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Not often I agree with Syferus but he's right, we were very lucky not to have thrown that game away. Danny Cummins should have made sure with that last shot he had, we made a lot of mistakes and have plenty to work on. They showed great heart and hunger though in fairness to them. Still not sold on Lavelle in goals though, the short kick outs seem to have been the game plan and that's fair enough even though it's so frustrating to watch, but this carrying the ball out of his own defence is ridiculous, how many times did he cause trouble for himself and his own full back line? Only for Johnny Heaney we'd have lost that game. Armstrong really stepped up yesterday, was a bit quieter in the second half but he was bang on in the first. Can't wait to see Comer playing again, he seems like a man on a mission this year and what a hit on Diarmuid O'Connor. On a positive note, club championship this weekend, I thought they'd be called off but sense has prevailed. Even though it means Corofin, Monivea Abbey and Caltra are going to be without their hurlers unfortunately.

I dunno. It's all perspective but from where I'm coming from it was Mayo threw that game away. Mayo started both halves very flat. Galway ran up 4 easy points in first half before Mayo settled and then largely controlled most of the first half. Again - inexcusably from out point of view - Galway were allowed get a run on us at the beginning of second half and put up a quick 3 points. This purple patch gave Galway something to fight for and it turned out to be just enough.
But we really threw it away with the Higgins meltdown. Rightly so, when that happens, a team has to suffer for the individual's actions and it turned out to be crippling. The sending off handed Galway a tactical advantage in the second half they would not have had if it was 15 v 15.
Some of the post match analysis has missed the point imo. I was gobsmacked by James Horan harping on about Mayo not being at the required pace or intensity or whatever. Talk about ignoring the elephant in the room! The match lasted 80mins. Mayo played with 14 for 54 mins.
When the dust settles and people stop seeing what they want to see, the sending off (our own making and misfortune), was decisive. We could and should still have won. With Higgins I think we would have won with a bit to spare. But it was what it was and we have to live with it.

We'll never get credit for beating Mayo. Now we ran up 4 easy points but that was just because Mayo weren't settled. But sure after that it was the Mayo show. Then in second half we got a run and put up 3 quick points till it was the Mayo show again.
Laughing here of lads referring to it as a purple patch. 7 points is just a purple patch. Christ



Whisht with ye. Depending on what way you look at it you can read this game how you like. Not having this rubbish about sending off cost Mayo that game. That's part of Gaelic football keeping your discipline and shouldn't be used as an excuse and hearing things like we would have won with a bit to spare if he wasn't sent off is sad stuff. Especially with a clear a red as you're likely to see.

Galway could crow on about how we were flying and would have won with a bit to spare if it wasn't for that poxy goal which bounced off the post, or tom flynns ridiculous black card or Danny cummins not burying a goal. Instead we got to listen to the land of the if only's.

Not one bit of credit given to Galway from Mayo. Thought last year I could understand them feeling that we caught them on the hop. Two years in a row may be more in it.

Dessie Dolan had a great one today, "Galway are playing a zonal defence in that everyone is marking their own man".

Great exciting game. Delighted with the result. Full of hard hits, decent scores, plenty of passion and a great atmosphere.

Surprised at Keith Higgins, it's not like him at all. Although I did predict a sending off as both teams were looking for revenge. Galway for last game in Pearse stadium and not getting enough credit last year and Mayo after losing last year. Thought sending off was fair and Flynn's black card and conceding of a point shouldn't have been given.

We will have to tighten up in full back line, whether that's due to having a half back line that flies up field at will or that our 1-4 aren't good enough I'm not sure. I thought Sweeney did well in fairness to him. The goal we conceded would previously have made us retreat into our shells as they knew it was due to a mistake in not reacting to it.

We have a nice mixture of pace in Daly, Walsh and Brannigan, and strength in Comer, Conroy and Fiontain. Yeah we made errors but what team produces a 70 minute performance? That's the nature of the game. Played well first half with some variety in scorers and cut them open a few times in second half. We could have kicked on but got a bit anxious filtering back in the second half. Was very surprised to see Moran come off for Mayo.

Last fifteen mins we hung on, but that's what you have to do. It's championship football. Short kickouts particular in the wind tunnel probably need a bit more work. Never seen anything like that when Heaney had to save us.

