WHEN PÁDRAIC JOYCE pulled off the bobble hat he was wearing and shook hands with James Horan after their FBD Connacht League opener in 2020, he revealed a shock of dark hair.
Well, darker anyway.
That was Joyce’s very first game in charge of the Galway seniors. Seven full seasons later, the Killererin man has a mane of almost all white.
Exactly how much of that is down to his near half century on the planet, or his period in charge of Galway, is debatable.
His Galway gig isn’t over yet, of course, and Joyce was quick to point out after yesterday’s defeat to Dublin that he still has two more years to run on his agreement with the county board. But it’s certainly time to take stock.
That was game 97 in all competitions for the two-time All-Ireland winner – 38 in the championship, 48 in the league and 11 in the FBD league – who may very well rate 2026 as his most frustrating season in charge so far.
A little like the Dublin side that pulled the rug from beneath Galway’s feet, the westerners’ championship campaign began with a near-miss win over Division 4 opposition, Leitrim.
Then they lost the Connacht final to Roscommon, beat two teams – Kildare and Westmeath – that will play in Division 3 in 2027, before being overwhelmed by Dublin’s blue wave in the closing minutes of yesterday’s All-Ireland quarter-final.
Their most significant achievement all season? Managing to stay in Division 1 despite an extensive injury list.
Padraic Joyce with Ciaran Kilkenny at full time. james lawlor photos
james lawlor photos
Defeat
Let’s return to the Dublin defeat, or more precisely, the manner of it, because that is where the real intrigue lies with Joyce and his Galway reign so far.
It is a remarkable statistic that in five of the last six seasons, Galway’s year has ended with a loss at Croke Park despite leading in the second half of each of those games.
They were five points ahead of Dublin with 13 minutes remaining on Sunday. They were three ahead of Meath in last year’s quarter-final before slipping to defeat.
In the 2024 All-Ireland final, Galway led by 0-10 to 0-9 before Aaron McKay’s 47th minute goal gave Armagh the impetus to drive on and secure a landmark success.
The 2023 season ended in Galway’s own backyard with a preliminary quarter-final defeat to Mayo.
But 2022 and 2021 also ended with Croke Park defeats despite Galway leading both of those matches for spells in the second-half.
For the 2022 All-Ireland final, they were two points clear with 21 minutes to go against Kerry while their 2021 season ended with a Connacht final loss to Mayo at GAA HQ, a game they were a point ahead in with just over 20 minutes to go again.
Sean Guiden celebrates after scoring a late point for Dublin against Galway. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Psychological
Joyce didn’t delve into the psychological impact of blowing so many winning hands, in so many huge games, but did broadly acknowledge after the latest defeat that it’s been seriously tough going.
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“We’ve been in four quarter-finals now, we’ve lost two of them, we’ve lost two (All-Ireland) finals,” he noted. “It’s a lot of defeats for a lot of the players.”
The really concerning thing, particularly in the last two seasons, is how Galway were summarily dispatched in the closing quarter of the defeats to Meath and Dublin.
Meath outscored them 1-4 to 0-3 down the stretch, and from Galway’s perspective that included a token two-pointer late on from Shane Walsh. Dublin outscored them 1-8 to 0-1 in the final 15 minutes on Sunday, Walsh again with the solitary score.
This from a Galway group that, under the new rules, we expected to be doing the same thing to other teams.
Rewind back to the sixth day of January 2025 and one of the first opportunities to get a look at the new rules in action. Galway played Kildare in a challenge in Newbridge and the visitors won by 2-18 to 0-17. Galway beat Kildare six-zero in the two-point count that evening. Paul Conroy filled his boots with four of them. Connor Gleeson was in goals for a chunk of that game and went long with most of his kick-outs.
A dejected Paul Conroy after the game. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
The previous July, against Armagh in the 2024 final, Gleeson had gone short with 14 of his 18 kick-outs under the old rules.
Suddenly, a brand-new world of excitement and adventure seemed to be opening up for a group of Galway players, and a management team, that seemed well-placed to capitalise.
It hasn’t panned out that way, of course, and for a county of Galway’s quality, and promise, one Connacht crown, an FBD League success and back-to-back All-Ireland quarter-final defeats, to unfancied opposition on both occasions, is a poor take from the 2025 and 2026 campaigns.
So where to from here?
The good money appears to be on Joyce sticking around. As he said himself, he still has an agreement in place and, for what it’s worth, most commentators seem to feel he’ll stick around.
It’s more likely that exits will come on the playing side of things.
Shane Walsh dejected after the match. james lawlor photos
james lawlor photos
Walsh recently turned 33, Damien Comer will be the same age in early 2027 and has endured another injury plagued campaign while Conroy is 37. Seán Fitzgerald could conceivably figure that the celebrity lifestyle has more to offer going forward than a maroon jersey too.
Alternatively, they might all be back for pre-season duty, and maybe even Matthew Thompson too.
Improve
What’s certain is that Galway need to improve in a few areas if they’re to land the All-Ireland the county craves.
For a team of such talent, there is a noticeable lack of chutzpah and devil-may-care about them at times. Walsh was much too quiet against Dublin for a player of his immense ability. They didn’t show enough of a two-point threat and the superpower ability to dominate the middle third of a pitch that they displayed in 2024, and much more recently against Westmeath, deserted them again when it was most required.
Dublin lorded the midfield battle, winning a healthy 70% of their own kick-outs and pilfering enough of Gleeson’s to leave Galway at just 49%. After two positive showings on the restart front against Kildare and Westmeath, it was a return to the difficulties that dogged Galway in the Connacht final.
Whenever Joyce and his management team convene for the post-mortem, they will note how often their exposed defence was filleted by precise kick-passes as well. At Croke Park, as he knows only too well at this stage, seasons hinge and end on that sort of stuff.
