The bad news many of us had been hearing whispers of all day was confirmed by Mayo GAA a short while ago – Tommy Conroy suffered a cruciate injury while playing for NUIG in a Sigerson Cup fixture last night. The official announcement of what is a season-ending injury for The Neale clubman is here.
This is a crushing blow for Tommy himself, a young, exciting player who just a few short days ago played such a major part in Mayo’s comeback against Donegal and who has become a key part of our attack since he broke through at Senior level in 2020. Like all the other cruciate injury victims that went before him, Tommy faces a long rehab, with all hopes of his featuring at inter-county level this year now dashed.
At a wider level, this is, of course, nothing new for us. As a county we seem uniquely prone to seeing key players felled by serious injuries on a regular basis. Time and again we’ve lost important players to significant injuries, so much so that it’s difficult to recall a time when we had everyone fit and ready for the fray. We already know that this won’t be the case in 2022.
All we can do tonight, though, is wish Tommy all the best and hope that his recovery is rapid and complete and that he will, in time, be back fighting fit and flying again. Get well soon, Tommy.
I know Cillian will return for Championship (hopefully in the same form as last April) but this is a major blow. There is no one other forward in the panel with Tommy’s pace.
Depressed
Desperate, cruel and shocking news. Obviously wish Tommy a good recovery. We have such bad luck.
Terrible news really. The championship is really up for grabs and we can’t catch a break with these injuries, it’s just one thing after another.
Terrible news for the lad himself, it’s a long haul ahead for him but he has youth on his side.
Best wishes to him for a fully recovery.
For fucks sake
Im going for a pint…
I feared the worst, crikes this is hard to take. A disaster for him and mayo.
Sickening blow. Devastated for Tommy firstly and for Mayo secondly. We seem to have such bad luck with injuries. Hope he makes a full recovery and keeps his spirits up.
Having said that about bad luck, it’s crazy that he played a match 2 days after a league match.
I was just starting to get my hope back for 2022 and now it’s crushed.
Tommy would walk into any forward line in the country.
Speedy recovery to Tommy.
Its now time for some of the other lads to step up now and grab their chance like how ryan and tommy did last year with Cillians injury.
Well Bollox that!! Whos going to step up now??
Is it supposed to be 2022 above WJ ?
This is the exact news we didn’t want. We’ll have a team of course for the rest of the league and the championship, but by fuck, it’s impossible to put any sort of an optimistic twist on this tonight.
Very sorry for Tommy, and I feel bad for his team mates as well.
Sickening news for Tommy…get better soon & hope you come back stronger & better than ever.
Major blow. Fucks sake. We have no luck at all.
Sickening blow. Can only wish Tommy well on his road to recovery. As WJ said hard to recall when we last had a full deck
sam og
I think the likely candidates are James Carr, Aidan Orme and Paul towey.
Enda hession played corner forward at minor for Mayo.
Mark moran has made appearances there for mayo U20.
Conor Diskin would probably be the most like for like replacement for tommy but I dont think hes been involved with mayo since 2019.
Devastating. Sick for the poor lad.
The curse strikes again. When will we get a break. We are always loosing lads to injury.
Feel for Tommy so much if there was 5/6 players you’d say we really couldn’t afford to get injured he’d be one , but it is what it is we move on we’re not cursed it’s not bad luck it’s just sport , maby due to the combined season this year maby training is been ramped up but who nos it’s spectacularly unfortunate but we still can field 15 players and someone has to grab there chance and make a name for themselves, was pissed when I heard the news i said why always us but nothing can change it now we have to move forward still loads of positives and still excited about the season ahead
Absolute horror.
It may be impossible to say how an injury like this happens, but I often wonder if a contributing factor is over-training in the gym, ie muscles getting bigger and stronger at a rapid rate, but the tendons and connective tissue not yet being ready to support such changes. I’m just speculating. I wonder what the sports science says.
Perhaps it could just be a freak, unfortunate accident, but it’s seems to happen regularly. We’ve had a few now. Cian Hanley even younger than Tommy when it happened him.
Very sad for tommy conroy . Echo everyone’s sentiment of wishing him all the best in his recovery .
From a mayo perspective you have to replace him with a scoring threat , to me by hook or by crook in goes james carr.
Apart from my selfish frustration about this, I wish Tommy and quick and successful recovery.
It’s shocking how often we have had to suck this up and move on. But I’m a real believer in someone’s misfortune being another opportunity.
I’m saddened but I’m from Mayo and by Christ what won’t kill us will make us stronger.
Maigheo go deo.
