It's looking less likely the charity game will happen with this weather forecast!

True Tommy+Joe that charity challenge along the club semi finals are in big doubt with the snow forecast this weekend. Apparently as we speak Mayo seniors are playing Roscommon in a challenge the Connacht COE, probably won't hear much about it as it's played behind closed doors, why I don't know as could have got a decent crowd for that match with some much needed money.

The latest UKV charts show the heavy rain & sleet not hitting Longford until some time between 18:00 & 21:00 Saturday, so wouldn't imagine there's a big danger to the Cross game - unless things change dramatically (which with weather like this is certainly possible).

https://x.com/CarlowWeather/status/1874900417190244811

Hits Castlebar at roughly the same kind of time, but with it never turning from sleet to snow here in those latest models (some of the earlier ones today had us getting quite a bit of snow, so moving in the right direction). The worst of the snow risk looks to be between midnight & lunchtime on Sunday with the freezing conditions Sunday night re-freezing anything left behind looking to make travel early next week challenging (so take care if planning trips back to Dublin or home from the midlands for either of the games).

Other than a small risk of a frozen pitch (more likely here than in the midlands given throw in times) I wouldn't imagine either game is in significant danger, if those most recent charts play out.

Anyone know if the Mayo V Monaghan match is being streamed ( assuming it goes ahead) .

Don't think so Bonni, as it's a fundraiser they will try maximise profits for charity, must have figured streaming wouldn't net enough to mitigate lost income for the charity partner.
If forecast is as predicted its hard see it go ahead as pitch be like rock tomorrow evening. Even last night would have been severe enough, although only heard of 1 Injury and that could be sheer bad luck.
Depending on how pans out weather wise and Monaghan travelling today they could end up playing behind closed doors yet.

Any one get to see how the challenge went last night?

You could not make it up.
Plethora of new rules and no pre season competitions.
Sigerson on old rules and county football on new rules.
What was wrong with incrementally changing the rules
It looks again that club semifinals and finals will be played in unsafe conditions.
There will be mayhem at club level with a severe shortage of Refs.
Throwing out the baby with the bathwater comes to mind.
No referee on the review committee.
Possible change of rules after league and Mayo playing championship the following week.
Change should be made if deemed necessary at the 2 week break in the league.

@Bonni Boyler I just saw there on the mayo gaa fb page that mayo gaa are live streaming it!

Seen it just after my post :)

Hard see game going ahead with forecast mind, yellow warning in place for Mayo now.

Joe2 played in 20 min segments. Two teams from both getting a gallop. Other lads doing running programme.
Cian McHale appears to be best on show of newbies.

Gozmobobs who was the potential injury?

Cheers Gizmobobs
@Jr Its an absolutely shit show. Well said.

Right, let's get the 2025 predictions out of the way. 2024 was a Galway Mayo final so I taking that as a 50%, even though iirc I rolled back on it before the end of January, after we thumped them in Salthill.

League
Champions: Mayo - 2 years ago we got 8 points from the same set of fixtures as our first 5 this year. I think we'll do similar if not surpass that.

Other Finalist: Kerry - I think it'll be very tight and likely come down to score difference. I don't think Kerry will travel well, but they won't get tanked either, and they will give someone a hiding at home.

Relegated: Dublin & Armagh
I think the Dubs will struggle. Croke Park is a great advantage when you are the better team, but I don't think they are as far ahead as they were.
The celebratory atmosphere around Armagh will I think leave them vulnerable to being caught at Home.

Connacht: Mayo
Leinster: Dublin - vulnerable but not that vulnerable.
Munster: Kerry
Ulster: Armagh - the confidence from last year might see them breakdown a door they have been knocking on.

All Ireland
Champions: Kerry - a few days ago I would have said Galway, but after reading the comments here I'm not as certain, and I'm worried Joyce may have flogged them too hard last year. Unfortunately I think it might be one of those years, and the lucky All Ireland winners will be whoever we meet in the final. First Mayo Kerry final in nearly 20 years.