People writing Mayo off are a bit much. They're used to having a long season and will be primed for this. Only thing that changes for them is a few more matches and a few less training sessions over the next 3 months. What kind of a ban is likely for Higgins?

Great to beat a division 1 team. Maybe it is not as big a gap as we are told. Galway will gain huge amount of confidence from this

Mayo lads looking at that team thinking the game is in the bag for them.
Suits us grand, we'll give it a rattle I'd say

Does anyone think that Aidan O'Shea won't start Sunday? He could cause Galway all sorts of trouble.

I'd say both teams will have some last minute changes come throw up.

I don't really see huge changes in the Galway team bar Damien Comer coming in at full forward, and possibly Kyne coming in to the full back line.

Syferus isn't a bad lad, rattles a few cages at times but you need that. No point ignoring lads and only listening to a load of people you agree with.

Talking to a few Mayo lads, they're fierce confident coming down to Salthill, saying it's only a matter of turning up.......only joking. Funny lads conducting the poor mouth/we're the underdogs/we respect ye more/ye think we're rubbish -  media battle as if it impacts the game what is said on here.

I'd say it will be a bit of a battle and we might see a couple of sendings off. Mayo will have revenge on their minds, and Galway will still feel they're not getting respect off Mayo and thinking back to the thrashing in Pearse stadium.

Full decision here.
http://www.sportireland.ie/Media/Latest_News/Sport%20Ireland%20and%20GAA%20Confirm%20Anti-Doping%20Rule%20Violation.html

Seems like a couple of folk who doubted the fact that the sample was contaminated owe the lad an apology.

That's the big stumbling block here. In Irish amateur sporting circles - cycling, running, triathlon, badminton, tennis - contaminated supplements is not an excuse. You're unlucky but you put yourself in that position to be unlucky that majority of athletes don't.

That's the risk you take when you buy without advice.
Advice isn't as simple as reading the back of the packet. There are specific companies with better records than others, there are companies that batch test their product. And also sports dieticians would have looked at his body fat scores and thought they could be achieved over time in safer ways.
Any sports dietician worth their salt would have told him the risk of contamination and it wasn't one worth taking.

I do feel really sorry for Brendan O'Sullivan, but I think all these people arguing for him, or seeking apologies or asking to let him away with just a slap on the wrist, do more damage to him.
I know there's huge uproar in other Irish sports as to the way this is being spoken about. If it was let be, yeah he was silly and here's his punishment which he is accepting of then it would pass over. However listening to this as if he is the first guy ever to be done for a contaminated supplement and should be treated differently is extremely naive.

[pharmaton]

On the form he filled in at doping controls he listed 8 different supplements and 1 medication he took in the 2 weeks before the final. Augmentin, whey protein, pharmaton, pre-fuel, caffeine tablets, caffeine gel, vitamin C, Krill oil and magnesium. These are meant to be amateur athletes but I'd say there are professional athletes who aren't taking supplements in these quantities. No wonder the top resourced counties are getting further away from those with small budgets.

I know people who aren't even athletes who would be taking some or all of these.

All those supplements he is taking is fair enough and would have more than likely been advised by the dietician. Was this fat burning supplement not mentioned in his doping control test?

I don't think it will matter on Sunday week, whether Galway are due to get that long awaited championship win in Croker this summer, or if it's Mayo's "last throw of the dice" for Sam with this group of players.
What matters is dogged Connacht championship football over 70 + minutes.

In general we get a bit too hung up on having good young teams coming through, or 3/4/5 year plans. At this stage all it matters is the next 3/4 months with regard players age or hunger in order to win an All-Ireland.

Hopefully Comer will have plenty of football in him by the time of the game as he looked understandably rusty against Kildare. I felt Cafferkey looked a bit rusty too after his layoff. We'll see how much these lads will have come on by June 11th in that interesting battle.

[Sport Ireland recommends against the use of sports supplements for the following reasons:]

It's funny that after the clarification statement came out, both sides in this debate feel that they are even more right!

I can see it from both sides.

To the one who thinks he's owed an apology you feel he's unlucky, as if there was nothing he could do.
Every athlete knows that if you buy a supplement you run the very real risk of a contamination and a failed drug test. You will have been warned by dieticians/nutritionists/doctors/physios.
The idea that he ran through the ingredient of the fat burner to make sure it was legal but didn't consult the sports ireland anti-doping website is laughable.