Such a shame for Tommy and ffs we should be able to feel a bit sorry for ourselves too. The run of injuries since Tom Parsons to key players has been savage. Wish him the very best with the recovery, this season felt like a potentially massive one for him.
Mulkerins for Galway out for season from Sigerson 2 weeks ago and now Conroy for Mayo.
MO-Direach, I needed to read your comment. Thank you for this sentiment of defiance.
I felt sickened hearing the news but defiance is something I think we can do.
Oceans of good luck to Tommy for his recovery and I’m already looking forward to seeing him back playing for us again.
Wishing Tommy a speedy and full recovery
Likely first choice forward line come championship time? Going on what I believe Horan will choose.
D O’Connor A O’Shea D McHale
J Doherty C O’Connor R O Donoghue
I think we need to pick Oisin in the half forward line but let him attack from the half back line, facing the ball. Even more so now with Tommy out. We lack line-breakers, aside from Tommy and Oisin.
Devastating news for Tommy. All we can do is wish him well in his long path to recovery. Can’t even contemplate thinking about his replacement right now as his pace, skill and accuracy make him irreplaceable. The usual names will be trotted out over the coming days as backfills for the now vacant corner forward position…but none can come close to matching the speed and agility of Tommy Conroy.
Such bad lucky terrible disappointing news speedy recovery Tommy hope it is our bad luck for the year hope other player stand up now
More generally speaking why is it that there are so many acl injuries at the top level in gaa. Seems extremely disproportionate especially when compared to premiership where you rarely hear of footballers getting acl. He has to be down to work overload
Terrible bad luck. Wishing Tommy a full recovery. Jason Doherty did it on the double so we can expect Tommy back better than ever…
I see the mort has a dig at Horan in his wishes for Tommy Conroy. Ouch. For me I’d like to see towey get a run. He was probably ahead of Conroy before covid struck and Tommy took over when football resumed. Best of luck Tommy in your recovery.
Who the hell fixes a Sigerson Cup game 48 hours after an Inter County League game ? Asking lads to play 2 high intensity games in such a short period of time – where are the welfare concerns for players ? There are NONE
A real hammer blow. I was really looking forward to seeing Tommy,ROD and Cillian back on the pitch together. Good luck to Tommy and all of Mayo wish you well.
Not many of us honestly thought that we would reach an AI final last year without Cillian yet we did. Our task this year will be more difficult without Tommy no doubt but we have enough talent in our ranks to still be involved at the business end of the season.
We are well used to bouncing back from setbacks and this will be no different.
Tommy has 6 months to be fit for the AI final.
Up Mayo.
I wonder can you choose to put off Cruciate ligament surgery for a few months if the muscles around it are strong enough, didn’t Dan Carter for New Zealand play without surgery on a torn Cruciate ligament injury??
Depressing.
No doubt
Mortimer is just still bitter bringing up his own situation when he was actually called back after his injury in 2012 by Horan and left the Panel himself cause he didn’t get in the starting 15 for Connacht final v Sligo. No one to blame only himself.
Depressing is an understatement. Genuinely believe the All Ireland is wide open this year and there’s no replacing Conroy. Our forward line is all very similar without his pace and direct running.
We’ve been ravaged by injuries since after the 2017 final.
Hard luck for Tom,I wish him a speedy recovery,we can’t afford to lose players like him
Sam og , do ya think Mort would of made a difference in 2012 final?
Mortimer is a Dublin fan now. Anyone who follows him on Twitter can see that for years. He 100% cheers for Dublin when they play Mayo, especially when Horan is in charge.
“Mind the house” you are statistically 40-50% more likely to rerupture your ACL if you return 6 months after surgery as opposed to 9 – sadly he’s out for the season and won’t be around if we make the final.
TH you can do that but you risk doing more damage to the meniscus/cartilage in your knee due to lack of stability provided by the ACL. The difference with Dan Carter is he was at the end of his career, Tommy’s young, we shouldn’t put his future career longevity at risk for short term gain in my opinion
Mort isn’t the story tonight so maybe drop that particular line of discussion.
Henry Sheflin did his cruciate in a semi final before.delayed the surgery to play in the final and started the final but was gone within 15 minutes!
Its a huge blow for Tommy and an awful injury i wish him a speedy recovery and please God we’ll see him back in 2023. We are cursed or unlucky when it comes to injuries think of the 97 final losing Kevin Cahill and Kevin O Neill with injuries and Maurice Sheridan’s hamstring going before half time.i wont count Dermot Flanagans injury cos he never should have started. Who’d be a manager with rotten luck like that
@our time has come.