Tailteann Cup: Monaghan - almost certainly the best team that might end up in it. Hat tip to Sligo though, I think they'll give a right crack.

@FrostTheHammer good post but sadly don't think we will win the league think we may face relegation and struggle at the start with so many players missing (Though does not matter really) .

I think we will come good in championship with Durcan coming along well to.

I don't think kerry will win the All Ireland. They are favourites every year sure nearly. They had one of the worst ganes ever v Derry last year in quarters it was dire!

Galway wont get to final again doubt it they may struggle with confidence after the final loss but get to business end still.

It could well be a team from the north that wins it again..

Not just pitch conditions are taken into consideration. Road conditions for supporters and surfaces in the MacHale Park vicinity will also be taken into account.

Thought provoker. Football IQ and decision making are now a bigger selection, in my view number one given we are in a first season of new rules.

Wouldn't overly lean on the "players missing" discussion around relegation.

With a fully fit & available Coyne, O''Shea, Conroy, O'Connor or whoever (still recovering from the shock of Sam being back in action already to remember who the other injury doubts are) I'd imagine most of us would be calling for some minutes for Ivers/Prendergast/C McHale/Thornton/Treacy/Quinn & plenty of minutes for lads around a bit longer like Towey/Hession/Irwin/D McHale/EO'D/Tuohy/McHugh/Loftus/Reid during the league & see if we can get a few pushing hard for starts. Much nicer when those rotations are chosen, but as long as they are happening we can take the positives from it (fingers crossed we don't overly push the Sigerson lads too - always a dangerous dice to roll).

It's not ideal having lads missing early season, but we've more than enough depth in the panel to fight & survive (as tough and all as Division 1 looks this year). And for lads to lay down a challenge, be it to other sides or to their teammates for spots.

All that said, I'm probably one of the few (again, said the same last year) totally fine with us being relegated. I'd much prefer to see us focusing on nailing tactical nuances or developing fringe players than putting the 2 points as the singular focus in a match. Winning is great, really positive for confidence, momentum & morale (capricious fans & players alike), but it isn't everything the way the league & championship pans out in the current structures.

Plenty of young blood coming into the squad (of the 47 I believe in and around the panel to date - which doesn't include Niall Coggins yet so could go younger if he joins up too as expected - the average age is down to ~24.8, compared to ~27 from the league squad last year & I'd expect that to tumble even further next year with 3-5 of the 20s I'd be shocked if didn't push though next year... with a few of those potentially joining in later this year too depending on their 20s campaign) so a few less ferocious minutes in Div 2 wouldn't be a major negative (or negative at all for me). Still plenty competitive there to get them up to pace for Championship and yet that little bit easier to gain some confidence, like an Armagh or Dublin run successfully achieved in recent years.

@FrostTHammer: The only one I'd really have doubts on there is Armagh for Ulster. Between the usual challenges of 2nd season syndrome and the absolute car-crash that was the trip to Miami, I can't see them pulling out that win. I can't really separate Donegal/Tyrone/Derry in my head for Ulster (or a strong All Ireland challenge) given all the changes involved, but I'd probably punt for Tyrone. Just. Mostly as a big fan of Malachy as a manager. So many recent innovations have come from his sides.

Really looks a close 8 way race for Sam. So hard to separate anyone. You'd be able to talk yourself into, or out of, picking any of them if you tried. From lads like James Madden & Killian McGinnis having a big breakthrough year for Dublin and pushing them back to the top or O'Neill (Kerry) & Talley (Derry) lifting their new sides a few levels from the background... it could go so many directions.

Hard to beat a season that looks like that. Can't wait.

2025 prediction SFC

Connacht - Mayo
Ulster - Armagh
Leinster - Dublin
Munster - Cork

All - Ireland - Donegal

FrosT - very interesting predictions but you might want to reconsider the wording in your post: "I'm worried Joyce may have flogged them too hard last year". Here's hoping he has, and if so, I'm not worried!

