Mayo GAA supporter’s to spend more money to Dublin, at every opportunity possible, diverting that money further away from Mayo as possible, instead of playing match’s much nearer home, even this year when price gouging has reached epic proportions. …If our County Board tolerate the dictate of Croke Park and the CCCC, and our GAA Clubs tolerate the County Board, we are contributing to our own demise, and not just in the chances of sporting success or lifting Silverware, but culturally and economically as well. Re JP McManus and his very generous support for Limerick Hurling, it is a huge factor, and fair play a few years ago he also contributed €100K to every County Board in the Country for the promotion of Hurling.. But JP is a Billionaire and as you put it his other pet projects ie Healthcare, it’s (For Profit) Healthcare that JP is involved with, mostly in the UK, it’s NOT a charity!
I agree with you Sean Burke I was at that match Kerry v s Mayo and David Moran saved Kerry and Mayo were cursed with about 4 misses that would have asked serious questions of Kerry, may not have been enough but those misses sucked the life out of Mayo, Galway cant afford such misses on Sunday. With hopefully young Conroy and ROD back for ye next year and hopefully Mulkerrins for us it will be a right battle in Connacht and both teams can expect to advance into the All Ireland series. I’m not sure about the manager situation there are so few options but Rochford in fairness to him was a man spoken of as a potential Galway manager before PJ came in the safe option would be Rochford and a left field coach. Look Galway are improving but may not be improving enough to beat Kerry it just looked as if the Dubs had them the last day but were unlucky and if it went to extra time the Dubs would most likely have won. Everyone is expecting Kerry to beat us easily so it wont be a huge surprise if we lose but and I know im biased I think we are improving with each game a bit like the minors.
Sean Burke – I think you’re quite right about the complex Kerry have re Dublin. They’re sickened Dublin got to the 5 in a row before them and the last decade’s Dubs domination is something the game has never seen before. They’re trying to make themselves believe they too could have something similar, but they won’t. Not any time soon anyway.
JP McManus money has helped hugely, it was a bit brushed over.
But the 2021 podcast on OTB on the same topic had more interesting snippets. Limerick improved with some measurable numbers the participation in hurling.
Declan Bonner along with Stephen Rochford, for the Mayo Job, Any takers ?
@Paddyjoejohntom – Rochford maybe if he can pull a good backroom team together. Not Bonner and Rochford together. Ideally a fresh face though.
JP has a long history with Limerick though lads. Sneaking into the dressing room in 73 through a small window etc he isnt a soccer style tycoon who just buys a club on a whim etc but is fully invested in Limerick hurling which is a big problem for everyone else who doesnt have a billionaire backer. No matter how much JP throws at it though you need the players and Limerick has a once in a generation bunch of savage hurlers. Who would back against them for a 5 or 6 in a row, certainly not JP.
@Chesneychet.. Well up until 2005, JP McManus and his business partner John Maginer were the biggest shareholders in Manchester Utd.. The sale of their stock netted the pair a neat £125 Million profit from their investment!
Yes to be fair to Limerick this team has very much been built around successful under 21 sides of 2015 and 2017
Its not like they can just buy the top talent across the country
That said no team would exactly turn down having a bankroller supporting them financially – the power of their backroom team, together with the fact all of their players can remain in Limerick and they don’t risk losing any of their top talent is certainly a big advantage to any side
It could well be a significant factor in them truly taking advantage in this golden era they’re experiencing, rather than maybe only winning one or two here and there (every few percentages count)
It’s all plausible to make the different arguments like it’s a once in a generation team and all that but tbh I’m firmly in the camp it cannot be achieved without the financial backing . Dublin would of won more possibly with the once in a generation team , mccfferry and mannion probably lost them at least eight in a row . All these superstars (once in a generation) need resources, top advice , personal time with professionals all amounts to serious investment.
Fair enough Leantimes I forgot his involvement with Man Utd. Sounds purely business and netted him some wedge.
Calling Limerick or Dublin once in a generation teams is not accurate and actually an insult to the hard work and structures they put in place 10 years before they won anything. Money of course was a big help but they spent it wisely, appointing full time development officers, coaches, back room support that alot of Pro teams don’t have but critically focusing on youth development. Dublin won their 7 all irelands from 2011 with probably 3 different teams, (how many players were on the 2011 and 2020 teams?). Both counties may not win 3, 4 or 5 in a row going forward but with the structures they have in place they will be picking up All Irelands regularly.
Will Mayo or most other counties get to that level, no not a chance, not without serious money to get the right people in full time positions at underage levels. Getting more and more children playing increases the chance of finding top level talent, this takes money and coaches.
Mayo has no issue apart from a few small areas with playing numbers. The big issue is that there’s a sweep from Swinford along the North around the West to Louisburgh where young players at club or at schools level don’t have the level of coaching in place.
South, some of the East, most of the West are well served with A and B grade schools and very active clubs in player development.
The Mayo senior team is mainly St. Colmans, St. Gerards, Rice College and Ballinrobe Cbs.
Statistically that simply means we are weak in that East, North, far West sweep. Which is around 35% of the population. 35% of the population producing no established senior players. That’s not cyclical either as it is like that going back 20 years. These players are a lost tranche of the county by u18.
