Mayo GAA Discussion

Hardly anyone getting that far ahead of themselves? Mind you, of the last 12 League Football Finals played, the winners won the subsequent All-Ireland. Successful teams tend to show form in the League even if it might not disturb their sleep. No harm in Mayo getting a little credit.

Good win. I didn’t expect that. Jordan Flynn was very good and deserved MOTM. Impressed with the backs tonight though Kerry didn’t look great or at least as good as we might expect them to be. Thought Loftus was very good at 6 as well.

Good win although that ~20 minute period without a score in the second half was a bit worrying.... similar to a couple of the big games last year iirc

Ah you're 13 points up, it's very hard to keep the intensity when the game is over

What?

Yeah Clifford is just impossible to mark really. He can make a score out of nothing and is clearly not 100%. Just have to stop the ball supply to him. Won't be able to do it every time of course, but have to try.

Do think he makes a huge difference to Kerry. They aren't quite the same without him.

You’re not allowed to say stuff like that though.

He made an announcement (or attempted to) just as Reape was striking a long range free too which clearly put him off !!!

The audio was terrible. It seemed like the audio was skipping every few seconds. The Kerry fans beside us were laughing at it.

Great win.

A concern I would have is around Mattie Ruane. He's very loose in possession at times, can get dispossesed easily. In fact, I think he has struggled with form since the 2021 final.

If Mayo win the All Ireland this year, what would they have to aim for? It wouldn’t be the same anymore.

I think Matty was good in the Galway and Armagh games but definitely wasn't up to his usual standard last night. Fionn is another who made a few mistakes last night.

Kerry travelled up and back down again yesterday. Given that, it's hard to suggest they were targeting getting anything from the game if that was their approach. Not that it should matter to us. You can only beat what's in front of you, and they are the current League and All Ireland Champions, so have to be positive about the win.

Mattie executes the basic skills in a very unusual way. You wouldn't teach his kicking style to anyone. It works for him and he's not there for his silky skills.

Was he soloing it that time? I thought it looked like the Kerry lad just grabbed the ball when Mattie was about to kick it... He pops the ball up before he kicks it.

He adds an awful lot to the team though. I certainly wouldn't be grouping him with McDonagh, who I think is a little bit off the level required at the moment.

I don't think he's the same as McDonagh and I wouldn't be looking to drop him, I just think he can be a bit loose at times. I thought he was brilliant in 2021 up to the final and he hasn't quite recaptured that form since, for me. I would still have him in the team. McDonagh is different in that I just don't think he's up to scratch unfortunately.

I checked it. 10 points was our largest ever Victory over kerry

I don't think Kerry are that far ahead of the pack as it is even with Clifford and O'Shea.

As for the game itself with the exception of the goal I again thought the defending was great.

They had gone soft in recent years, but they have really improved from what I have seen so far.

And once again it was the forwards that got the scores, no relying on the backs.

Thought Reape was excellent on Saturday, showed real composure, delighted for him

Agree that Ruane can be sloppy in possession from time to time and his tackling needs work.

Nice to see we seem to have a game plan which doesn't centre around us leaving the back of house bare, we are back to being an exciting team to watch.

To the best of my knowledge Reape hasn't made a goal stopping save in his three games, getting out and down quickly on the attackers boot.

Very good under the high stuff and gets his kickouts away more often than not.

Thought he was very flat-footed for the goals against Galway and kerry but I take your point about the excellent defence.

I see JP Kean was on Ah Refs pod this week. He was lamenting what I'll call the county board mafia and how he thinks they shut him out and put a stop to his Midwest appearances and writing in the Western People.

Funny that

In 1993 Ray Dempsey got injured playing in a league match against Fermanagh, a week out from our All Ireland semi final against Eire Og. Early 1996 we were in the same position and the Knockmore lads refused to play in the league because we had Eire Og in another semi final.

The result was that no Knockmore players were invited to JP Keans minor trials. The club wrote asking for a teammate of mine to be considered. No reply. No representation on the county minor team.

I guess it's different when you're the one outside the door JP?

Where was Orme Saturday night?

Was he injured?

If not why did he not get a run I wonder.

I would have thought a double digits lead would have been an ideal time to bring on a guy and get him scoring a few points.

Or is he done in managements eyes ?

There's a general feeling that McStay will start experimenting a bit once we're safe in the league. That the likes of Towey, Orme etc will get their gametime then. That was the general feeling on The Sunday Game and Ah Ref podcast anyway.

I wouldn't be so sure at all. I can't see McStay building momentum, only to risk losing it just before the Championship.

7 or 8 decent quality league games is nothing really for a new management team in terms of trying to implement new patterns of play, new defensive systems etc... There's really not an awful lot of scope for giving too many new players time imo.

You just have to look at what O'Connor did with Kerry last year for a blueprint. It was full speed ahead for the league and Championship. He wanted them finely tuned by the championship and you don't get that by experimenting in the second half of the league imo.