I was clutching at straws regarding tommy reappearing within 6 months. Desperation without knowing facts. As you say the main thing is getting him 100% before even thinking of him playing again.
The really frustrating thing is that I feel that Tommy and ROD have improved while Cillian has been out. I was really looking forward to seeing the 3 of them playing together when Cillian was fit.
Please god we can get Cillian back.
Terrible news for Tommy. The very best of luck to him in his long road to recovery. Desperate news for Mayo as well. We can’t buy a break Andy in 2012 His injury possibly cost us the 2012 final. Cillian injured v Tyrone in 2013. Played final but only a shadow of himself.Cillian absence last year possibly cost us AI. Tom Parsons horrific injury, Jason Doc had two cruciate injuries and I am sure I left out some. Tommy is a super player and so important to Mayo. I am sick of lads playing county at weekends and Sigerson two days later. A bit of respect for the players . What have GPA got to say about this nonsense. Either Sigerson should be played before league starts or else players be released from County panel until Sigerson is over.
I agree to win just once – Run off the sigerson in December (knockout format) with televised finals in Croker on Stephen’s day. There’s too much load on young lads on often poor enough pitches with the fbd/league/sigerson all happening at the same time
I know it’s the player’s own choice and the age Tommy is he probably loves to lkay as much as possible I can’t help but feel tho that once you are playing inter-county football the sigerson should be parked. Wish Tommy all the best..a massive loss.
Here’s a few more, to win just once: David Clarke (terrible hamstring injury 2013), Ger Caff (ditto, 2015?), Seamus O’Shea (shoulder dislocation 2018), Mattie and Diarmuid (2019, both after League final), Brendan Harrison (early 2020, only back properly now), Cillian (achilles, 2021, still out), Oisin (out for semi-final and played with injury in the final last year). It’s quite the list, all told.
Did Lee Keegan not have shoulder dislocation too v Tyrone in a league game?
Best wishes to Tommy Conroy with his recovery.
I discussed this recently with a Mayo friend but as an outsider the 2 most dangerous forwards on the current Mayo team are Conroy and Ryan O’Donoghue. Pace, can score and make an outrageous amount of runs without getting the ball, from my view in the stand about 10 for every ball they receive. I can’t see Cillian O’connor and Aidan O’Shea starting in the same 6 as it slows that unit significantly, just my own opinion.
Dublin were always very lucky injury wise aside from jack Mccaffrey in the 17 final. I wonder what they done differently to us S&C wise? It’s impossible to completely eradicate the risk of injury but you can lessen the likelihood of ligament injuries with plenty of plyometric training – it’s very important this is incorporated into warm up drills. Likewise risk of hamstring injuries can be reduced with S&C Romanian dead lifts and Nordic curls end once again rigorous warm ups. I don’t doubt the expertise in the Mayo s&c/physio team but do the colleges have the same?
The press release did not specify whether it was the ACL or the PCL and did not indicate he was gone for the season.
PCL is 3 month rehab
Fair point spotlight
It’s quite a tale of woe alright our injury problem’s.. Look it’s a perianal problem, and no doubt about it for every county.. Bad Winter pitchs, too many games for young fellow’s especially in third level, just too much.. It’s no wonder OZ looks such a good prospect for anyone offered the chance… Anyhow I don’t think we should rush Cillian back, however many league games he must miss as a result of his injury.. My guess is that this injury rules Tommy out for the year, regardless no point in rushing his recovery, it’s more important that he fully recovers…. Wishing Tommy all the best, and hopefully we will see him in the wide open spaces of Croke Park, on a Summers day, the day’s Tommy was made for.. It’s amazing just how speedsters, get injuries like this, overplaying too many games on Winter bad pitchs!
I think it was David Brady who once said ” if it wasn’t for bad luck, we’d have no luck at all. “. How true.
Really sorry for Tommy. He is such an exciting young player and a joy to watch. This is bad luck on a monumental scale for us.
I don’t know what causes or contributes to an ACL injury but playing a tough Div 1 league match in difficult conditions and a Sigerson game 48 hours later is not good for a young player. We are told that rest and recovery is very important. One competitive game a week is enough.
Best of luck to Tommy in his recovery. Let’s hope we don’t have any more bad news.
Brian Howard showed how important the sigerson but was in the scheme of things when he was establishing himself with Dublin back in 2018.
Made himself unavailable for sigerson with DIT in spring of that year to focus on establishing himself with the dubs, Nobody in the capital was questioning that decision in sept 2018 when he was winning his first All star and another AI with them though.