From the sport ireland recommendations on sports supplement e.g. advice that any athlete from any two bit amateur athlete will have weighed up before deciding to purchase Oxyburn Pro Superthermotech fat burning supplements.


Sport Ireland recommends against the use of sports supplements for the following reasons:

We believe that a correct dietary and nutritional regime will provide all the potential benefits of sports supplements.
We believe that, given the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) principle of strict liability, elite athletes are opening up the possibility of inadvertent positive tests by taking supplements.

There are no guarantees that any dietary supplements are safe. Before taking any dietary supplements please assess the following

The Need: seek nutrition advice from a professional sports dietician - he didn't do
The Risk: If you choose to take a supplement you should assess the associated risks and make an informed decision. Please see risk minimisation guidelines below - he did his best here in fairness
The Consequences: consuming a contaminated product may may result in a 4 year ban from sport - has to deal with them unfortunately.

Have a read of this http://www.nutraingredients.com/Markets-and-Trends/The-decline-of-sports-supplement-contamination

I honestly feel that lads talking about lemsip - clueless, or that sure jaysus it was contaminated, or he was unlucky are being hugely naive. Every athlete knows the risks and everyone has heard all the excuses.

In drug testing it should be pass or fail. Morally yeah we can have huge sympathy for O'Sullivan, but in sport we have to close the door on lads not just blatantly doping, but being negligent and not taking responsibility for what you put in your own body.
There will be lads like O'Sullivan who can consider themselves unlucky.
However, by banning him for 1 year, that will make the next guy who thinks he needs fat burning supplements even though he wasn't advised to stop and think again.

My main point is yes fat burning supplements in this case aren't illegal, but you take the very real and common risk of contamination if you do purchase this. Every athlete knows this, and will have been advised this by dieticians/nutritionists etc.

As an athlete you have to take luck or being unlucky out of it. It can't be an excuse, however understandable it might be. What he did was wreckless, and that runs the risk of a positive test.

Remember this is a lad training six times a week, and looking for any help they can get. I feel sorry for O'Sullivan, probably a lot of pressure on him to get his body fat down. Maybe these guys are being pushed too much in this regard by S & C, management etc. If a lad training six times a week, and eating well still feels he needs to get fat burning supplements as well to hit unrealistic targets then where are we going?

https://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/2017/0531/879358-more-drugs-tests/


"I'm not naive enough to think that there aren't people cheating and taking drugs to improve their performance in our sports and nor do I think it's a widespread problem. But we won't know one way or the other unless there is a much more far-reaching testing programme."
From Philip Jordan.

A good piece from Philip Jordan. Better than a lot of the nonsense being spoken by Colm Parkinson and Quirke. It's annoying about Parkinson as I really liked his podcast and offered pretty smart viewpoints, however his stance on drug taking is amateur hour.

With regard the other Kerry lads, I think the more they are debated against by the media or Kimmage or whoever, the more entrenched their views become on this issue.

This education thing is laughable too, these are grown men with third level degrees we are talking about. Having been in these set ups in the past, you would have had a team meeting with the GPA talking about anti doping, also a talk from your nutritionist, then you have the Doc and physio all giving their advice into the mix too.
What more do they want, a postgraduate diploma in pharmacy taken over 12 months?

I think Jordan has hit a nice balance with his column today, that is very hard to argue with.

[I dont know how anyone can say there is a problem of doping in the GAA when there have only been a couple of positive tests in the last number of years.]

I dont know how anyone can say there is a problem of doping in the GAA when there have only been a couple of positive tests in the last number of years. That said, didn't yer man on the GAAHour say there was only something like 96 tests carried out last year so certainly there needs to be a lot more testing. You cant also make sweeping statements like people are in the gym more and more therefore ther will be doping - not aimed at anyone on this board but a twitter user.
Last point, its not like GAA has a history of this type of thing like say cycling does.

Regrading the Kerry players identity not being released was that not more to do with the fact he was appealing?
I'm prepard for people to tell me I'm burying my head in the sand.Im not. If there are people in the GAA doping I want them found out and banned, I just don't think you can say there is a culture of it. Certainly not with what we know at the moment

Sorry now, but totally disagree with you there.

