DON’T EXPECT IT to come any time soon, but the effect of pressures on those engaged in the elite level of Gaelic Games is worthy of scrutiny beyond GPA surveys.
Take Andy Moran. A former Footballer of the Year, two-time All-Star and a man who understands more than most the pain of losing big games as a player.
As a manager, it’s even harder. You are the focal point of the disappointment that can swallow up a county when things go wrong.
Most county managers can manage this part. They simply keep a low profile around the place. For others, they do not have much call to be out and about.
It’s different for Moran. As owner of The Movement Gym in Castlebar, he has clients and customers. His is a public-facing life.
Andy Moran. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
After losing on 26 April by ten points to Roscommon, the temptation to pull the duvet over his head that Monday morning had to be strong. But he goes the other way.
“I suppose as a player I probably got as much grief than anybody really, so I’m really good at staying away from stuff,” he tells us.
“I’d be really good at getting up in the morning, going to work on the Monday morning. You are as well to face into it and go after it.
“There were a few hard conversations around the gym on Monday morning. But I just think the Mayo people, they’re just class. You see the crowd there today, you see the reception the boys got coming in off the pitch.
“There was nobody feeling sorry for themselves, it was just, ‘let’s bang on, let’s support the team and let’s go.’
“Like when I seen the flags behind the goal there today, it was just amazing,” he said.
And then we get to the reality.
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“But did I sleep for four nights five nights? No, I didn’t.
“Was I up every hour of the night? I was.
“But listen. You get back to work and you just you have to dig in and you have to try.”
Moran has had a lifetime of being absorbed in the Mayo rollercoaster.
At the other end of the scale is Kobe McDonald. Just 18 years old, he is in his first, and who knows, possibly only championship campaign with Mayo.
In the first half, it was clear that he loved playing in St Tiernach’s Park. When he made his county debut here coming on late as a sub in late February, he went in hungry and greedy and ended up with 1-4 in just twenty minutes.
His goal back then was a gliding run from distance followed by a drilled shot across the goal into the far corner. He knocked over a two-pointer and two other neat points.
In Clones on Sunday, he had that tally gathered up in the first half. His goal was a well-timed run into the goals to palm home a Darragh Beirne pass invitingly hung in the air. His point kicking was perfect.
Kobe McDonald with his second goal at Clones this season and Mayo are in a great position against Monaghan.
I can scarcely believe that we are taking things down this road, but there are a number of signs that he is still a teenager playing a man’s game. Oh yeah, get me who would undoubtedly rip a hamstring if asked to chase after young McDonald for five minutes.
This was the first time we got to see him in the flesh.
There was something about him that reminded us of a line in Conor Niland’s superb tennis memoir, ghosted by Gavin Cooney. He was talking about being up against Novak Djokovic in 2011.
Niland was retching with food sickness, and commented on the healthy glow of sportsmen like Djokovic, who have the career wealth to really, truly look after themselves that the jobbing tourists don’t.
McDonald is a bit like that with his economy of stride, his lean limbs and his balance. He appears perfectly in kilter. He has the glow.
Nonetheless, we should resist the urge to God up a youngster and place pressure on his shoulders. He is not the finished article. Nobody is at that age.
When playing Kerry in March, he had a goal chance. His approach was casual and Shane Murphy smothered the shot. His follow-up had the nonchalance of an underage player who was used to seeing these shots go in. Murphy denied him again.
Kerry goalkeeper Shane Murphy denies Kobe McDonald. James Lawlor / INPHO
James Lawlor / INPHO / INPHO
That day, he got his first sight of David Clifford and Seán O’Shea. Two players that he could legitimately aspire to emulate. While both Kerrymen were in good form that day with O’Shea clipping a two-point shot from play off the deck, they also have the iron fist inside the velvet glove.
We are working off a small sample size but the second half on Sunday was a demonstration that not everything is going to go his way.