Yes, Spotlight, I was wondering about that too.
Above all, I wish him a speedy and full recovery.
Very disappointing for Tommy and Mayo GAA!!
You would question how Dublin never had one major injury during there All Ireland wining bonanza. Mayo can’t seem to go a season without a big name going down.
Are we missing a trick?
Huge blow when it looked like we were beginning to get a few others back from injury. He is a class act, the one player we couldn’t afford to lose. He broke the lines last Sunday when others were turning back looking for the easy option. I’m sick
Feel so bad for Tommy and wish him a speedy recovery but feic sake this is the absolute pitts. We can never seem to be injury free. He was flying in 2nd half last Sunday and I love watching him go. Is it just me or does this just keep happening to Mayo?
I think that the difference in natural land conditions and the amount of rainfall between west and east is a large part of the difference in luck with injuries between ourselves and the Dubs/other eastern teams. Western land is generally heavier and combined with heavier rainfall we tend to suffer more injuries. It is something which needs to be taken into account when considering player welfare, pitch development and venue selection. Saying that I know nothing of the Glencorrib pitch. [It was Glencorrib, was it not].
Anyway it is a cruel blow to Tommy, to Mayo and to The Neale but I have no doubt that he will be back in 2023. Let’s hope that this is the end of it in 2022.
F**k sake . We got what 2 weeks of happiness after the news of Oisin staying. Why the hell was he playing a sigerson cup game 2 days after mayo game.
Christ this is hard to take. There is no one near fit to replace Tommy. He is built for croker. Gutted
Cian Hanley, Andy, Peter Casey (Hurler, Limerick), all did their ACL in Croker in high summer if I’m not mistaken? Andy and P. Casey weren’t even being tackled at the time as far as I recall.
Such a massive blow for Mayo. Things looked so promising after Sunday with Doc and Harry back. Speedy recovery Tommy!
Hope it doesn’t turn out like Cian Hanley. Was never the same player after the ACL
All these injuries are not bad luck, while an ACL injury can be an impact injury research shows that 75% are from “Repetitive knee stress and failure to accommodate sufficient rest between periods of strenuous exercise”
There is not enough joined up interest in player welfare from the managers of players, or the GAA in general. It’s left to the player or their parents if underage to call a halt and step out of matches or training to manage themselves. That’s a huge ask at elite level and would no doubt be used against the player.
Meanwhile the show goes on and the player is left with a long, torturous lonely rehab.
Poor Tommy, but at least we have Jason and Cillian back.
I wish Tommy a speedy and full recovery but I am absolutely seething that any Inter County player in Ireland is put in a position that they are expected to play three games in a week and throw in training, work or study into that week as well.
I accept a player can and will pick up injuries during training and playing matches, that is a given, however to put amateur players in a position where they are expected to play 3 games in 7 days is just not on and shows total disrespect for the players.
There is a shared culpability at work here but like most things in Ireland, nobody will take responsibility.
When I look at the GPA as one example, what the hell is their role at all, in my opinion they are not fit for purpose because they are the first body who should say no to this nonsense.
When players are treated this way you can expect more totally avoidable injuries and in Tommy’s case this injury was in every likelihood avoidable had someone with a bit of cop on and a brain cell bigger than a pea said no, this is not on.
People need to remember this the next time a player leaves these shores to take up a professional career and get away from the amateur rubbish in the GAA, flogging players into the ground.
So in Tommy’s case it has nothing to do with luck or the lack of it, the risk was increased and that made it more likely to happen, pure and simple.
Devastated for Tommy. Such a cruel injury for a man in flying form. Wishing him all the best in his recovery.
Mayo as a team are very familiar with setbacks and will get on with it in their usual never say die attitude. We have more positives than negatives so far this year. Doc and Harry back. Oisin not moving to Geelong. Cillian almost ready to return. A new surface on McHale Park for the big game against Galway. Big Mayo crowds flocking to all games home snd away. Lets keep her lit!
There are some serious questions to be answered here…and once again they should be aimed at the management! Why did he play 2 games in as many days?