This is going round in circles - nobody is saying GAA has a big doping problem so don't know who you are arguing with.
What is feeding the flames of this debate is this type of deflective attitude when coming under pressure for one of the players in a top 2 team failing a drug test. "Sure we're not like cycling, leave the lads be".

Can there not be a number of lads taking supplements bought online without there being a culture of it. 20 years ago you wouldn't have lads weighing their food, and making quinoa salads - all looking for that extra percentage. It's that strive for the extra percentage that's gonna make 1% of lads go overboard and take the risk. Because that's what it is when you buy supplements yourself outside the team dietician, you are taking a risk.

Sport Ireland even have a page dedicated to managing that risk if you do, against their advice, decide to purchase supplements.

Load of lads commenting in media basically making two points deflecting away.

1) I didn't take any dodgy supplements, wouldn't do it, and didn't see anyone do it in my time er go there's no doping in GAA.
2) He's a good guy and not that kind of player

1) Sport is a different world today than what it was 10, or even 5 years ago. The margins are getting even tighter, lads are pushing the boundaries all the time. I think lads secretly go down these roads by themselves rather than any culture or organisation to it. Probably handful of lads doing it, but doing it nonetheless.

2) This is same defence lads who get sent off for a bad tackle get said about them afterwards. If you did it you are that kind of player. These dopers are regular joe soaps, unremarkable lads. Some people have this notion that dopers are easy to spot, like as if there's a Rasputin looking character muttering 19th century Russian getting ready for a Meath trial in a changing room in Dunshaughlin.

I don't know about this arms outstretched rule. To be honest I think if a lad leaves himself open, whether that's after being given a hospital pass or not seeing it coming then he's fair game.
You might call it a cheap shot, but I can't see any player refusing to clean a lad out with a shoulder if he's there to be hit.
For a small man Boyle is superb at these hits. One thing though I'd note in his game is he often overcommits to the block down. This could leave him open to a dummy solo and he's out of the game. Don't know why more don't try it against him he's such a wholehearted player.

Will be some match up keegan, Boyle and Durcan v Flynn, Walsh and brannigan. Wonder will Flynn be targeted with kickouts as I feel that Mayo may have upper hand in midfield.

The Gaa - in fact our attitude to this positive finding makes Jerry Kiernan's words seem apposite on Gaa players talking about the sacrifices they make, or how they train like professionals. How they are elite sportsmen and how seriously they take their preparations.
I would have argued heavily against JK till watching the current reaction.

When it comes to a positive test all of a sudden god we are only amateurs don't be holding us accountable for what we put into our bodies.

If you have a smart phone I would advise look at App Store and download the free app Irish spots council medication checker. Keep to that and you won't go wrong. It's very simple isn't it. Ignorance is not an excuse.

Our club team has access to a dietician. Every team in top divisions definitely has access to a dietician.

I know runners working full time with no grants who are afraid of their life of taking anything as they are fully aware that regardless of a contaminated batch or an honest mistake the rule everyone knows is your body your responsibility. We laugh when we hear team GB excuses of a contaminated batch but when it's one of our own it's a credible excuse. 

I have to laugh that one player gets crucified by all over doing some media work and another lad gets backed up and excused after failing a doping test.

I don't think gaa has a doping problem but this circling of the wagons is terrible to see. I'd say it probably is an honest mistake but what does this tell an impressionable lad of 19 who's been told he's not good enough for county. Sure go for it, worst case scenario say sure I'm only an amateur - you weren't to know.


I think that the players at risk of abuse are lads trying to break into the county set up, or lads at no 24 in county panels trying to make a push for starting place. I do think these lads are lone wolves really, and it's taking a chance on supplements bought online. This isn't just protein or creatine they are looking for.

One last question-  to people using this amateur excuse realise that a lot of our Irish track and field athletes work too? Do they think that Ciara Everard is sitting back on her 12k a year grant and not working?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_experiment#2007_onwards

For the most part it's the two year rookie contract and home.

Funny reading through it every lad is compared to tadhg Kennelly in Aussie media when they go over. Obviously Hanley and Kennelly the exception more than the rule.

Cillian McDaid invited for over for AFL trials in Melbourne in October.

I think at this stage you have to say write him off for 2 years, let him enjoy a couple of years in Oz. People tend to panic when they see lads going, but in reality often they are only gone for a season or two.