Monaghan were on top. The staggering statistic is how from the 45th minute on, they outscored Mayo 2-11 to 0-5 going down the stretch. Naturally, the ball into McDonald was restricted.
That presents its own challenges. When you do have the ball, you have to guard it well. Instead, McDonald was turned over and the move finished with Monaghan’s Bobby McCaul hitting the crossbar.
Later on in the half, he found himself double-teamed with little space, and attempted a back heel that went wrong and handed possession to Monaghan.
Yeah, yeah. It’s a ridiculous thing to say about a lad sitting his Leaving Cert exams this week. But there is no allowance for age in senior football and in Andy Moran, he has a sympathetic guide.
Would Moran rather McDonald was casual, or nervous? There’s an obvious answer to that. Nerves can swallow up the most experienced of players and drastically reduce them.
They can strike at any time. For many players, so much of playing sport and performing is a constant battle between fight or flight.
The most experienced man on the field came on at the hour mark when Aidan O’Shea became the first outfield player to reach 100 championship matches.
Aidan O'Shea comes on for Hugh O'Loughlin. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
And yet this was the very first time he had played championship action in Clones.
Occasionally in his career, you sense that nerves might have played a part with O’Shea. Things that might come easily some days, have proved difficult on others.
So with the wisdom of 100 championship games, was there ever a time in his career when he is in a championship game going right down to the wire, and felt a serenity about things?
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“Oh, I don’t know,” he laughs.
“I wouldn’t say I was confident we were going to see that one out. I felt that we were under the pump a little bit.
“We’ve worked a lot on bits and bobs around momentum over the last couple of weeks. And that last kick out was what we call maybe a set play.”
The set play was Jack Livingstone’s kickout, after Max Maguire had shaved the gap to a single point, with time for one final throw of the dice.
Mayo organised themselves to secure possession.
“It was the most important play of the game,” said O’Shea, “And Kobe came up strong for us.”
Kobe McDonald, the Leaving Cert student, caught the final kickout. When they needed him most, he stepped up even after having a trying second half.
How nice it would be to say that he is the future of the game.
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Kobe is the future of the sport. Unfortunately, it might not be our sport
DON’T EXPECT IT to come any time soon, but the effect of pressures on those engaged in the elite level of Gaelic Games is worthy of scrutiny beyond GPA surveys.
Take Andy Moran. A former Footballer of the Year, two-time All-Star and a man who understands more than most the pain of losing big games as a player.
As a manager, it’s even harder. You are the focal point of the disappointment that can swallow up a county when things go wrong.
Most county managers can manage this part. They simply keep a low profile around the place. For others, they do not have much call to be out and about.
It’s different for Moran. As owner of The Movement Gym in Castlebar, he has clients and customers. His is a public-facing life.
After losing on 26 April by ten points to Roscommon, the temptation to pull the duvet over his head that Monday morning had to be strong. But he goes the other way.
“I suppose as a player I probably got as much grief than anybody really, so I’m really good at staying away from stuff,” he tells us.
“I’d be really good at getting up in the morning, going to work on the Monday morning. You are as well to face into it and go after it.
“There were a few hard conversations around the gym on Monday morning. But I just think the Mayo people, they’re just class. You see the crowd there today, you see the reception the boys got coming in off the pitch.
“There was nobody feeling sorry for themselves, it was just, ‘let’s bang on, let’s support the team and let’s go.’
“Like when I seen the flags behind the goal there today, it was just amazing,” he said.
And then we get to the reality.
“But did I sleep for four nights five nights? No, I didn’t.
“Was I up every hour of the night? I was.
“But listen. You get back to work and you just you have to dig in and you have to try.”
Moran has had a lifetime of being absorbed in the Mayo rollercoaster.
At the other end of the scale is Kobe McDonald. Just 18 years old, he is in his first, and who knows, possibly only championship campaign with Mayo.
In the first half, it was clear that he loved playing in St Tiernach’s Park. When he made his county debut here coming on late as a sub in late February, he went in hungry and greedy and ended up with 1-4 in just twenty minutes.