Derry and Tyrone have had really strong underage teams so we don't really have a handle on where they will be.
Tyrone were going really well at u20s, a better marker point for senior.
Let's be real also, the game is about producing real top quality forwards. Some of those recent Tyrone u20s were strong forwards.
I've no notion where we will be at.
Im a fan of maths logic as ye might know by now and I equally see Sam or a poor season.
To me it's a season for us to be brave early in the season with transition. That's not about having amazing Sam winning starters, for me it's about getting that fringe players depth stronger. Example we play an All Ireland quarter final and a fringe player has had all the league, much of the Connaught chamlionship, some round Robin. They're called off the bench on 60 mins v Kerry and kick a 40 yard vital 2 pointer.
Now, they're just much less likely to take that on operating off of shivery rare wet mucky minutes in the league. They'd simply not be ready.

Thanks Clare and Gizmo, maybe they will switch it to the Dome if conditions are bad.
Would not have great capacity but might make a bit back on the streaming. Be interested to see where Monaghan are at too.
Won't get down either way but need a fix soon its been 7 months or so.
Best of luck to Crossmolina on Saturday if the game goes ahead.

@TsuDHoNim

It's just facts we will be missing Aido, Tommy c, and others. Is sam calinan back in action didn't hear that?

It's a really tough division now. With our best team fully fit we can beat anyone. We are 2nd favourites to get relgated and I can see why.

Unless the young debuts stand up and if Paul Towey does not take his chance to shine we will be in trouble for the first few games. Then you are in a rush at end to get the points to stay up with players back.

Hopefully I am wrong but as I said doesn't matter if we don't do well in league championship is where it's at. If we do get relgated we did before and got back up so not the end of the world. Who knows though we could end up doing well in league hard to know sure!

I do think we will come good though in championship sure Galway were a total write off most of league last year didn't do them any harm....!

@Tsu
I'd forgotten about Miami. I'll stick with them though cause I think they'll have a bounce somewhere and I don't see it in the league or championship.

It's a long tough championship nowadays and I think experience will be a key factor. Kerry, Galway and Armagh are the teams that are experienced than us. Dublin, Donegal and Tyrone are at least year behind in their development. Derry and ourselves are very difficult to separate imo, but we have more depth when everyone is fit.

TBH I would fancy us to beat anyone come championship, but I still don't think we're ready to land the big one. I'd fancy us to beat Kerry any other day of the week but the Green and Gold jerseys on All Ireland final day is IMO the toughest hurdle we can face this year. I don't think we'd beat an Ulster team in the final either, but it's really hard to separate Donegal, Derry and Tyrone, and the one thing that is guaranteed in football is that Kerry will get the softest draw.

The charity game is now being streamed live on Mayo GAA TV. Details here:https://page.inplayer.com/mayogaa/

Kerry may get a soft draw but who are we to complain?
2023 we beat Kerry in 1st round robin game! We shit the togs against Cork & Absolutely destroyed our season!
2024 we had Galway & Dublin beaten but didn't close it out. We drew a busted flush in Derry & put in one of the worst performances in a first half I can ever recall. They were literally begging to be taken out.

We got handy draws & threw it away.

I have a feeling the Michael Murphy factor might just to it for Donegal. Just imagine being in the dressing room and you see that fella walk back in. Donegal weren't a million miles away last year and the new rules look tailor made for someone like Murphy.
8/1 looks the value bet to me.

I always looks at the league fixtures and think we'll do well to survive this year. No different this time around. If we can develop 2 or 3 to add the core group then it will be a worthwhile campaign. AOS and Tommy out forces our hand a bit which mightn't be a bad thing.

That's great news wj, but a time change to mid day to 2pm would make sense imo. Even if the pitch is not frozen, it will be very poor travelling conditions with the late kick off.
I suppose we will not have team details until kick off time of 6:30pm

Game has to get changed timewise, 6:30 will make it very dangerous for both sets of supporters.

@Clare: Sure, we've lads missing. But they're lads we know and trust well and there's more value in the league (even if leads to relegation, IMHO) testing out others. Even with those lads fully fit, I'd much prefer to see those rotations happening.

