Kerry v Mayo, February 11, Austin Stack Park, Tralee

[Jinxy]

I mean chop off his two legs and replace them with the legs of a much younger man.
Literally.

[Brapbrap]

I mean chop off his two legs and replace them with the legs of a much younger man.
Literally.

What if the young buck is shite?

[Jinxy]

Makes no difference.
Andy's central nervous system will be calling the shots.

[Farrandeelin]

Well said joemamas. I agree that there must be something wrong with our forward coaching, be it at club underage, county development panels etc. I don't have the solution to our problem, but there must be someone out there that is developing good forward play at underage level somewhere. I agree with Jinxy that the inside line needs to have as much pace as any other line.. And as joemamas also said there will come a time when the older statesmen leave the stage.

[Cunny Funt]

Any promising forwards coming out of the last couple of u-21 teams?
Time for Regan to step up this year, looks good in flashes.

Jinxy,

That is the core issue with Mayo, which I believe will come back to haunt us when this wonderful crop of physically dominant midfielders are put out to pasture.

Mayo won a minor in 2013 and U21 in 2016 ( the latter TBH had a lot to do with luck, we were due) Score line Mayo 5-7 Cork 1-13.
Mayo forwards scored 2pts from play that day. A midfielder scored one, other four from frees or a 50. Weather was good btw.
2015 Mayo Minors scored 1-3 V Galway in Connacht minor semi-final.
2016 Mayo minors scored 0-6 V Galway in Connacht final of 2016, (weather a factor).

Where am I going with this, IMO, our coaching of underage skills and I mean from U14 U16 upwards has been sub par at best. Somebody has to be responsible.
Compare us to Tyrone and Kerry just to mention two counties are in the upper tier of senior football at the moment.
We have done a horrible job of developing individual forward skills over past 7 to 8 years. The only true natural forward to come through from the minor ranks to senior in that period was Cillian O Connor. Not joking.
Check the teams for confirmation of this. His brother Diarmuid while an incredible footballer will most likely end up playing midfield.

Diarmuid O Connor played a few times at midfield at underage level without ever stand out there. His best position is where he currently plays a total team player and he has a great engine but he isn't scoring forward as some seem to think, even today playing for DCU in a game that went to extra time he didn't score at all.

I agree on the Andy Moran comment, now in his mid 30s he remains Mayos best scorer from play and he started the game out as a defender

[Crete Boom]

Any promising forwards coming out of the last couple of u-21 teams?
Time for Regan to step up this year, looks good in flashes.

Jinxy,

That is the core issue with Mayo, which I believe will come back to haunt us when this wonderful crop of physically dominant midfielders are put out to pasture.

Mayo won a minor in 2013 and U21 in 2016 ( the latter TBH had a lot to do with luck, we were due) Score line Mayo 5-7 Cork 1-13.
Mayo forwards scored 2pts from play that day. A midfielder scored one, other four from frees or a 50. Weather was good btw.
2015 Mayo Minors scored 1-3 V Galway in Connacht minor semi-final.
2016 Mayo minors scored 0-6 V Galway in Connacht final of 2016, (weather a factor).

Where am I going with this, IMO, our coaching of underage skills and I mean from U14 U16 upwards has been sub par at best. Somebody has to be responsible.
Compare us to Tyrone and Kerry just to mention two counties are in the upper tier of senior football at the moment.
We have done a horrible job of developing individual forward skills over past 7 to 8 years. The only true natural forward to come through from the minor ranks to senior in that period was Cillian O Connor. Not joking.
Check the teams for confirmation of this. His brother Diarmuid while an incredible footballer will most likely end up playing midfield.

Diarmuid O Connor played a few times at midfield at underage level without ever stand out there. His best position is where he currently plays a total team player and he has a great engine but he isn't scoring forward as some seem to think, even today playing for DCU in a game that went to extra time he didn't score at all.

I agree on the Andy Moran comment, now in his mid 30s he remains Mayos best scorer from play and he started the game out as a defender

He started out as a forward coming on in a few games in 2004 as a corner forward. He captained the U21's that year from half forward. He then bounced between half forward and corner forward till 2009 where he played championship at no 7. He was back to the forwards for 2010.

Kevin McLoughlin started life as a half back moving to the half-forward line under Horan.

I agree with Jinxy and we should try Akram in the full forward line for a few league games at least.

[moysider]

Well said joemamas. I agree that there must be something wrong with our forward coaching, be it at club underage, county development panels etc. I don't have the solution to our problem, but there must be someone out there that is developing good forward play at underage level somewhere. I agree with Jinxy that the inside line needs to have as much pace as any other line.. And as joemamas also said there will come a time when the older statesmen leave the stage.

