THE WEEKEND AFTER they lost the All-Ireland final last September, Mayo’s Cillian O’Connor was straight back into league action with his club Ballintubber.
Tommy Grealy / INPHO
Tommy Grealy / INPHO / INPHO
O’Connor struck a late free off the post in the decider against Dublin, minutes before Dean Rock floated over the dead-ball kick that ensured Sam Maguire would rest in the capital for a third consecutive winter.
As the 25-year-old stepped up to his first free back in the red and white of Ballintubber, his mind momentarily drifted back to that afternoon in Croke Park.
He recalls: “It was a league game and on the first free I actually remember thinking, ‘This is the first free I’ve taken since [the All-Ireland].’
“That did run through my head alright. I hit that well and then that was it. I parked it and moved on after that.”
They say all good place kickers have short memories and that’s a concept O’Connor is familiar with. He’s lost four All-Ireland finals and missed late frees – albeit difficult ones – in the last two.
For his own sanity, O’Connor made a conscious decision to quickly move on during the off-season.
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“If you find yourself thinking back and getting down about it and replaying things, you just need to check yourself straight away and realise that, right, this is not going to be productive or get you anywhere. How can I channel this into something productive?
Mayo captain Cillian O’Connor was in Dublin today as eir sport announced details of its live coverage of the forthcoming Allianz Leagues. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
“As hard as it is you just can’t dwell on it for too long. While it is fresh in the head you just try to process it and review it and take the positives from my own performances that day and throughout the year.
“The hardest time is probably when [the club] finishes and you have that little bit of downtime. That’s when you need to just switch off because you can’t find yourself harping back to ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ from throughout the year.
“Thankfully I did switch off really for those couple of weeks and got away from the bubble for a while and the training. It was good then to link up with the lads again in December and January and it was full steam ahead again.
“It’s 2018 now so there’s no time to harp back.”
O’Connor and the majority of the Mayo squad are back in training following their team holiday to Singapore, with Alan Dillon the only retirement from the 2017 group.
But Mayo are expected to play their entire league campaign without key defender Lee Keegan, who recently underwent a double-hip operation that will leave him sidelined for a number of months.
Keegan’s case is not a standalone one. Clare All-Ireland winner Darach Honan announced his retirement in October due to long-standing hip issues, while high-profile players such as Darran O’Sullivan, Richie Hogan, Karl Lacey, Cian O’Sullivan, James Barry, Maurice Shanahan, Anthony Maher and Liam Rushe have all undergone medical procedures on their hips in recent seasons.
Various medical experts have stated that hip injuries are reaching epidemic levels in the GAA, while recent studies have shown that hip arthroscopic surgeries have risen by 392% in the last seven years alone.
“I’ve only heard a bit about hip operations in the last few months,” says the Mayo captain.
Mayo star Lee Keegan James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
“It seems to nearly go in cycles, one year there could be a lot of guys getting an operation on ankle ligaments or something. Maybe it’s the training, that every county ends up doing something similar and then something else comes into fashion for teams to be doing.
“For whatever reason hips seem to be giving players a bit of grief but I don’t know what it’s down to. I just hope that anyone that does get an operation on it has it sorted and any training methods that might be adding to it are changed.”
O’Connor, who made his Mayo debut alongside Keegan in 2011, says he didn’t notice his team-mate had a long-standing issue during the 2017 campaign.
“To be honest I didn’t pick up on it at all. He wouldn’t be the type to complain or whinge about an injury or anything. He’d be the type of fella that physios would nearly need to drag off so he never mentioned it to anybody.
“Obviously it must have been something that’s been at him a little while and for him it’s good to have peace of mind now that it’s not going to cause many issues once he returns, hopefully.
“He’s been back in the gym and around McHale Park and the dressing room and training. He hasn’t really been off on his own at all. I think it’s important for any player that’s injured to keep them involved, just even interacting with the group.
“Most of his physio sessions would be at location where the squad are so you always bump into him. He’s a great character to have around the place and he’s been very diligent in his rehab as well so I hope he’ll come back in good knick.”
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
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'I actually remember thinking, 'This is the first free I've taken since the All-Ireland''
THE WEEKEND AFTER they lost the All-Ireland final last September, Mayo’s Cillian O’Connor was straight back into league action with his club Ballintubber.
O’Connor struck a late free off the post in the decider against Dublin, minutes before Dean Rock floated over the dead-ball kick that ensured Sam Maguire would rest in the capital for a third consecutive winter.
As the 25-year-old stepped up to his first free back in the red and white of Ballintubber, his mind momentarily drifted back to that afternoon in Croke Park.
He recalls: “It was a league game and on the first free I actually remember thinking, ‘This is the first free I’ve taken since [the All-Ireland].’
They say all good place kickers have short memories and that’s a concept O’Connor is familiar with. He’s lost four All-Ireland finals and missed late frees – albeit difficult ones – in the last two.
For his own sanity, O’Connor made a conscious decision to quickly move on during the off-season.
“If you find yourself thinking back and getting down about it and replaying things, you just need to check yourself straight away and realise that, right, this is not going to be productive or get you anywhere. How can I channel this into something productive?
“As hard as it is you just can’t dwell on it for too long. While it is fresh in the head you just try to process it and review it and take the positives from my own performances that day and throughout the year.
“Thankfully I did switch off really for those couple of weeks and got away from the bubble for a while and the training. It was good then to link up with the lads again in December and January and it was full steam ahead again.
O’Connor and the majority of the Mayo squad are back in training following their team holiday to Singapore, with Alan Dillon the only retirement from the 2017 group.
But Mayo are expected to play their entire league campaign without key defender Lee Keegan, who recently underwent a double-hip operation that will leave him sidelined for a number of months.
Keegan’s case is not a standalone one. Clare All-Ireland winner Darach Honan announced his retirement in October due to long-standing hip issues, while high-profile players such as Darran O’Sullivan, Richie Hogan, Karl Lacey, Cian O’Sullivan, James Barry, Maurice Shanahan, Anthony Maher and Liam Rushe have all undergone medical procedures on their hips in recent seasons.
Various medical experts have stated that hip injuries are reaching epidemic levels in the GAA, while recent studies have shown that hip arthroscopic surgeries have risen by 392% in the last seven years alone.
“I’ve only heard a bit about hip operations in the last few months,” says the Mayo captain.
“It seems to nearly go in cycles, one year there could be a lot of guys getting an operation on ankle ligaments or something. Maybe it’s the training, that every county ends up doing something similar and then something else comes into fashion for teams to be doing.
O’Connor, who made his Mayo debut alongside Keegan in 2011, says he didn’t notice his team-mate had a long-standing issue during the 2017 campaign.
“To be honest I didn’t pick up on it at all. He wouldn’t be the type to complain or whinge about an injury or anything. He’d be the type of fella that physios would nearly need to drag off so he never mentioned it to anybody.
“He’s been back in the gym and around McHale Park and the dressing room and training. He hasn’t really been off on his own at all. I think it’s important for any player that’s injured to keep them involved, just even interacting with the group.
“Most of his physio sessions would be at location where the squad are so you always bump into him. He’s a great character to have around the place and he’s been very diligent in his rehab as well so I hope he’ll come back in good knick.”
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
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