Sam was back alright last night against Roscommon. Enda Mc kind enough to share some of the observations from the game with us (https://x.com/EndaMcGearty/status/1875087600416948350). Some recovery time for multiple broken ribs, the lads a beast.

We'll cross our fingers for some of the new lads showing well (Cian and Dylan P both hitting the ground running by the sounds of it & I'd imagine Dylan T & Evan will be pushing hard too) but it'll be more the lads there a couple of years that will be expected to put the shoulder to the wheel. Plenty of them there (9 come to mind) with the potential for a starting spot yet not quite there the last few years. Nothing better than throwing them in to see how they perform & if they can find the performances to push. Swapping in lads like EO'D/Hession/Loftus/Towey/McHale/Tuohy/Reid shouldn't scream relegation, they're all in or around that level - if anything they should be trying to raise the bar, busting a gut for a spot later in the year.

@TsuDHoNIm

Yeah agree with you there. It's a great opportunity to try new guys and give others a chance. Yeah defintely we need to have rotations!

Michael Murphy has apparently played in goal for Donegal in recent challenge games. New rules and McGuinness thinking out the box again?

@Mayomagic: It's being trialled and tested in a lot of the challenge games around the country at the minute.

That type of role really requires fairly high athleticism, and you'd have to wonder if Murphy still has it in the legs. He'd be great on restarts, fantastic joining in late for +1 on slow attacks and incredibly dangerous finding space in the pocket... at least until the legs start to go and all his usually outstanding qualities suffer.

For every slowed attack they decide to bring him forward for (less than most sides given they play such a direct transition, but it'll still be a significant number if he's going to make a contribution) he'll be hit with every turnover and every shot dropped short needing a heavy sprint back (doesn't need to be winning those transition races back, but he'll need to be contributing). Even successful scores will require more than a casual jog back given the new kick out and delaying rules meaning the pace of restart is potentially so much higher (no waiting for folks to get outside the 20 or fouls after a catch slowing the game).

Just can't see him having the legs from where he was pre-retirement & after two more years out of the county setup to do that role exceptionally well. I'd love to watch him/Jim prove me wrong, it'd be fierce exciting... but don't expect we'll be seeing that specific use of Murphy come Championship (though I'd absolutely expect to see other good long range kicking/free-taking athletes doing it).

@MayoFocus

In two years of the new championship structure that game in Killarney is the only time Kerry have met anyone outside of this year's division 1 before the quarter finals. We're on 3, Killarney, Connacht final and Dublin in the Hyde, and we drew the highest ranked league team in the preliminaries both years. One defeat in 5. So the numbers would suggest that we are outperforming Kerry pound for pound on a more challenging circuit.

Dublin have had similar draws to Kerry in that it has just been us. The rest have probably had it worse than us in fairness. Galway have gotten tougher draws, as have the Ulster teams. Armagh I would imagine have the best numbers.

Clare Sam was playing last night so he's back

I don't know why we are all so worried about Murphy.
I agree with Tsudhonim in that it's the boys that are there a few years that have to rise and shine. Give us the leadership and will to win that we need so badly.
I'm hoping that the habit of letting far inferior teams back at us in the last quarter will be banished.
Thinking more about it, there aren't many teams inferior to us in div one of the league.
All will have injury problems, players not available for one reason or another etc, so let's not make excuses before a ball is kicked.
A strong showing in League, finish mid div, try out a panel of players(I'm not talking sub in last five mins), and an ease of control from the sideline, essential that players take responsibility. Too many cooks.....

@Gizmobobs thanks for the info that's great to know actually feel more positive for league now wasn't expecting that! Who won last night?

I wouldn't be so worried about murphy back. Yes he's an amazing player but he has been off a year and nof as fit I would say as he was.

I'm not disputing that Kerry got an easy draw. But we messed up, having gotten into good positions both years.

