Galway v Mayo, Tuam NFL Round VI 29 March 2009

[highorlow]

A O'Sé he's young but then so was the Gooch and Tommy Walsh and Micheal Meehan and Keith Higgins. When he came on the last day he ran around and chased with a passion that put the rest of the lethargy over the previous 60 mins to shame.

Agree fully with the above. This gibberish talk of the lad been too young is bullshit. If he was getting his game people would be winging. Shur look at the age some lads are heading out to Australia to play Aussie rules, so as long as the lads are big enough they should be good enough.

Conor has been off form the last 2 match's and this might be a wake up for him. I'd say the team named will be the team that starts alright.

[FL/MAYO]

Could we have two big men in the full forward line come the summer with Moran and O'Shea, it could be interesting if they had a few flyers to lay the ball of to when needed.
In my opinion age should not matter as long O'Shea is big enough to handle himself in there, at 6'4" carrying 16 stone he should be alright. Darren Fay was 19 when he played full back for Meath in 1996, age was not a problem for him as we found out to our dismay. The only concern would be burn out this year with the Leaving Cert, U21, Colleges and Mayo seniors all going at the same time, maybe he is one of those type of people that can take it all in his stride but some one should be keeping a close eye on him.

[IolarCoisCuain]

A O'Sé he's young but then so was the Gooch and Tommy Walsh and Micheal Meehan and Keith Higgins. When he came on the last day he ran around and chased with a passion that put the rest of the lethargy over the previous 60 mins to shame.

Agree fully with the above. This gibberish talk of the lad been too young is bullshit. If he was getting his game people would be winging. Shur look at the age some lads are heading out to Australia to play Aussie rules, so as long as the lads are big enough they should be good enough.

Conor has been off form the last 2 match's and this might be a wake up for him. I'd say the team named will be the team that starts alright.

I'm not saying O'Shea is too young to play. I'm saying he might be too young for the leadership role that it seems he's expected to fulfill. Meehan's only come into his own in Galway five years after he came along first. Joyce is there for eleven years, if not more. O'Shea is certainly old enough and good enough to play but he's being asked to be a Messiah as well as a player and that's not fair.

Look at Conor. Conor is grand. If anything he's probably better, himself, than he was when he started out. But a leader in the forwards he's not. It takes a certain type of fella. O'Shea might be that, but to ask him to do it the same summer he sits his Leaving Cert is a lot to bloody ask.

[RedandGreenSniper]

A O'Sé he's young but then so was the Gooch and Tommy Walsh and Micheal Meehan and Keith Higgins. When he came on the last day he ran around and chased with a passion that put the rest of the lethargy over the previous 60 mins to shame.

Agree fully with the above. This gibberish talk of the lad been too young is bullshit. If he was getting his game people would be winging. Shur look at the age some lads are heading out to Australia to play Aussie rules, so as long as the lads are big enough they should be good enough.

Conor has been off form the last 2 match's and this might be a wake up for him. I'd say the team named will be the team that starts alright.

I'm not saying O'Shea is too young to play. I'm saying he might be too young for the leadership role that it seems he's expected to fulfill. Meehan's only come into his own in Galway five years after he came along first. Joyce is there for eleven years, if not more. O'Shea is certainly old enough and good enough to play but he's being asked to be a Messiah as well as a player and that's not fair.

Look at Conor. Conor is grand. If anything he's probably better, himself, than he was when he started out. But a leader in the forwards he's not. It takes a certain type of fella. O'Shea might be that, but to ask him to do it the same summer he sits his Leaving Cert is a lot to bloody ask.

Nail on the head Iolar. AOS is strong enough and good enough for inter-county football. But on Sunday he's going to be the vocal point of the attack. Not fair.

[mannix]

Well, whatever happens I wish him luck. He should be minded and not put under such pressure when he has exams coming up. If he reads this board he wont know what to think but his education ought to be his priority and football a distant second if he has any sense.

[Farrandeelin]

Lads is Barry Moran injured? He must be when he's not starting. As soon as the whole panel is set together, we might have a decent run going. Will Aiden Higgins be back for the championship does anybody know?