We seem to get alot of injuries every year and you would wonder are the players given enough time for recovery?! Did Tommy need to play Sunday? This would just piss you off. In this day and age of better sports science and the debate about burnout why are lads even playing 2 games so close together. And at this time of year you can go from playing on an AstroTurf to a soft pitch to a better surface and all put different stresses on the body
Cian Lynch lined out in a dead rubber in Fitzgibbon yesterday.. mad stuff. It wasnt long ago players ALSO had under 21 county commitments this time of year…
Anyway this is dreadful news for Tommy, just as he had really established himself as an extremely capable inter county forward and his career was on an upward trajectory. Hopefully the recovery goes well and we even see him in a Neale jersey later this year (as big a loss he is for Mayo, he could well be the difference in keeping Neale in senior)
While the return of COC and Doherty will bring a huge positive lift, we’d still be in a far better place with Tommy lining out alongside them. That said forewarned is forearmed and all that, and at least we have the full year to plan now as opposed to this happening in the build up to a key quarter or semi final
But that will be zero consolation to him on a personal level – lets hope he flies through the recovery and is back before long
I really feel for Tommy, same as I felt for Andy, Boyler, Doc and so many others before him. He has youth on his side but has a long road ahead and sometimes our immediate reaction is disappointment for the team, with little thought for the physical and mental toll a serious injury like this can take. Glad Horan is keeping him within the fold and I’m sure the energy surrounding him will help with his recovery. Wishing Tommy all the best and a smooth and speedy surgery and rehab – hopefully this is just a bump in the road for him.
There is a lot of discussion above re: player overload and I agree to an extent, and that the GPA really need to pull their socks up. I suppose the other side of that is that an ACL injury can occur any time , but the point that Viper makes above about increased risk is hard to ignore.
The excitement about potentially seeing Tommy, Ryan, Cillian and Doc line out together was real this year, so I think as sports fans we are allowed to be disappointed, we rarely get to see all our great forwards play at the same time. The real Mayo curse is our injury woes over the years as documented above. It’s incredible that we really haven’t had a year without at least one key player laid off long-term, and often more. We’ll get on with it for sure, but it sometimes feels like we always have one hand tied behind our back.
I don’t think we will feel his loss too much in connaught, between COC, jason and ROD there is plenty of scoring power there to ease us through but there is a concern that those 3 are all the same type of player.
It is in croke park in the wide spaces where conroys absence will be felt. Croker is all about speed speed speed and he was the only forward we have with raw pace (orme perhaps?)
Terrible news about Tommy. Really feel for him.
In other news I see the team has been named for Clones
Hennelly
Harry
O’Hora
Keegan
Paddy
Plunkett
MacLaughlin
Conor O’Shea
Coen
McDonagh
Diarmuid O’C
Walsh
Orme
Jason Doc
Ryan
Has it been confirmed what ligament he has torn?
Team and subs named: https://twitter.com/mayogaa/status/1489195999079849986?s=21
Three changes – Lee Keegan, Michael Plunkett and Bryan Walsh in, Donnacha MacHugh, Conor Loftus and Tommy Conroy (obviously) out.
Piece later on, I’m in work so that’s all on it for now!
I am very disturbed that some posters are suggesting that Tommy should delay the surgery and play on for a few months. The man has his life ahead of him he needs to get the proper treatment now and not risk lasting damage. This is only sport please reflect on your priorities.
I think a rule should be brought in that players can not play sigerson and or county simultaneously. It should be like with players still involved with clubs . They are excused. Again its a duty of care issue.
When you have people like Jack O’Connor fielding Tony Brosnan and Jack Savage in a McGrath Cup game just hours after they played a Sigerson Cup game and coming out with the line “yerra sure the lads wanted to play”, then it tells you a lot about the mentality, sense of responsibility and the attitude that prevails among some.
I’m sure they did want to play but let’s be honest about this, they were asked to play because if they weren’t they wouldn’t have driven to the game to begin with, so the buck stops in that instance with Jack O’Connor.
A thoroughbred will keep running until he drops dead but thankfully there are regulations to protect the animals welfare, so we have a ludicrous scenario in Ireland where a racehorses welfare is better looked after than a GAA player.
What’s wanted is a proper players Union to put a stop to this nonsense for once and for all and the total disbandment of the GPA unless they start to wake up and force the GAA’s hand to bring in properly enforceable rules regarding minimum gaps between games etc.
As to the reason why Mayo players seem to have been plagued by injuries more than any other county, I have no idea really, could it be because we have such well conditioned and highly tuned players that it’s like putting a thoroughbred running with goats on the Burren.
@catcol.that’s not a bad team named for Sunday considering all we’re missing but the subs bench is a bit on the weak side. There’s 7 of the subs I’d say haven’t played 10 games between them.
Agree No doubt. Still, I’d like to see Keane in action. Callinan too. McDonagh and Orme getting second chances.
Nice to get in with the team ahead of Willie Joe!
I’ve had my thoughts on the GPA for quite some time. A few things to bear in mind.
