Ciaran McDonald not named in Mayo panel

[the Deel Rover]

Cheers Deel.

That seems like a fairly strong front 8? Would it be close enough to championship forwards and midfield?

Wouldn't be too far away i'd say Az

[moysider]

Cheers Deel.

That seems like a fairly strong front 8? Would it be close enough to championship forwards and midfield?

Wouldn't be too far away i'd say Az

Trevor for Kilcoyne only obvious omission there, unless Trevor is redeployed at half back. Does nt appear to have been too many 'missing' so. Not like the backs are a settled unit. Still weeks to go yet though. Important thing is to get a few games in, try a few things and hope we dont pick up too many injuries.

[Lar Naparka]

Colm O'Rourke did an article in the Indo before the 2004 final. He dismissed Mayo's chances, saying, amongst other things, that not a single Mayo forward would be good enough to get a place in the Kerry attack.
I met him sometime later and I did a rear up. What about Supermac or maybe Conor Mortimer? What about them was the reply. He said Kerry had an entire team, where every player fitted into an overall. 15 man set up. Some Kerry lads might not be the best individual players in the country but they fitted well into the overall team. Kerry was a unit, whereas Mayo had 15 players.
I had to take the point back than but it still seems the same way 4 years later.
I fully accept that Johnno is doing his best to get a settled team out for the championships this year but apart from the goalie, midfield and the FB line I'd imagine all other positions are still waiting to be filled. Okay, a lot of other lads seem sure of a place but what about the positions they will fill?
In the backs, Nallen, Aiden Higgins and Heaney seem to be showing well but the three are all over the 30 mark. Could we expect the team to go far with 50% of the backs well into their thirties? It's high time to settle on a side, any side, and let them go about developing as a unit.

[Barney]

I know challenges have to be taken with a grain of salt but a 6 point and 7 point beating over the last few days is worrying.

The trend appears to be massive leakage in the back leaving too much for the forwards to do.

Sligo will be licking their lips at having a go at us but you cannot be too hopeful of the Nestor Cup landing in Castlebar this Summer.

[Maradona]

Thats a fair way of putting it in fairness by O'Rourke - Never thought a lot of some of the Kerry backs and you would thing a lot of ours down the years would be as good, but despite never being spectacular, they never seem to be often caught out. They do play as a team, but for me the real diffecence is that they can all do the basics very well. That is a major problem with Mayo for some reason - we all know most of our senior players are not comfortable catching a ball over their heads, we all know many of them are not comfortable kicking the ball. You can see the same with a lot of our underage teams, so there is a serious problem there. I have a mate managing U16s at a high level in Mayo and he reckons some of the basic skills have never been thought properly and that they are having to start at a basic level in skills coaching at an age where it should be about conditioning. Personally I think generally the 'good' players at underage are often just left develop without coaching / improvement as they are seen as having 'natural' ability. In Mayo we are a big enough county to always have enough players coming through to be able to feild a reasonable team and this I believe will continue to hide the real problem.

[moysider]

Noticable at Colleges level that the better Galway players might not have as much 'flair' as some Mayo lads but they re better at the basics. Their hands are better and can pass off either hand can kickpass off either foot. Their decision making is better too and they do the right thing with the ball most of the time. Maybe it s to do with the type of player Mayo people expect to see. There s always been off the cuff players on Mayo teams as far back as I can remember. These are the fellas that stand out in trials probably and catch the eye.

[Lar Naparka]

There used to be a point of view in Connacht that a Roscommon team would need to be 5 points better than a Galway side to stand a chance of doing as well outside Connacht and a Mayo team would need to be 3 points better to do the same.
Furthermore, I heard this opinion from fans of all counties concerned. Back in the mid 60s Galway had a great side as we know.
Mayo had a brilliant team at that time. The likes of Jinking Joe Corcoran, John Morley and Joe Langan could bear comparison with any player in the land. Indeed there were many other superb players also.
However, Galway always seemed to have had that little bit of extra mental toughness or whatever it was to get past Mayo. With that great Galway side in decline, Mayo finally got the monkey off their backs in '67 but their own best days were over by then also.
Over the years since when Mayo have had good sides, Galway always seemed capable of hanging in and making up ground with their refusal to panic or commit major gaffes. I know Galway has their reverses over the years too but Mayo had to be clearly better to beat them.
Mayo sides have always had lads who try as hard ass any one else and that have had many class individuals but that self doubt was always there and still is. I was in Willie Joe's pub in Castlebar on the eve of the '98 final, the one where Mac cracked the ball off the crossbar in the closing stages.
I was introduced to several former players and all had concerns about the upcoming game. I heard the 3 point factor mentioned there too. The predictions came to pass alright. Between good luck and hard grafting, Galway seems to be always an ever-present danger.
I really don't know what can be done to change the attitude built up over generations but I do agree that there seems to be little or no consistency in underage coaching and the basics of blocking, kicking and catching are sadly lacking in many intercounty players.
Maybe this year will be different but I'd never bet the house on a derby match against Galway any time.

[INDIANA]

i'd stop worrying about birth certs lads, you pick the best team available regardless of age. Youth policies are not for senior inter county football, you're either good enough or you're not regardless of whether you're 18 or 36. experienced players do see things on the pitch better than younger players at times alot of managers tend to forget that like johnno has with mc donald and simply consign them to the dustbin too early

[moysider]

At the Knockmore v Crossmolina game earlier. Mac the outstanding player on the field. Got some great scores and as usual his athleticism and fitness were top drawer. I did nt see any Mayo management team but they may well have been there? It would nt have been a very comfortable environment for them though. Sean Feeney was there though. Surely what was plain to be seen was not lost on him.   Of the younger players on view only Kevin McLoughlin looked really comfortable in the company of the old heroes. Tom Nallen handled Damien Munnelly comfortably enough. Kilcoyne was abject. Even the Knockmore faithful are sniggering about him now although he did nt get the abuse he got last time from some of them.

[jodyb]

Met him a few years back when derry played yes in the league. thought he was a gent. Real shame that his class wont be on display this summer

[mannix]

They're still not listening, he is still the best forward playmaker in Mayo. Only in Mayo would this happen.
I do not expect much from Mayo anyway but he would have been very important in my team were I manager, even as a lad to throw on in a tight game to get scores and leave the passing to the other lads.
Some crack losing in croker by a point or two when the difference was watching at home in his jeans and t shirt.

[seafoid]

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