HAVING MADE IT to the All-Ireland final in the past two seasons, Mayo’s summer ended at the quarter-final stage yesterday.
They were riddled with injury all year. The absences of Ryan O’Donoghue and Tommy Conroy were most keenly felt in a forward line that scored just 13 points and converted 41% of their scoring opportunities against Kerry.
After the game Lee Keegan and Kevin McLoughlin soaked in Croke Park with their children, prompting speculation they may hang up their boots over the winter.
And what about James Horan’s future as his four-year term comes to a conclusion.
Kerry legend Marc Ó Sé is “not so sure” all will be back in harness again in 2023.
“I think it’s the end of Mayo…for the next few years anyway,” he said on the latest episode of The42 GAA Weekly.
“I’ve seen them come back and jeez they’ve come back. You have to really admire the way they’re so resilient. They come back and back every year. With Cillian O’Connor injured last year and Conroy and O’Donoghue this year, they’ve been unbelievably unlucky.”
And he feels another couple of veterans will be considering their futures in the months ahead.
“You mentioned McLoughlin and Keegan. You can add Cillian O’Connor and Aidan O’Shea to that who I think will possibly be reflecting as well on their (future). I’m not for one second retiring anyone but you can only go to the well so often.
“They were certainly so unlucky this year. But if Horan goes I think a lot of people will decide, ‘What am I doing here?’ If there’s a mass exodus (with lads) like Cillian O’Connor, who I thought was well below par yesterday, not the Cillian O’Connor of old.
“Aidan O’Shea, McLoughlin, Keegan, I’d agree I’d love to see Keegan staying on. What a footballer down through the years. But for me I think we’ve seen the best of Mayo, I think there’s going to be a rebuild for the next few years.”