At it’s outset it got leaked that the idea was to creep the boundaries towards eventual professionalism. That was the Dessie Farrell era.
It was quite cynical that mindset, to move to that by degrees. So you had Farrell saying things like our players will play other sports if we curtail their training.
Then, human nature being human nature we generally try to make statements and research that benefits ourselves. The GPA survey that their players were doing up to 37 hours in inter county commitments.
It’s not in the GPAs long term interest to agree measures that protect our young players. At the extreme there’s GPA members who want professionalism. They push this % ever more by putting an intolerable strain on young players.
They talk about the club game?
Then they fully back a proposal extends the amount of county games.
An organisation that talks about player welfare and knowingly does nothing about our young players being flogged can talk all it wants about it’s aims and goals, it ultimately has no credibility.
To not contest the idea of a backdoor Sigerson championship?
Flog the young players and grow their gpa player centred stance. We see it, it’s what is being done
Not a bad team but cant understand why some players are getting so many chances over the years and never really up to standard required, surely some others should be tried, cant under stand why James Carr is not making team, maybe he is carrying a long term injury, anyone know ?.
Wishing Tommy a complete recovery, we’ll miss his energy and drive. He must feel very disappointed so it’s a great idea to keep him involved with the panel. With Jason and Brendan making a successful comeback and Cillian also returning soon, we still have reason to be hopeful this year.
Did Lee tog last weekend?
Would anyone know what the actual bench was on the day?
Best Wishes to Tommy in his recovery, I hope both the County & Club Team give him the time, space & support to rehab properly so that he comes back stronger than ever,
He is a big loss to both Mayo & the wider GAA public, Tommy is one player that when he gets the ball you know something is going to happen, he is going to take people on & pace kills….reminds me a bit of the great Michael Donnellan in his heyday.
The GAA really need to look at player welfare at all levels, players have school, club & multiple sports ( which can be good in some respects as they tax different muscle groups & use energy systems differently ) but the overall load needs to be monitored. Maybe an GAA App needs to be developed available to all levels ( Elite sport has various monitoring tools ) where players log all training & Games & guidelines incorporated where a red flag is raised if volume is too high.
Fitness is a cyclical process of Stress, recovery & adaption, if there isn’t sufficient recovery ( rest, nutrition etc ) there is no improvement, if fact you could be digging yourself a hole towards injury & burnout.
Players in a professional environment are monitored in the morning when they arrive for training, ie hydration & some tests as simple as a hand grip dynometer where results can be compared to a baseline level & if fatigue is present players may be put on a reduced volume or may rest.
Research has shown that players with a higher percentage of Fast twitch muscle fibres ( fast & or powerful ) like Tommy, Oisin Mullen, Paddy Durcan etc ) take longer to recover than those with a diesel engine so its not a one size fits all.
ACL Injuries are the scourge of the GAA world especially those of the non contact variety which include landing decelerating & changing direction, it is very important that players are exposed on a continual basis to optimal dose of suitable exercises ( landing, hopping, plyometrics, sprinting especially deceleration & change of direction & suitable strength work especially unilateral ) programmed correctly to give them the best chance of avoiding this dreaded injury. Research has indicated this is especially so for females due to anatomy & hip control capacity as they are circa 5 times more likely for an ACL injury to occur. Recently I was made aware of a girl who suffered an ACL @ age 13 & if it happens once there is high rate of reoccurrence,
@JP, I can tell you this right now, do not pay one bit of attention to what the GPA say as regards to X% of our members want this or that because during the Plan B debate the GPA were banding this notion around in the media that 80% of their members were in favour of Plan B.
Right here on this blog and with the evidence produced I was able to expose this figure as being totally misleading because what the GPA failed to mention was that only 30% of the well over 1,000 members even responded and it was 80% of 30% who were in favour and not 80% of 100% as the headline would suggest to any reasonable person.
And funnily enough it was only after that was exposed here on this blog that a lot of media outlets actually started to expose that fact.
So with such radical reforms on the cards there must be something wrong with how the GPA operates when 70% of it’s members didn’t even bother to respond to such an issue and when failure to respond was not followed up because at the end of the day it was a simple yes or no answer and the widely available figures show that the average salaries are high for the GPA executives so the excuse that these are volunteers cannot be used.
A new players Union would terrify the GAA but at the end of the day it’s the players who are the most important aspect of the equation.
I would love to see radical reform of voting processes across the board as well, a day when every club member over the age of 18 could cast their vote when electing members of County Boards for example as opposed to allowing club delegates do this.