Armagh certainly came through a hard road. And Galway too in fairness

First team of the year named for the challenge game tomorrow....

https://mayogaa.com/2025/01/03/mayo-gaa-charity-game-2025-in-aid-of-irish-motor-neurone-disease-association/

"The Mayo Team is as Follows:

Colm Reape Knockmore
Enda Hession Garrymore
Donnacha McHugh Castlebar Mitchels
Sean Morahan Castlebar Mitchels
Fenton Kelly Davitts
David McBrien Ballaghaderreen
Eoghan McLaughlin Westport
Matthew Ruane Breaffy
Dylan Thornton Ballina Stephenites
Conal Dawson Westport
Fergal Boland Aghamore
Davitt Neary Breaffy
Cian McHale Moy Davitts
Ewan Duffy Ballinrobe
Ryan O’Donoghue Beal an Mhuirthead

Subs:

16. John Vahey Breaffy

17. Sam Callinan Ballina Stephenites

18. Rory Brickenden Westport

19. Eoin O’Donoghue Beal an Mhuirthead

20. Evan Ivers Beal an Mhuirthead

21. Stephen Coen Hollymount Carramore

22. Jack Melvin Davitts

23. Conor Reid Moy Davitts

24. Frank Irwin Ballina Stephenites

25. Finbar Mc Laughlin Westport

26. Tom O’Flaherty Aghamore

27. Diarmuid Duffy Ballinrobe

28. Kevin Quinn Ballinrobe

29. Dylan Prendergast Louisburgh

30. Paul Towey Charlestown Sarsfields

31. (GK) Adrian Phillips Ballyhaunis

32. Shairoze Akram Ballaghaderreen"

Nice sprinkling of youth and experience there, starting and bench... can't see it happening tomorrow evening though.

@FrostThehammer thanks for that info nice mix of youth as 2hops said.

I would be surprised is well if it does happen with the freazing temperatures set to come who knows though..

Best of luck to cross tommorow if it goes ahead!

I don't know how you do it Tsudhonim, but thanks for posting.
I'm glad to see management preserving with McBrein at 6. For too long we've stuck quality half backs into full back line.. David is the one guy we are likely to get the dynamic leadership we need in that position. But it's a positive move from management.
Bit disappointed Towey not getting a start, with other newcomers preferred.
All said, I don't think there's a snowballs chance in hell of the game going ahead at that time.

Among those missing Jack Coyne,Jack Carney,Paddy Durcan,Tommy Conroy,Bob Touhy injured. Away Aidan O'Shea and Crossmolina lads Conor Loftus,Jordan Flynn to come back later.

@Ontheditch: No idea what the plan is for subs or what the teams have agreed, but I'd not be shocked to see 15 for 15 at half-time this time of year (a fair-few lads having Sigerson this coming week too - UoG vs TUD thankfully being streamed so we'll get to watch a few Mayo heads).

Vahey
Callinan
Brickenden
EO'D
Ivers
Coen
Akram
Reid
Irwin
McLaughlin
O'Flaherty
Duffy
Quinn
Prendergast
Towey

If it +15 subs & we end up with something like that 2nd half, you'd really need to hold at least 1 of RO'D, Boland or Towey to spread a bit of experience in the forward line.

Kevin with a couple of league minutes & a year on the panel, Diarmuid with a few more minutes in the same time but still u20, along with Prendergast and the 2 lads just out of 20s all in their relatively early months involved could do with someone that little more battle hardened up there. Paul could be the perfect choice for that type of role.

I could imagine it being a different story if a couple more of those missing lads were available (I'd sadly assume Darren McHale & Diarmuid O'Connor on that injured list too - though lovely to think of the competition for places once a few more of those are back fighting for places).

Suprise Towey is not starting, not much chance of league or championship starts. Give the man 3 or 4 full games and see what he is like.

Interesting squad with newbies and fringe players. Obviously should'nt read too much into anything at this early stage, but what really stand out for me is the positioning of McHugh at full-back. It would seem that they want to free McBrien up for CH and they may also feel that McHugh has all the attributes to cope with defending under the new rules, where there may be a lot of 1 v. 1 defending. Will be interesting to see how it pans out.

