AS THE ALLIANZ football League concluded not with a series of games, but with a manic roll of the wheel of fortune, the least surprising thing was that Mayo were the stars of what felt like a rerun of Winning Streak, minus Marty Whelan.
With less than 10 minutes to go against Donegal in Castlebar they were eye-balling relegation but when it was all over they were standing there with the golden ticket to the final, topping the Division 1 table, despite boasting a single digit points total and a negative scoring differential. A triumph of chance over skill.
Only Mayo, then. Wonderful, madcap, chaotic Mayo, breaking every statistical rule in the name of thrills and spills.
Except, it did not really feel like that.
There was a time not that long ago when that would have triggered an explosion of Mayo pride complete with a ground-trembling rendition of the green and red.
That is how it was at the end of the 2019 league final win over Kerry, when James Horan announced his second coming with a first league title since 2001.
Those on the outside, of a begrudging disposition, pursed the lips and questioned the wisdom of such a vulgar display of emotion in spring. Perhaps, if they had walked in the shoes of a county that had failed to win in 11 consecutive national finals (three league, eight championship), perspective might have come easier and kinder.
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And even two years ago, the sense of optimism which greeted their league final win over Galway was tangible, primarily because Kevin McStay and his dream management team were starting out as they intended to continue.
But last Sunday, McStay might as well have been a participant in another RTÉ programme, the travel show High Road, Low Road, as post match he wore the face of a man who had arrived at Dublin Airport, opened the envelope which revealed his surprise destination to be a week in downtown Kabul, where he would be naturally travelling pillion on a Honda 50.
You got the sense he did not really want to be there, but, then again, who did?
But in a way, McStay’s sober disposition is likely to be rooted in matters beyond the blatantly obvious of a fixture schedule that will see his team out in championship within a week of the final against Sligo, a timeframe that took a wrecking ball to the feel good factor of that league success in ‘23 when they were dumped out of the Connacht championship inside seven days by Roscommon.
It predates his appointment as something broke in the relationship between team and tribe in the aftermath of that 2021 All-Ireland final loss to Tyrone – the trauma of which was accentuated by the potent sense of destiny which finally beating Dublin had gifted – and it has coloured the mood ever since.
Rollercoasters have their place in the funfair, but when they become the only means of travel, they tend to lose their charm.
Mayo manager Kevin McStay. Evan Logan / INPHO
Evan Logan / INPHO / INPHO
The pressure on McStay feels for real and has been cranking up for an age. The departure of his long-time coach and brother Liam McHale while explaining that he was at odds over what direction the management team was taking after one season, the lengthy and testy autumn review that followed last summer’s failure to make the quarter-finals and Cillian O’Connor’s seemingly pointed qualification that his break from the group was for ‘a year’ have all added to the sense of a manager and team under pressure from within.
Yet, this unexpected appearance in a league final could help turn the dial.
After all, winning the league will not confer any extra expectation given that there is an acceptance that both Mayo and Kerry are accidental finalists.
Sligo are not Roscommon in terms of a championship threat but Kerry in Croke Park is, well, Kerry in Croke Park.
Even in a compromised league, there is something to be milked from winning that fixture.
And good momentum is never a bad thing.
They are unbeaten since that second round crisis-scented loss to Galway, where anger at the team’s inability to adapt to the new rules – they conceded seven two-pointers – was audible, but from that low point there is a sense of something building, although no one can be certain what that is.
More than the results, there is a belief that football’s new way should suit them.
Mayo’s Donnacha McHugh and Kerry’s David Clifford. Evan Logan / INPHO
Evan Logan / INPHO / INPHO
They are a group with a surplus of physical, ball-winning middle eight players, they have developed a defence in which Donnacha McHugh has emerged as one of the most trusted man-markers in the country, while Enda Hession and David McBrien are now established leaders.
Above all, the new game plays to what was an old Mayo strength, the courage and conviction to embrace chaos rather than hide behind structure.
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In latter seasons that changed, caution infected play, taking care of the ball started to trump taking care of the opposition, something that was particularly evident in last summer’s Connacht final defeat to Galway.
Of course, that is looking at this Mayo through the mind’s eye of what we remember them to be, when they were the one team that had the ability to unnerve Dublin in their pomp.
But it is not by accident that some of the team’s survivors from that era are thriving playing handbrake free football, not least Matthew Ruane who has kicked 16 points from midfield, while Aidan O’Shea has arguably been their best player over the past two seasons.
They need to catch a break with injuries, Diarmuid O’Connor’s imminent return is welcome, but he has not starting a game in over a year, their half-back line is crying out for Paddy Durcan’s athleticism and smarts, while the pace of Tommy Conroy would be perfectly suited to a three/up three back structure, where speed is weaponised to kill.
They need all that to happen and even more.