Dreadful news about Tommy. Here’s wishing him a speedy recovery. He should never have been playing on Tuesday so soon after the game on Sunday. The various management and the GPA have to take responsibility for this player over load. Sometimes players just need to be protected from themselves as they will always want to play where possible.
Can’t understand why a manager ,ex mayo player with loads of experience ,knowing Tommy played hrs before wud play Tommy ,im no specialist but I wudnt have done that,
Obvious players need recovery time disappointed in Maurice,
Obviously our thoughts go out to Tommy and hopefully he recovers fully in time.
But sweet Jesus lads, in this day and age with all the knowledge and experience of S&C, sports science, rest, recovery, structured and measured training sessions, loadings, RPE’s and the likes, who in their right mind thought for one second that is was OK for Tommy to play League Division 1 football for Mayo on Sunday, in terrible underfoot conditions, and then tog 48 hours later in a crucial Sigerson game?
Before anyone starts spouting shite about “well no-one put a gun to Tommys head to play” you have to understand that players want to play, they will ALWAYS say “I’m grand”. Even moreso elite players because they are wired differently to most other “normal” players. Elite players will always “answer the bell” and play, they will almost never pull out. Therefore the decision to play him in those games lies squarely with his managers. The decision should have been taken out of Tommys hands by some communication between Horan and Sheridan and Tommy should have NOT played a full part in both games.
If Conroy is on a scholarship then his sole priority was to his college and he should not have featured for Mayo in Sligo. If he is not on a scholarship then an agreement should have been arrived at between the two managers with Tommys best interests balanced with those of the two teams. Now, both Sheridan and Horan look extremely bad and we’ve lost the marquee forward we’ve been praying for for 30 years. The potential of a full forward line of Conroy, O’Connor and O’Donoghue is now just that. Only potential. It will not be realised for 12 months, at least.
When you see the window opening for a possible All Ireland assault with question marks over Kerry, Dublin and Donegal, and the return of Mullins to our squad, we were begining to look in great shape, even better than last year? Now however, that’s all gone. We’re back to square pegs in round holes and a 60% scoring efficiency instead of a truly lethal full forward line and +70% efficiency.
I would love to askSheridan and Horan the question….. was it REALLY worth it?
In other news a work colleague of mine here in dublin who is not want to bullsh1t tells me conn o’callaghan is not in with the dubs this year which is absolutely huge if true.
I stand to be corrected and will look silly if i see him togged in tralee on saturday night but suffice to say if O’Callaghan is gone for the dubs they wont get out of Leinster, much less win an all ireland
supermac, I heard that he’s going all in with the hurlers?? If true, Dessie won’t last the year.
You’re all in unconfirmed rumour territory there with those Con O’Callaghan stories! Let’s wait to see definitive news there, idle speculation is of no use to anyone.
@pebblesmeller yep that’s my understanding too. Lad who told me is a cuala man too so unless someone is pulling his leg in the club I’d be inclined to believe him.
I for one will be checking a few quid on kildare for leinster before that news gets out and bookies odds start to shorten
Pebblesmeller any odds available on the “sack race” in GAA I wonder..
It genuinely wouldn’t shock me if Dessie didn’t even see championship this year, and an SOS call was sent out to a new manager and Jack Mc and Mannion in April
I can see them taking a tonking on Saturday, imagine how fired up Kerry will be – sell out crowd under the lights…
I don’t think people should put any blame on Sheridan or Horan for what happened to Tommy Conroy and there were several other Inter-County players who played the same night and came through unscathed, let’s be honest had he not been injured nobody would be saying how lucky we were.
Tommy was unfortunate and there’s nothing that can be done about it now apart from wish him the best, up the intensity to try and compensate for it, and of course learn the lessons from it regarding fixtures.
The mistake wasn’t Tommy playing, it was that this type of fixture clash should never happen, how it was allowed to happen is unbelievable.
Tommy is on scholarship I believe if read NUI footballers twitter, so his priority had to be to NUIG as it’s essentially contract.
Callinan is due to sit his leaving this summer should he really be involved regardless of ability?
@Gizmobobs interested point . I had’nt considered. Maybe he shouldnt have been played in Mayo game then.
Times are changing, The League must be of same importance as the championship nowadays.
One of the biggest scandals in Irish Sport today, is the abuse and overuse of the young, talented Gaa player. They are being flogged to a standstill by having to serve too many masters, many of whom are only interested in what that player can do for his team.