It's a tough one. But it is often down to players that are good enough being around. Some things cant be coached. Attitude, size, speed.
Lets take Keith Ruttledge. Attitude is very good. Very clever, quick, can see a pass and can score. He is probably not considered good enough because of size.
Then take Liam Irwin. Has the size and technically brilliant for a big lad. Match temperament is very good. Can score from play and frees. However he is not blessed with pace and his conditioning is not great.
We usually do alright with player type from 5-12 but not sure that is because we have good coaches that produce those type either. We have a lot of players in the county and a big pick.

[macdanger2]

Any promising forwards coming out of the last couple of u-21 teams?
Time for Regan to step up this year, looks good in flashes.

Jinxy,

That is the core issue with Mayo, which I believe will come back to haunt us when this wonderful crop of physically dominant midfielders are put out to pasture.

Mayo won a minor in 2013 and U21 in 2016 ( the latter TBH had a lot to do with luck, we were due) Score line Mayo 5-7 Cork 1-13.
Mayo forwards scored 2pts from play that day. A midfielder scored one, other four from frees or a 50. Weather was good btw.
2015 Mayo Minors scored 1-3 V Galway in Connacht minor semi-final.
2016 Mayo minors scored 0-6 V Galway in Connacht final of 2016, (weather a factor).

Where am I going with this, IMO, our coaching of underage skills and I mean from U14 U16 upwards has been sub par at best. Somebody has to be responsible.
Compare us to Tyrone and Kerry just to mention two counties are in the upper tier of senior football at the moment.
We have done a horrible job of developing individual forward skills over past 7 to 8 years. The only true natural forward to come through from the minor ranks to senior in that period was Cillian O Connor. Not joking.
Check the teams for confirmation of this. His brother Diarmuid while an incredible footballer will most likely end up playing midfield.

There was an interesting piece with Geaney on OTB where he talked about practising for hours on his own, basically jinking and shooting. It's definitely paying off for him and I'd imagine that it'd improve anyone's forward play if they did it from a young age (or even any age)

Even if we can't find a Geaney / McManus, I definitely think the movement and interplay between our forwards can be improved. Too often, our forwards play as individuals rather than as a unit.

[macdanger2]

Any promising forwards coming out of the last couple of u-21 teams?
Time for Regan to step up this year, looks good in flashes.

Jinxy,

That is the core issue with Mayo, which I believe will come back to haunt us when this wonderful crop of physically dominant midfielders are put out to pasture.

Mayo won a minor in 2013 and U21 in 2016 ( the latter TBH had a lot to do with luck, we were due) Score line Mayo 5-7 Cork 1-13.
Mayo forwards scored 2pts from play that day. A midfielder scored one, other four from frees or a 50. Weather was good btw.
2015 Mayo Minors scored 1-3 V Galway in Connacht minor semi-final.
2016 Mayo minors scored 0-6 V Galway in Connacht final of 2016, (weather a factor).

Where am I going with this, IMO, our coaching of underage skills and I mean from U14 U16 upwards has been sub par at best. Somebody has to be responsible.
Compare us to Tyrone and Kerry just to mention two counties are in the upper tier of senior football at the moment.
We have done a horrible job of developing individual forward skills over past 7 to 8 years. The only true natural forward to come through from the minor ranks to senior in that period was Cillian O Connor. Not joking.
Check the teams for confirmation of this. His brother Diarmuid while an incredible footballer will most likely end up playing midfield.

Diarmuid O Connor played a few times at midfield at underage level without ever stand out there. His best position is where he currently plays a total team player and he has a great engine but he isn't scoring forward as some seem to think, even today playing for DCU in a game that went to extra time he didn't score at all.

I agree on the Andy Moran comment, now in his mid 30s he remains Mayos best scorer from play and he started the game out as a defender

Midfield is a completely different position at senior level (where there are relatively few long kickouts) than it is at underage (where there's still a good percentage of long kickouts)

[Farrandeelin]

I assume the Kerry 26 and the Mayo 15 will be announced today sometime.

[mayo.mick]

I assume the Kerry 26 and the Mayo 15 will be announced today sometime.

Mayo 15 probably named around bedtime tonight

[Farrandeelin]

Parsons in for Kirby the only change for Mayo.

[Cunny Funt]

KERRY: Brian Kelly; Ronan Shanahan, Mark Griffin, Killian Young; Jonathan Lyne, Peter Crowley, Tadhg Morley; David Moran, Jack Barry; Adrian Spillane, Paul Murphy, Donnchadh Walsh; Jack Savage, Paul Geaney, James O'Donoghue.

MAYO: David Clarke; Donie Newcombe, Keith Higgins, Paddy Durcan; Colm Boyle, Stephen Coen, David Drake; Donal Vaughan, Tom Parsons; Fergal Boland, Kevin McLoughlin, Jason Doherty; Evan Regan, Alan Freeman, Cillian O'Connor.

[Captain Obvious]

Did Mayo bring their training kit instead of away jersey to Tralee?

[highorlow]

Are we on the Tele? Which channel?