MAYO STAR HEADING TO OZ????

[Croí na hÉireann]

By this map, Ballaghaderreen is at least two miles inside Roscommon (as that famous crow does it - I don't know what it is by road).

It's about four miles by road to Carracastle, which is on the border.Relations come from around there, just inside the Roscommon border and they firmly regard themselves as Rossies...

[Hardy]

Thanks Homer - I'll give it a try when I get a minute.

[Rossfan]

All boundary slagging aside young Hanley is some footballer. Saw him first hand in the u-21 Connacht Final this year and he was (as Spectator pointed out) devastating.

I first saw him on the field at the start of the Connacht Minor Final in 2006 .
I didnt see much of him after that thanks to a chap called David Flynn -who of course wasnt considered good enough by that nice man Maughan to be on this years U21 team.
As someone else said - may he have a long and prosperous career in Brisbane and then come back and settle in Frenchpark about 2015 just in time to join Ros as we hunt Sam.
As for the comment about Ros people loving sheep -- it's only when they're dead and on the table unlike in Mayo when they are alive and ......

[ludermore]

So you saying rossies are necrophiles! yes thats better than sheep shagging!!!

[ross matt]

I first saw him on the field at the start of the Connacht Minor Final in 2006 .
I didnt see much of him after that thanks to a chap called David Flynn -who of course wasnt considered good enough by that nice man Maughan to be on this years U21 team.

I thought the reason Flynn didnt start was because he was injured Rossfan?

[Rossfan]

Didnt hear that Rosmatt - but I was out of the Country at the time. The anecdote afterwards was "Maughan wouldnt pick Flynn"

[The Real Laoislad]

There is a Roosky near Charlestown, which is in Mayo. But the real Rooskey is very much in Roscommon.

The best of luck to Pearse Hanley in Oz. All Rossies will be wishing him a long and successful stay over there.......10 years should do it.

One of my best mates is from Rooskey and he calls himself a Leitrim man

[From the Bunker]

Best of luck to the lad, hope it goes well. If not he is always welcome to return to the red & Green!

[Redgreenery]

Hope its untrue personally, will get someone to ask Hanley though, it'd be a huge loss if he left, right now for Ballaghadereen, he had a huge role the last day against Garrymore, himself, his brother Andy Hanley and Andy Moran were as usual creating chances and scoring quite a few!

[Barney]

Lads, read the Mayo News, there's no doubt but that he is going. Disappointing but a great opportunity for the lad. There is no guarantee that Australia will suit him, many have returned, and I think in the future we will see more fail than succeed. It is very easy for the clubs to put money into an apprenticeship contract in the hope of hitting gold. Hanley has it all and was a huge prospect for Mayo (he took huge satisfaction in demolishing Ros in the u21 final by the way!). I think he can make it down there

And in a new record Mayo are back getting ready for 2008 already

HANLEY TO HIT FOR OZ

Mike Finnerty & Edwin McGreal

MAYO football is bracing itself for the loss of one of the county's best young talents after Pierce Hanley was offered a two-year Australian Rules contract earlier this month.
The 18 year old Ballaghaderreen star was approached by scouts from the Brisbane Lions after Mayo's defeat to Derry in the recent All-Ireland SFC Qualifier.
He is due to travel to Australia in late October, early November to sign up to a two-year deal and told The Mayo News last night that he is excited at the prospect.
"I've no final decision made. It's not guaranteed that I'm going out but it is probable," said Hanley. "The chance of being a full-time professional athlete is hard to turn down. It's hard to believe that I will be paid to play football. You grow up in Ireland playing football as a hobby and expect to be working in an office or wherever during the week.
"They [the Brisbane Lions] came to me last Thursday week and it really came as a surprise," he added. "I was shocked. A coach/scout came from Australia and called to the house and showed me a DVD. I had had no other contact with any club up to that point and I was very surprised when it came along, from nowhere."
Hanley only made his inter-county senior debut against Cavan last month but caught the eye with his explosive pace and strong-running game.
The Ballagh' teenager first came to prominence two years ago when touring Australia with the Irish Compromise Rules U-17 team. Hanley was awarded the Ron Barassi medal (for the best player of the series) and was known to have attracted the attention of a number of AFL scouts in the process.
"People had told me after the U-17 tour that clubs would be interested but up until last week I hadn't heard anything," he admitted. "I have to sign for the season in November and I might go out beforehand. I haven't seen the contract yet so I will have to wait until I receive that.
"The prospect of Ballaghaderreen winning a county title was one big thing that made me sit up and think. There were lots of things holding me back. The months I could go out to see what I made of the place were August and October. August would have interfered with the club and in October I'd be missing college. I really want to win a county title with Ballaghaderreen, that would be great to do before I go."