Look at the shift that Tommy Conroy put in for Mayo last Sunday against Donegal in terrible conditions. Then out he goes again on Tuesday night on another heavy pitch. I’ll guarantee you, that if he hadn’t got injured, he’d be out again somewhere tonight training with either Mayo or NUIG. Of course, he’s not the only person in this position.
I’m from Castlebar, but have lived in Roscommon for the last 15 years.. The amount of young Roscommon players, who have had cruciate and hip surgeries in recent years, is a disgrace. The better a young player is, the greater the risk he is at, because then everyone wants him.,..club, intercounty, third level etc.
When is someone going to take this issue seriously ?
Wishing Tommy a straightforward recovery on the long road ahead of him. A huge loss to Mayo, a player of superb pace and balance.
Seven points from play in three croker games last year with an upward trajectory heading into new season with gained experience ,you could translate that into four points from play per croke park game expected this year .
Massive loss.
I’m not sure you can put a cruciate injury down to over playing. A muscle tear or hip injury is definitely down to fatigue/over training.
Jason Doc and Boyler did their cruciate in recent years when both were solely focused on the Mayo senior team.
For whatever reason, ACL injuries are much more common in GAA than professional soccer for example. The premier league had games every 2 or 3 days over December and I don’t remember anyone doing their knee from fatigue. It was all muscle strains.
James carr is carrying a injury on going
I agree with Pebblesmeller, the managers should have agreed when students play intercounty, may not have prevented the injury but would have reduced the risk. Interesting to know if we have more cruciate injuries than other counties.
Nothing we can do now but move on and hope that Tommy makes a full recovery.
I’d refer again to Lee Keegan’s interview on newstalk a few years ago where he talks about the dangers of bulking up during the winter and not maintaining flexibility in the joints. It’s a super interview. He said that’s what caused his hip troubles. He talked about being so tired in the evenings that he’d just pan out on the couch, not fit to stretch or work on mobility.
I’d bet that this is a major problem for lots of Gaa athletes. Putting muscle on is all well and good. But its not worth a damn if the tradeoff is flexibility. The body breaks down. I think this is a bigger culprit than the amount of games played.
Wide Ball, i would imagine some of it is down to the standard of our pitches. Many pitches all over the country simply aren’t fit for purpose and definitely contribute to injuries sustained.
Have mayo ever had a season with a full deck of players to pick from? All the best to Tommy in his recovery. It’s a tough one but that’s life. Spare a thought for his club too who will likely feel his loss for the year the most.
I dont know what is worse. Losing the all Ireland or Losing Tommy. Such a direct runner. I’m devastated
Same as that Craggy….it must be because we are all so invested in this team and I must admit eventhough I don’t know Tommy personally it almost feels like it’s one of our own family who has suffered this. I suppose we have become a bit like mothering hens to the younger lads especially. I just hope he makes a full recovery.
Just a mention in all this to Tommy’s family . This injury came in to our own house a few years back and I know how hard the days and weeks and months of rehab & recovery are on all the household but and I say the most important thing right now is that he gets back to full health
Thinking about the impact it could have on tactics, do you think there’s a chance the likes of Hession could be deployed at half forward (the only Garrymore match I caught on stream he was a fair way up the pitch and in great form), or do you think it will push us more towards the running game to have the half backs / Mattie trying to break lines?
I feel for tommy and his family firstly hope he makes a speedy recovery
Supermac con ocallaghan starting for dublin tonight your sources aren’t very reliable.
The Con O’C rumour has been going around a while.. I’m sure Mattie Kenny will still be reaching out to him over the coming weeks, so maybe its still a case of watch this space
Connolly featured in the league a few years ago, before leaving panel (he returned year after)
Anyhow, much stronger Dubs team out but this will be a carnival atmosphere and a Kerry team out to prove a point..
Its scary the damage Clifford will do if given quality ball, and Geaney is due a big game aswell. O’Shea will be more at home on the 40.. it genuinely wouldn’t shock me if this was a bit of a trimming to be honest
Yeah , although it’s only a league , kerry need to put it up now or shut up really .The attackers they have, they need to start to flourish . If clifford gets decent ball into him I could picture him putting up a big score .its a dress rehurasl for the odds on semi final pairing. Looking forward to a cracker . If it turns out a 7/8 point plus trimming for Dublin , they’re in trouble .
We were right Sean Burke. Still don’t think Dessie will see championship
And no con O’Callaghan…
Kerry only scored a point in second half, if Mayo did that , Spillane and Brolly would write us off immediately but Spillane was all praise for Kerry after the game, beating Dublin at this time is not a big job, they may improve over the summer but wont be winning anything this year.