[Zulu]

I have to say I don't share the pessimistic view of many here about Mayo's progress, I don't think Mayo have the necessary quality to beat the best at the moment but I think ye'll still be a team to be reckoned with come summer. Mayo's back six will be formidable enough though full back is a problem but the real problems are from here on up, McGarrity isn't good enough to be the main ball winner in midfield and as long as he has that role Mayo will be in trouble. If I were JOM I'd be looking at Tyrone's template and maybe playing Harte and Parsons in midfield for their mobility and speed, get them to break ball and get the HB/HF lines to try and win that ball. McGarrity could be played FF with Barry Moran and Conor Mort either side, that would give the option of putting ball in long and high with Conor working off it. I'd give Aidan O'Se a run at center forward with Dillon and T Mort either side of him, that or Dillon center forward Barry Moran wing forward and Aidan O'Se at full forward, maybe play McGarrity as a third midfielder. I'd also give Ronaldson a few games as an out and out corner forward and see how he gets on. As I type this the one thing that keeps jumping out at me is the fact that Mayo lack real scoring forwards and JOM can't be blamed for that, I think he sees that too and may be trying to develop and more defensive set up for the summer.

[moysider]

Lads is Barry Moran injured? He must be when he's not starting. As soon as the whole panel is set together, we might have a decent run going. Will Aiden Higgins be back for the championship does anybody know?

Barry Moran did the warm up last week but they re right not too rush him back. Hamstrings are tricky to get right, especially with lads with long levers. As for Aiden Higgins ?? Johnno did mention Heaney and Nallen coming back but not Aiden.

Sunday will be interesting because this will be very close to the Galway championship team. Whether we can say the same about ours, who knows, It ll be interesting to see how Cafferkey does on Meehan. I m trying to think if this is a first time meeting?? Cuniffe on Joyce a huge test. He ll have to man mark Joyce but would still like to see him surge forward occasionally just to take PJ out of the comfort zone. After the last day I d be worried about Andy s looseness. To be honest if we re playing O Sé I dont see why other U21 s not included though I would expect to see Vaughan or McLoughlin before the end. Think we ll need McLoughlin on likes of Armstrong, Bane or Nicky J before the end of the Summer.... if we get that far.

Our forwards need to improve big time. This Galway fullback line has eaten us alive in recent matches and I cant see the 2 corner men have much return this time either. Yet the decision to drop Conor is correct. Burke usually bitch- slaps him around the place anyway( but in fairness Conor usually does him for a couple of frees). Now if Conor was on form I d fancy him to take Burke on for an early yellow but based on last Sunday Conor would nt have the legs to get out in front of Burke. It s a s well for Conor to keep his powder dry for again. He ll be on before the end anyway.

As for O Sé. Think we ll see him next couple of Sundays and that ll be it til the end of June. So they need to play him in these ones if he s to feature later. I suppose management need to see now if they can integrate him into a team come championship, as they wont get many chances later as he lll have to concentrate on the books April and May. I think all of us will be pleased if he can find a few chinks in the armour of Finian Hanley on Sunday. A least then we ll have another string to our bow besides Barry Moran.

Interesting as well will they perservere with Trevor at 11. If they do it ll probably be a battle between himself and Blake and Blake will love a battle. Anyway we ll be more wiser about a lot of things after this one.

[moysider]

I have to say I don't share the pessimistic view of many here about Mayo's progress, I don't think Mayo have the necessary quality to beat the best at the moment but I think ye'll still be a team to be reckoned with come summer. Mayo's back six will be formidable enough though full back is a problem but the real problems are from here on up, McGarrity isn't good enough to be the main ball winner in midfield and as long as he has that role Mayo will be in trouble. If I were JOM I'd be looking at Tyrone's template and maybe playing Harte and Parsons in midfield for their mobility and speed, get them to break ball and get the HB/HF lines to try and win that ball. McGarrity could be played FF with Barry Moran and Conor Mort either side, that would give the option of putting ball in long and high with Conor working off it. I'd give Aidan O'Se a run at center forward with Dillon and T Mort either side of him, that or Dillon center forward Barry Moran wing forward and Aidan O'Se at full forward, maybe play McGarrity as a third midfielder. I'd also give Ronaldson a few games as an out and out corner forward and see how he gets on. As I type this the one thing that keeps jumping out at me is the fact that Mayo lack real scoring forwards and JOM can't be blamed for that, I think he sees that too and may be trying to develop and more defensive set up for the summer.

Bit of a contradiction there Zulu as if we dont have the quality to beat the best(who are the best? the top3? top5? top10?) then we re not a team to be reckoned with. Only teams that can beat the best are contenders. Those that get predictably beaten by 1 or 5 are not. The above post makes a lot of sense to me though. Your proposals have lots of merit imo.