Interesting reading the above posts.

Trying to pick an winner is fairly futile in my opinion as its a brand new game.

The Donegal hype train is a bit OTT I've frankly never seen a manager get so much millage out of winning an All Ireland.

I think Donegal have a brilliant athletic team but I'd reserve judgement for a while yet.

In my opinion,

The team with the best kicking game will win Sam as that's how all this space will be exploited.

The team with the most athleticism in the HB line will also be the team that wins it given the pace of the new game.

I'd also look at who exploits the Keepers role better than others.

So my top 4 based on the above is.

Donegal
Tyrone
Kerry
Galway.

Roll on Jan 25th.

Donegal "brilliant athletic" is one of the reasons why so many is tipping them including James Horan who is one of the main people to bring in the new rules.

brilliant athletic
brilliant strength and conditioning
brilliant strength in depth
Who defends best/makes the least amount of errors

All of the above will be the two finalist and 2025 All Ireland winner.

@TsuDhoNim you are a some operator! I even had to ask GrokAI is you are AI & the results were inconclusive :)

Seriously though, the quality, research, consistency of your posts are really impressive. If I was to make a run at Mayo Management team as I joked about in the past, I want you on that ticket! Open chequebook:)

You can't even pick a top 4 atm as no one knows how each team will do with the new rules.

Funny how mayo are slight favourites for connacht yet Galway are top 4 with paddy power.

If are guessing though I would go :

Armagh (I mean they are all Ireland champions)
Dublin ( still in contention even with players missing)
Donegal
Tyrone ( New manager bounce& talent coming up)
Kerry
Galway
Mayo

Best of luck to cross today!!

Crossmolina match is going ahead as planned in Longford. I’m heading there myself.

My view is the 2025 winner is the division one or two team (less likely) that goes most over the top with preparation for the new rules. Any team that takes a typical approach to the new season is very unlikely to beat a much more rules prepared team.

I'd agree with all of that @Mo2023 and throw in sideline IQ as well.
How we fare on that scale and be able to adapt to on field circumstances as they arise will have a big bearing too i think.
I think it's fair to say we need to up our game in this department as well, can we be more proactive and read problem areas before the horse had bolted? Hopefully.

Agree alos with mo2023

your posts are great @TSuDhoNim..!

WJ check midwest video on socials before you go. Pitch is white...

https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/year-three-is-a-big-big-year-for-the-group-mayo-boss-kevin-mcstay-is-primed-for-new-season-and-new-challenges/a577028691.html

Interesting chat with Kevin there, especially for any of the backroom nerds among us.

Think that's the first time I've seen him name-drop our (head of?) performance-coach (or at least the first time I've caught it). We'd all have seen him on the pitch but I never had a name to go with the "He's performance. Limerick based fella. Professor" style info before.

(Looks a very high-level operator, with an impressive background. It's 99% non GAA related, really Olympics focused, but if you're interested in some vague history of performance developments through the eyes of one practitioner there's an interesting lecture [subjective I guess - interesting for me] detailing himself and his background - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnRf-v-HPFk)

Interesting panel there all right. Retrocut had most of them I note.

Would I be right in thinking there are a lot of big guys around the middle - bar Fergal Boland?

Crossmolina doing well so far

Mo2023

Without being disrespectful it's a bit generic to say the most athletic team with the most depth that makes the fewest errors will win the All Ireland.

That's the case every year.

In 2025 we had a radically new game so it's about who can adapt best to those rules.

Donegal appear to tick a lot of those boxes.

From the webinars that I have seen the teams that will be successful will be those with the following attributes.

- Athleticism particular the middle 8
- A kicking game ( Traditional running teams like Mayo / Cork will need to adapt here )
- Shooters than can kick from outside the arc.
- Man on man defenders, while it's unlikely you'll see 3v3 it's more likely teams will still employ a sweeper.
- Fielders, As there will be no more short kickouts.
- Strong 26 as more subs will get needed more than ever.