Mayo boss not happy with 'personal attack'

Edwin McGreal

MAYO manager John O'Mahony has expressed his disappointment with well-known GAA pundit Joe Brolly after comments he made about Conor Mortimer in a newspaper column after the All-Ireland qualifier defeat to Derry.
Brolly, who said that Mortimer 'is no good anyway' and that he reminded him 'of the sort of boy Adrian McGuckian had in mind when he said he distrusted boys with 'dyed hair and trendy clothes that scored 2-5 in friendlies', made his comments in the Ulster based Gaelic Life paper.
O'Mahony feels that such comments were out of line. "I have always rebuked any pundit who has personally attacked a player. I've no problem with any journalist or pundit giving criticism of the performance of any player or any manager but I do have a problem with personal attacks.
"Joe, as a former player, should know better. Conor Mortimer is someone who gives a lot of time and commitment to playing for his county and he deserves better than that."
Meanwhile, the Mayo manager confirmed that the Mayo squad met on Saturday last, their first meeting since the Derry game, and certain players were given individual programmes to work on.
"What we are doing going forward is activating training programmes for individuals to go on. We are not meeting collectively but giving individuals work to do. No training was done on Saturday, we just had a chat."
O'Mahony added that no players had made any decision on their future but that they would be given as much time as was needed.
"No one has made any decision about their future. It's up to some of the younger lads now, who are out of the club championship, to use this time to do the work they need to do. A lot of the older players need a break and they will get it."

[Rossfan]

There is a Roosky near Charlestown, which is in Mayo. But the real Rooskey is very much in Roscommon.

The best of luck to Pearse Hanley in Oz. All Rossies will be wishing him a long and successful stay over there.......10 years should do it.

One of my best mates is from Rooskey and he calls himself a Leitrim man

He must be from the small bit on the wrong side of the Shannon along the N4 - God love him.

[Farrandeelin]

I really want to scream at this happening. It's another reason why the Aussies should be told to f*ck off and leave our young stars alone...

[stephenite]

There's an awful amount of serverly unrealsitic people on this board. The AFL is a professional sporting organisation that sees an outlet they can tap for new talent, at very little cost.
Do you think that the GAA telling them to f*ck off or resurrecting the International Rules is going to stop individual AFL clubs from offering lucrative contracts to young Irish players.

It's an opportunity to sample a different lifestyle, and get paid well for doing so. I'm disappointed that Hanley is going from a Mayo football perspective but can I blame the lad for taking this opportunity or the AFL for offering it to him, of course I can't.

The GAA can of course look into the option of having something to keep these young guys at home playing our games, and that is pay them, I'm not in favour of it and the organisation is between a rock and a hard place on this.

[INDIANA]

As i said on another thread this is going to become mor and more commonplace with the change in the aussie game to more of a running based game. little we can do about it- but that is going to stop the player drain which is going to steadily increase i the coming years. nothing to stop them settin up their own acadamies here.

[Farrandeelin]

True but a nice few players from other counties were snapped up by the aFL as well. If Hanley takes the opportunity good luck to him but I really hope from a Mayo view he doesn't. That's all.