Has the disappointment of missing out hit home yet?
“I got the operation last Tuesday week and before that every morning I used to wake up, look at the knee and think it was okay. But then I’d take a twist and it’d be gone again. I’m glad I got the operation, it put my mind at ease and I can now look forward.
“The Saturday night and the Sunday morning around the All-Ireland semi-final were hard. I’m not expecting the Donegal game to be easier. Even watching the Kilkenny Galway All-Ireland hurling final, seeing the red carpet being rolled out and the players in the parade, watching that was hard.”
What’s your role in the squad now?
“I’ll have the same role, the only thing that changes is that I won’t be able to do the same on the pitch. I haven’t missed a meeting or a training session as James wants me around the team. We’ve a few vocal fellas around the team and I’d be one of them. If I wasn’t there, they’d be wondering where this lunatic is gone!”
Are you religious? (wearing a blue Lourdes wristband at the time)
“I wouldn’t be hugely religious. My sister was in Lourdes and she’d be very religious so she brought it back. I was saying to her she should have brought the bracelet back four weeks earlier! I like going to Mass on the morning of a game and I would have faith alright. I do think it’s a big part of playing. I’m injured for a reason and if that can help the team, why not if that’s going to drive them on.”
How would you describe Mayo’s style of football?
“We wanted to tighten up at the back. We also wanted to move the ball quickly into our forwards. We never had the availability of the midfield unit that we have at the minute. You look at Aidan (O’Shea) and Barry (Moran) on the team, Seamus O’Shea and Jason Gibbons coming on, Ronan McGarrity and Danny Geraghty as well.
“Kick passing is a big part of our game. But since James (Horan) came in, it’s our skill execution that we’ve worked on. If you have the confidence in yourself and the work done, you can kick pass properly in Croke Park. We’ve skillful footballers in the likes of Alan Dillon and Kevin McLoughlin.
“If you listen to the RTE guys, then foot passing is dead. But if you look at the big matches from the All-Ireland quarter-finals to the final, I think foot passing is alive in many different teams. Look at the skill level of Paul Flynn of Dublin, Alan Dillon on my own team, the Donegal lads coming from the back and Declan O’Sullivan for Kerry. You wouldn’t say those guys are bad kick passers. ”
Do Mayo have a strong panel this year with the return of players like Colm Boyle and Michael Conroy examples of that?
” I think so. You can have that when a young manager comes in and you’ve the right age profile in the panel who are hungry to succeed. I think Jim McGuinness got that with Donegal and James got it as well here. It’s about moulding the talent and bringing that altogether.
“Take Colm Boyle for example, he was there in 2008 and it didn’t go well for him. He was taken off in a Connacht final that year and he’d be the first to admit that he wasn’t in the physical shape – I don’t mean fitness wise – it’s more to do with size. He’s come back and now pound for pound, he’s one of the strongest on the team. The amount of muscle that man has put on his body, and that was all done individually. It wasn’t under any county programme, it was just the hunger that he had to do it.
“Michael Conroy then was a guy who always had the talent. It just didn’t work out at one stage. He went travelling, then decided he wanted to play for Mayo and came back. Himself and Colm Boyle from the same club, they came back and just went at it. They’re reaping the rewards now.”
Michael Conroy celebrating after Mayo’s All-Ireland semi-final victory. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie
How much has the team progressed since losing to Longford in 2010 and nearly being defeated by London last year?
“If we’d slipped up against London, where would we be today? There’s an awful lot of luck involved. But it does breed confidence. If you look at 2010, it was our biggest year of developing. All of our main players – Ger Cafferkey at full-back, Donal Vaughan at centre-back, the two O’Shea’s – they gained huge experience, particularly from that loss in Pearse Park to Longford. That’ll stand to them and they’ll know going forward that we’ll never be in a darker hole than we were against Longford and London.”
Can you measure the influence of your team psychologist Kieran Shannon?
“Kieran just talks sense. Sometimes it can be as simple as saying basic things like pointing out how much you’ve won in your career. He doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel.
“He just tells you what you need to know. Sometimes you need to get that. Some fellas would have no interest it while others love the psychology. Kieran has possibly been the best I’ve seen at it, to be honest with you.”