[Zulu]

Re-reading it there Moysider I can see what you mean but what I was trying to say was that it isn't all doom and gloom for Mayo but that ye lack the class where it matters to beat the likes of Kerry & Tyrone, ye could beat most of the rest on a given day as most of yer players are of a good standard but are short the three or four top level players that all AI winners have. I've been thinking about a bit more since I posted and I think Barry Moran at wing forward and McGarrity as a third midfielder could be the way to go in order to get a foothold at midfield, Andy Moran could also flourish in a two man full forward line, he is a great man to win the ball though it goes down hill from there IMO. But if he was winning it and Dillion from the half forward line and Conor from the full were working off that ball ye might score a bit more. As for AOS he is young but if your going to bring him on the panel you may aswell use him and see how he goes, he could offer something different from the bench if he doesn't make the starting team. I'd worry about his pace going forward though, he needs to work on that if he is going to make it.

[the Deel Rover]

I'd worry about his pace going forward though, he needs to work on that if he is going to make it.

Ye i thought the same Zulu regarding his pace and playing him in a 2 man full forward line doesn't really help the lad if we are to play o'shea in the full forward line i definately think we need two lads playing off him.Is pace something that you can work on Zulu would you either be naturally quick or not?

[Zulu]

Well you can definitely work on it, though you'll never be lightening quick if you're not genetically predisposed, however he could work on developing his speed over 5-10 yards which is all he'd really need if playing in the full forward line. That and the fact that I'd be playing high diagonal ball into him and looking to get Dillion coming in off the wing to finish or C Mort to loop around him and finish would mean I think he could play the role. He's also decent finisher himself which would add to the full backs woes, going forward I'm not sure he has the mobility and general speed for the half forward line. I'd see his future in the next 3-5 years in the full forward line and then possibly midfield after that.

[RedandGreenSniper]

You make a lot of valid points Zulu. I don't think a two man full-forward line of Andy and Conor would work though. Andy is the better ball winner but his use of the ball is very questionable imo. If we are playing these two inside, or indeed Conor and any of the contenders for the other corner - Mikey Sweeney, Mark Ronaldson etc, we do need a Barry Moran or Aidan O'Shea on the edge of the square to maximse the amount of ball that will stick.

[Zulu]

I agree R&G that Andy Moran's distribution is questionable but in the FF line I think he could win plenty of ball and if he can't deliver a 5 yard hand pass then he has no place on an IC football pitch. My own first choice would be AOS or Barry Moran but if Andy has a place on the team then it might be in the FF line whether it's a two or three man FF line. I'd also like to see the Mayo half forward line play deeper to create open country in front of the FF line, Mayo have plenty of fast ball carriers from deep like Gardnier but from what I've seen so far this year these guys keep getting bottled up once in scoring territory. Now of course every team will try a fill up that area with players but if Mayo could suck bodies into the midfield area ( partly by the half forward line coming deeper ) and try to break into the space futher forward with your quick runners from half back and midfield (Harte) it might help make ye difficult to break down on the one hand and create space further up the pitch to ultilize on the other. By playing a big man in the FF line and running from deep at pace any defender playing in front of the FF might be nullified somewhat.

There has been a good deal of criticism of JOM and although I don't agree with a lot of it, I must say it is hard to see what he is trying to do and where he is trying to take the team. The reality for Mayo supporters is ye won't beat the top 2 or 3 without a game plan which takes into account the lack of a quality ball winning midfielder and the lack of real scoring power.

[RedandGreenSniper]

Overall I'd agree with you there Zulu, clogging the midfield with our half-forward line would help us because of the personnel we have at our disposal - plenty of honest footballers but not enough imposing men to dominate the middle so go for power in numbers. And yes we do have good runners from the half-back line in the form of Gardiner, Tom Cunniffe and Andy (at present). Problem is, with the exception of Andy, the other two lads can't kick the ball to save their lives so we would have to rely on a half-forward running off their shoulder when they attack or else for them to hand it to Conor or whoever else is inside. That lack of kicking also hinders them giving quick ball inside.

If we're playing Andy inside I think we'd need a lot more from him than just a simple link man that you suggest. We need men inside that are capable of winning the ball and taking on their man. Because if we isolate the inside line, they will have to take on a lot of the scoring responsibility. Can they do that? I don't know. Isolating a full-forward line as a unit is all good and well when its the likes of Armagh's Stevie McDonnell and Ronan Clarke who are inside. I'd just be worried if we tried that sort of line that the ball wouldn't stick, even if we have a good ball winner like AOS or B Moran.

If we do it though our full-forward line would have to be disciplined and stay inside, leaving the space for themselves to run into. Conor is a hoor for coming out the pitch when he serves no purpose doing that. No inside man should start his run from outside the '21 if he can help it. The only other problem I'd have with the inside line is that they'd be relying on a good, quick, long footpass from out the field and from 5-12 the only players we have that would be capable of this would be Dillon, Harte and Parsons.

It might be worth a go - certainly it would provide more of a structure than we have at the minute but I'd be worried about our ability to maximise it.