It's who ticks these boxes and adapts will win its.

I've stated my top 4 based on the above but I'd throw Derry, Armagh Dublin into that group.

Cross are going well here, 1-4 to 0-4 up at half-time. Good match given the conditions - the pitch is frozen over here!

Yeah cross doing well heres hoping they can do it.. Conor loftus has really bulked up I think since last year!

Wonder about player safety. They look the better team, important they put in good last quarter.

West Kerry , why won’t we see 3v3 , genuine question. I thought that was one of the main rule changes that will see a lot more man on man combat , more space etc ?

Loftus putting a big hand up for more than just a starting position. You can see why management wanted to invest in him in 2023.

Absolutely @2 hops when you say sideline IQ as well. Again all those tipping Donegal will have marked that down with Jim McGuinness

@westkerry now with the new rules more than ever and the need to be athletic throughout the team will surpass skill level

@ Sean, no team will leave their full back line exposed to a 3v3.
As much as I'd love Clifford 1v1 it just won't happen. Teams will still play sweepers.

@Mo2023 you are right athleticism will be huge but you still need accurate kickers to exploit the space and kick outside the 40.

Ahh right I obviously misunderstood the rule , I actually thought if you kicked the ball in directly over the traditional half forward line that it would be impossible to avoid a 3v3 inside . I’ll have to get myself familiar with the new rules properly

You absolutely can exploit the space but you can in theory play everyone back apart from 3 attackers.

There is still nothing in the rules to stop teams having 12 players inside thier own 45 meter line. Not sure where a lot of people seem to think there will be plenty of space for forwards and more 1v 1 defending

“This rule enhancement under consideration would oblige both teams to always have a minimum of three players inside each 65 yard line. So, if you’re the defending team, you must keep three outfield players inside the opposition ’65 and defend with a maximum of 11 players outside it. If a defending player retreats beyond the ’65 to give his team a numerical advantage then they would concede a free on their own 13 metre line to the opposition. If a player carries the ball past their own ’65 and leaves less than three team-mates behind them then a free is given to the opposition at the point where they crossed the line.

By having to keep three up and three back, space should be created for the attacking team. If the defending team turns the ball over they’d have an opportunity to kick in the counter-attack to which should lead to more end to end action.“

Still should create a bit more space , you’ve got to think it will suit fast men over 10/20 yds

@Sean Burke: That's outdated. It's updated to the half way line now. https://www.gaa.ie/article/special-congress-2024-the-motions-explained

One of the reasons for the more space & more 1v1 defending is the rules besides the 3/3.

3/3 helps ensure there's a little more space against a set-defence (positive, especially for us who struggled against this), but it's the tap-and-go/punishments for delaying/ability to restart dramatically faster that'll help speed up transitions and restarts so it's a faster game and less phases will end in slow sideways possession (it'll still happen, plenty - possibly still a majority, but won't be as high a % of phases as it used to be, where it was so easy to eat a 13m penalty or two and get everyone back & set).

Match report up, Final Whistle pod to follow a bit later on.

It will be interesting to see how we play the numbers rule. I think we are more of a possession team than a running team these days. Will we try to keep possession around our own 65, and lure teams into coughing up an easy free? I'm really skeptical about this rule. I'm worried it could turn into two games of offside on both 65s.

How it plays on kick outs in a gale will fun too? Are kickouts the 65 or 45 meter line?

Thanks tsu , tbh it will be hard to get a feel for them till the games start motoring

Heads up to anyone who may have watched the fbd games over the last few years, Connacht Gaa was going to automatically charge my account this Monday for a yearly Subscription to watch their games. I would have bought this in previous years to watch the FBD games but since they're aren't happening....

@FrostTHammer: No 65 used for anything in football now. 3/3 is half-way line.

Kickouts are to outside the 40m arc (so ranging from a 20m kick straight ahead to a ~38m one to the contact point with the 20m line) for a receiving defender, though a pressing forward can touch it anywhere outside the D/13m line so might see some new & interesting methods of pressing the kicks.