I think Kerry have proved last year and the year before that they are not what might be considered a great team.
Exits to Cork and Tyrone when the pressure came on.
Galway beat Derry in the semi final but not too impressively. That performance won’t be near good enough to beat, even a suspect Kerry outfit.
Comer to a large extent was on his own in the semi final. If that happens again in the final it’s bye bye Galway.
Galway will need everything to go right and everyone firing on all cylinders to pip this final.
I still think that Dublin would have been a much tougher final for Galway to win, and it’s due to the crack under pressure recent history that Kerry have shown that gives Galway a chance.
I don’t think the manager alone can totally transform a team, but I do think that Jack adds to Kerrys chances of winning on Sunday.
If Galway can nullify Seanie O’Shea’s influence on the game they will improve their chances greatly.
JP I’d agree with you to a certain degree, we definitely need to develop the game in the areas that don’t traditionally produce inter County players but are we producing enough in areas where the game is strong, no I don’t think we are. Looking are the senior panel, we are still struggling for quality outside the top 20 players and we are seriously short in quality around the half forward area. Only way to address this is at youth level, getting bigger numbers playing and get proper full time structures in place to identify and develop players.
Weak in what sense JP , as in the secondary schools in the east don’t have a traditionally strong catchment area ? I ask because I’m following the results of my home club at under 17 as they have a seriously tidy side with four or five very talented footballers one of them obviously ye might now from the minor panel but there is at least three along with him a year younger I think who really look the business from what I can gather and I’ve also watched them once earlier in the year . They beat Charlestown for example during the week by a big margin . It’s the next step up where you’d be worried ,is there structures in place to gauge and advise the elite players of such a team if showing promise and potential or do they just get lost in a small rural club ?
Could Rochford get the main gig in Donegal?
Lads, I’m looking for 2 tickets for Sunday 24th final. Was at the 1998 & 2001 finals & would love to be there again on Sunday.
@Sean Burke, The weakness I talk of is that either the club, the school or both are not currently providing a strong enough level of coaching.
Ballintubber do not do well underage, but, whatever players make it to u20/senior are well coached and they’ve likely attended an A or B grade serious school.
There’s too many players where at least two if not threee of club underage, school and club senior is simply not of the level to improve them as players.
I’m aware there’s some clubs and schools have improved last few years.
This is where we’d need more full time GDOs.
I agree that Dublin and Limerick put the proper structures in place and a good batch of players came from that and a certain amount of luck also. While Currid and Kinnerk may be flavour of the month I have no doubt that other counties have people just as good. Remember when Micko took over Laois he did not bother with any sports psychologist and they won Leinster. He was able to motivate players himself and I’m sure Brian Cody is a great motivator also.
This brings me to my next point which is the speculation that Brian Cody may be packing in the Kilkenny job. A lot of people don’t know that as well as being an excellent hurler Brian was also a very good footballer while he was in Saint Pat’s in Drumcondra.
So Cody with a good team around him for the Mayo job. He loves a challenge.
@FrostTHammer i don’t think Tyrone of last year would beat the current Kerry. Won last year because got in for three fairly easy goals, Kerry under Tally are not defending that way anymore.
To all the Galway readers that visit the Blog, the very best of luck to yea on Sunday.
We hope to be back in the final again ourselves next year, but this Sunday belongs to yourselves and Kerry.
All Ireland final day is a mighty occasion to be sure and this is a first all Ireland for even the longest serving of the Galway players.
Sunday can bring joy or heartbreak depending on how the game goes for certain but there are two proud teams heading for Croker this weekend.
For our neighbour’s, the task is tough but yea are not called the tribesmen for nothing.
Here’s a little tune to wish Galway well on the way. Leave it all on the pitch.
https://youtu.be/eZ2__xGKaEo
Cody would take no shit from players or county board sticks for the reek. Put Rochford with him and he’d have my vote but can’t see him leaving the kk gig
If you thought the all Ireland final on Sunday couldn’t get any worse , the 96 Meath team are been honoured before the game .
Interesting points there JP about the main colleges in the county.
What about Muredach’s? Surely they would be hoovering up players in the Ballina/Crossmolina area? And, what about Nathy’s in Ballagh; East Mayo there? Would Summerhill take some players from the border area?
Our time has come – I would love to see that happen !
Ciaran – I cannot see Donegal going for Rochford for the main gig. Why would they? He has been their coach since 2019 and the record doesn’t look great. An Ulster championship win in 2019 was followed by a poor run in the qualifiers. 2020 an Ulster final loss to a really poor Cavan team. 2021 they were hammered by Tyrone in the Ulster semifinal. Finally, in 2022 they were beaten by a very poor Derry team. The record certainly doesn’t read great on paper and their style of play under his coaching wont have won him too many followers I’d imagine.
@Catcol, Muireadachs has been lagging the three A schools now a long time.
Ballina have not been the force they used be.
Thanks Revellino, Its great for Paul Conroy to get to play in a final after all his years in the jersey. There are so many Galway players that could click on Sunday (same for Kerry) but if Paul, Matty, Cillian were to click in midfield area it would make for powerful stuff indeed.
Best of luck to Galway,of course I want them to win,until they meet us,our rivalry keeps us going,but I would always support a Connaught team