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What next for Pádraic Joyce and Galway after season of huge frustration?
WHEN PÁDRAIC JOYCE pulled off the bobble hat he was wearing and shook hands with James Horan after their FBD Connacht League opener in 2020, he revealed a shock of dark hair.
Well, darker anyway.
That was Joyce’s very first game in charge of the Galway seniors. Seven full seasons later, the Killererin man has a mane of almost all white.
Exactly how much of that is down to his near half century on the planet, or his period in charge of Galway, is debatable.
His Galway gig isn’t over yet, of course, and Joyce was quick to point out after yesterday’s defeat to Dublin that he still has two more years to run on his agreement with the county board. But it’s certainly time to take stock.
That was game 97 in all competitions for the two-time All-Ireland winner – 38 in the championship, 48 in the league and 11 in the FBD league – who may very well rate 2026 as his most frustrating season in charge so far.
A little like the Dublin side that pulled the rug from beneath Galway’s feet, the westerners’ championship campaign began with a near-miss win over Division 4 opposition, Leitrim.
Then they lost the Connacht final to Roscommon, beat two teams – Kildare and Westmeath – that will play in Division 3 in 2027, before being overwhelmed by Dublin’s blue wave in the closing minutes of yesterday’s All-Ireland quarter-final.
Their most significant achievement all season? Managing to stay in Division 1 despite an extensive injury list.
Defeat
Let’s return to the Dublin defeat, or more precisely, the manner of it, because that is where the real intrigue lies with Joyce and his Galway reign so far.
It is a remarkable statistic that in five of the last six seasons, Galway’s year has ended with a loss at Croke Park despite leading in the second half of each of those games.
They were five points ahead of Dublin with 13 minutes remaining on Sunday. They were three ahead of Meath in last year’s quarter-final before slipping to defeat.
In the 2024 All-Ireland final, Galway led by 0-10 to 0-9 before Aaron McKay’s 47th minute goal gave Armagh the impetus to drive on and secure a landmark success.
The 2023 season ended in Galway’s own backyard with a preliminary quarter-final defeat to Mayo.
But 2022 and 2021 also ended with Croke Park defeats despite Galway leading both of those matches for spells in the second-half.
For the 2022 All-Ireland final, they were two points clear with 21 minutes to go against Kerry while their 2021 season ended with a Connacht final loss to Mayo at GAA HQ, a game they were a point ahead in with just over 20 minutes to go again.
Psychological
Joyce didn’t delve into the psychological impact of blowing so many winning hands, in so many huge games, but did broadly acknowledge after the latest defeat that it’s been seriously tough going.
“We’ve been in four quarter-finals now, we’ve lost two of them, we’ve lost two (All-Ireland) finals,” he noted. “It’s a lot of defeats for a lot of the players.”
The really concerning thing, particularly in the last two seasons, is how Galway were summarily dispatched in the closing quarter of the defeats to Meath and Dublin.
Meath outscored them 1-4 to 0-3 down the stretch, and from Galway’s perspective that included a token two-pointer late on from Shane Walsh. Dublin outscored them 1-8 to 0-1 in the final 15 minutes on Sunday, Walsh again with the solitary score.
This from a Galway group that, under the new rules, we expected to be doing the same thing to other teams.
Rewind back to the sixth day of January 2025 and one of the first opportunities to get a look at the new rules in action. Galway played Kildare in a challenge in Newbridge and the visitors won by 2-18 to 0-17. Galway beat Kildare six-zero in the two-point count that evening. Paul Conroy filled his boots with four of them. Connor Gleeson was in goals for a chunk of that game and went long with most of his kick-outs.
The previous July, against Armagh in the 2024 final, Gleeson had gone short with 14 of his 18 kick-outs under the old rules.
Suddenly, a brand-new world of excitement and adventure seemed to be opening up for a group of Galway players, and a management team, that seemed well-placed to capitalise.
It hasn’t panned out that way, of course, and for a county of Galway’s quality, and promise, one Connacht crown, an FBD League success and back-to-back All-Ireland quarter-final defeats, to unfancied opposition on both occasions, is a poor take from the 2025 and 2026 campaigns.
So where to from here?
The good money appears to be on Joyce sticking around. As he said himself, he still has an agreement in place and, for what it’s worth, most commentators seem to feel he’ll stick around.
It’s more likely that exits will come on the playing side of things.
Walsh recently turned 33, Damien Comer will be the same age in early 2027 and has endured another injury plagued campaign while Conroy is 37. Seán Fitzgerald could conceivably figure that the celebrity lifestyle has more to offer going forward than a maroon jersey too.
Alternatively, they might all be back for pre-season duty, and maybe even Matthew Thompson too.
Improve
What’s certain is that Galway need to improve in a few areas if they’re to land the All-Ireland the county craves.
For a team of such talent, there is a noticeable lack of chutzpah and devil-may-care about them at times. Walsh was much too quiet against Dublin for a player of his immense ability. They didn’t show enough of a two-point threat and the superpower ability to dominate the middle third of a pitch that they displayed in 2024, and much more recently against Westmeath, deserted them again when it was most required.
Dublin lorded the midfield battle, winning a healthy 70% of their own kick-outs and pilfering enough of Gleeson’s to leave Galway at just 49%. After two positive showings on the restart front against Kildare and Westmeath, it was a return to the difficulties that dogged Galway in the Connacht final.
Whenever Joyce and his management team convene for the post-mortem, they will note how often their exposed defence was filleted by precise kick-passes as well. At Croke Park, as he knows only too well at this stage, seasons hinge and end on that sort of stuff.
Gut feeling? He’ll be back again for 2027.
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