But in an open championship, their hand is still on the wheel.
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Pressure in Mayo feels real, yet Croke Park league final could help shift the mood
AS THE ALLIANZ football League concluded not with a series of games, but with a manic roll of the wheel of fortune, the least surprising thing was that Mayo were the stars of what felt like a rerun of Winning Streak, minus Marty Whelan.
With less than 10 minutes to go against Donegal in Castlebar they were eye-balling relegation but when it was all over they were standing there with the golden ticket to the final, topping the Division 1 table, despite boasting a single digit points total and a negative scoring differential. A triumph of chance over skill.
Only Mayo, then. Wonderful, madcap, chaotic Mayo, breaking every statistical rule in the name of thrills and spills.
Except, it did not really feel like that.
There was a time not that long ago when that would have triggered an explosion of Mayo pride complete with a ground-trembling rendition of the green and red.
That is how it was at the end of the 2019 league final win over Kerry, when James Horan announced his second coming with a first league title since 2001.
Those on the outside, of a begrudging disposition, pursed the lips and questioned the wisdom of such a vulgar display of emotion in spring. Perhaps, if they had walked in the shoes of a county that had failed to win in 11 consecutive national finals (three league, eight championship), perspective might have come easier and kinder.
And even two years ago, the sense of optimism which greeted their league final win over Galway was tangible, primarily because Kevin McStay and his dream management team were starting out as they intended to continue.
But last Sunday, McStay might as well have been a participant in another RTÉ programme, the travel show High Road, Low Road, as post match he wore the face of a man who had arrived at Dublin Airport, opened the envelope which revealed his surprise destination to be a week in downtown Kabul, where he would be naturally travelling pillion on a Honda 50.
You got the sense he did not really want to be there, but, then again, who did?
But in a way, McStay’s sober disposition is likely to be rooted in matters beyond the blatantly obvious of a fixture schedule that will see his team out in championship within a week of the final against Sligo, a timeframe that took a wrecking ball to the feel good factor of that league success in ‘23 when they were dumped out of the Connacht championship inside seven days by Roscommon.
It predates his appointment as something broke in the relationship between team and tribe in the aftermath of that 2021 All-Ireland final loss to Tyrone – the trauma of which was accentuated by the potent sense of destiny which finally beating Dublin had gifted – and it has coloured the mood ever since.
Rollercoasters have their place in the funfair, but when they become the only means of travel, they tend to lose their charm.
The pressure on McStay feels for real and has been cranking up for an age. The departure of his long-time coach and brother Liam McHale while explaining that he was at odds over what direction the management team was taking after one season, the lengthy and testy autumn review that followed last summer’s failure to make the quarter-finals and Cillian O’Connor’s seemingly pointed qualification that his break from the group was for ‘a year’ have all added to the sense of a manager and team under pressure from within.
Yet, this unexpected appearance in a league final could help turn the dial.
After all, winning the league will not confer any extra expectation given that there is an acceptance that both Mayo and Kerry are accidental finalists.
Sligo are not Roscommon in terms of a championship threat but Kerry in Croke Park is, well, Kerry in Croke Park.
Even in a compromised league, there is something to be milked from winning that fixture.
And good momentum is never a bad thing.
They are unbeaten since that second round crisis-scented loss to Galway, where anger at the team’s inability to adapt to the new rules – they conceded seven two-pointers – was audible, but from that low point there is a sense of something building, although no one can be certain what that is.
More than the results, there is a belief that football’s new way should suit them.
They are a group with a surplus of physical, ball-winning middle eight players, they have developed a defence in which Donnacha McHugh has emerged as one of the most trusted man-markers in the country, while Enda Hession and David McBrien are now established leaders.
Above all, the new game plays to what was an old Mayo strength, the courage and conviction to embrace chaos rather than hide behind structure.
In latter seasons that changed, caution infected play, taking care of the ball started to trump taking care of the opposition, something that was particularly evident in last summer’s Connacht final defeat to Galway.
Of course, that is looking at this Mayo through the mind’s eye of what we remember them to be, when they were the one team that had the ability to unnerve Dublin in their pomp.
But it is not by accident that some of the team’s survivors from that era are thriving playing handbrake free football, not least Matthew Ruane who has kicked 16 points from midfield, while Aidan O’Shea has arguably been their best player over the past two seasons.
They need to catch a break with injuries, Diarmuid O’Connor’s imminent return is welcome, but he has not starting a game in over a year, their half-back line is crying out for Paddy Durcan’s athleticism and smarts, while the pace of Tommy Conroy would be perfectly suited to a three/up three back structure, where speed is weaponised to kill.
They need all that to happen and even more.
But in an open championship, their hand is still on the wheel.
And giving it a twirl is all they know.
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GAA green and red Kevin McStay Mayo