His goal back then was a gliding run from distance followed by a drilled shot across the goal into the far corner. He knocked over a two-pointer and two other neat points.
In Clones on Sunday, he had that tally gathered up in the first half. His goal was a well-timed run into the goals to palm home a Darragh Beirne pass invitingly hung in the air. His point kicking was perfect.
I can scarcely believe that we are taking things down this road, but there are a number of signs that he is still a teenager playing a man’s game. Oh yeah, get me who would undoubtedly rip a hamstring if asked to chase after young McDonald for five minutes.
This was the first time we got to see him in the flesh.
There was something about him that reminded us of a line in Conor Niland’s superb tennis memoir, ghosted by Gavin Cooney. He was talking about being up against Novak Djokovic in 2011.
Niland was retching with food sickness, and commented on the healthy glow of sportsmen like Djokovic, who have the career wealth to really, truly look after themselves that the jobbing tourists don’t.
McDonald is a bit like that with his economy of stride, his lean limbs and his balance. He appears perfectly in kilter. He has the glow.
Nonetheless, we should resist the urge to God up a youngster and place pressure on his shoulders. He is not the finished article. Nobody is at that age.
When playing Kerry in March, he had a goal chance. His approach was casual and Shane Murphy smothered the shot. His follow-up had the nonchalance of an underage player who was used to seeing these shots go in. Murphy denied him again.
That day, he got his first sight of David Clifford and Seán O’Shea. Two players that he could legitimately aspire to emulate. While both Kerrymen were in good form that day with O’Shea clipping a two-point shot from play off the deck, they also have the iron fist inside the velvet glove.
We are working off a small sample size but the second half on Sunday was a demonstration that not everything is going to go his way.
Monaghan were on top. The staggering statistic is how from the 45th minute on, they outscored Mayo 2-11 to 0-5 going down the stretch. Naturally, the ball into McDonald was restricted.
That presents its own challenges. When you do have the ball, you have to guard it well. Instead, McDonald was turned over and the move finished with Monaghan’s Bobby McCaul hitting the crossbar.
Later on in the half, he found himself double-teamed with little space, and attempted a back heel that went wrong and handed possession to Monaghan.
Yeah, yeah. It’s a ridiculous thing to say about a lad sitting his Leaving Cert exams this week. But there is no allowance for age in senior football and in Andy Moran, he has a sympathetic guide.
Would Moran rather McDonald was casual, or nervous? There’s an obvious answer to that. Nerves can swallow up the most experienced of players and drastically reduce them.
They can strike at any time. For many players, so much of playing sport and performing is a constant battle between fight or flight.
The most experienced man on the field came on at the hour mark when Aidan O’Shea became the first outfield player to reach 100 championship matches.
And yet this was the very first time he had played championship action in Clones.
Occasionally in his career, you sense that nerves might have played a part with O’Shea. Things that might come easily some days, have proved difficult on others.
So with the wisdom of 100 championship games, was there ever a time in his career when he is in a championship game going right down to the wire, and felt a serenity about things?
“Oh, I don’t know,” he laughs.
“I wouldn’t say I was confident we were going to see that one out. I felt that we were under the pump a little bit.
“We’ve worked a lot on bits and bobs around momentum over the last couple of weeks. And that last kick out was what we call maybe a set play.”
The set play was Jack Livingstone’s kickout, after Max Maguire had shaved the gap to a single point, with time for one final throw of the dice.
Mayo organised themselves to secure possession.
“It was the most important play of the game,” said O’Shea, “And Kobe came up strong for us.”
Kobe McDonald, the Leaving Cert student, caught the final kickout. When they needed him most, he stepped up even after having a trying second half.
How nice it would be to say that he is the future of the game.
Perhaps he will be the future of another game.
**
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Andy Moran Kobe McDonald Mayo once more Prodigy the prodigy