Big change with the kickouts, possibly bigger than the distances IMHO, is other players can still be inside the 20m line when it's kicked. They just can't be inside 13m of the ball or receive the ball inside the 40m arc or 20m line. Means the keeper, if ready for it, can get a restart off MUCH faster. I'll be crossing my fingers a few sides try using rapid restarts like that. Would throw up plenty of extra chaos & excitement.

Interesting panel, with several good calls. Dylan Thornton if it’s wasn’t for injuries should have been in before. Cian McHale.and Dylan Prendergast desired calls and too with Evan Ivers and Shairoze Akram. Is Aaron McDonnell injury, was hoping to see a big more of him. Hoping that McHale and Reid can be on the pitch at the same time I believe that would be a first for Moy Davitts having two players on the pitch at senior level.

Snowing now tough conditions monaghan so far the better team..

Aaron McDonnell has left the panel, Mayomessi.

Eoghan McLaughlin and Ewan Duffy looking lively. Kickouts have been very poor

Mayo playing much better agree @Tony freeman both doing well

Shots dropping short are ridiculous

Score?

@Moos79

1/11 to monaghan

1/6 to mayo

Very poor defensively for the goal letting men run off the shoulder.

Not getting real hold around the middle, getting bossed a bit there.

Thanks WJ, didn’t know he left as well. Is it the same with Conor Hunt as well. Like the look of Morahan looks tigerish and able to move with speed. Himself Mchugh and McLaughlin did well. Difficult conditions expecting more from Mathew Ruane McBrien and Boland.

First time ever leaving a game at half time, shocking stuff. Leaving more due to the conditions, snow has made it very tough to trek it out.
Positives: Sean Morahan looks v comfortable at the level but I'd prefer him further forward.
McBrien and McHugh giving us a huge spine.
Davitt Neary working hard.

Negatives:
Kickouts are nothing short of malfunctioning. Reape hasn't a real idea where to kick it, when there's a chance on he either misses or takes too long and let's the chance go. Vahey looked very sharp in the warmup, would like to see him.
Rod doesn't look himself
Boland getting done by the congested middle due to players not allowed to drop fully back. Not physical enough.
McHale looks sharp but not in it. Duffy is trying but looks very raw and light.
Dawson trying his best but had a fair few wides.
Midfield getting completey outplayed.

We need to do a lot of work on our kick outs.
Don’t think our keeper is playing that well. New rules mayo not suit him. Conditions were awful though. With Hennelly and Byrne removing themselves selves from the squad we need to start looking for a decent back up keeper to Colm.

I don’t know what the story is with Conor Hunt, Mayomessi, aside from the fact that injury curtailed his championship appearances for Aghamore this year so that could be relevant.

New keeper on doing quite well in fairness now really hard conditions I mean there was alot of new guys and guys who havent played together before.

Finbarr mcgh has done well to

It's only a challenge matxh and for giys to hold their hand up and show what they have.. Paul Towey doing well since on..!

Congrats to crossmolina, flying the flag for the county, theres something to be said for having some all ireland history in a club.

Mental stat: it will 2002 all ireland SFC champions Ballinderry against 2001 all ireland sfc champions Crossmolina

Once again an unbackable Kerry team had there pants pulled down by an Ulster team

Impressed with Vahey, Prendergast and F McLaughlin in the Second Half.

Pulled level and a bad mistake for the 13 yard free and a bad kick out the difference in end.

Mayo lads blew out the dirty diesel on a cold wintery night. Better in the 2nd half to outscore Monaghan 0-8 to 0-5.

Here Supermac those of us in Kerry aren't surprised by that result.

Don’t know on much playing time these lads had playing together. The second team play a lot better a unit. The first group was trying to much on taking score from outside of the arc. A lot of ball dropping short. Dylan Prendergast really got into the game, was impress by his work rate as to with Darragh Joyce, I though he got his hand on a lot of ball and play it well. Arkram work his sick off but Tom o Flaterty probably put in more mileage than anyone, whether dropppng in the back line or up taking a score. Hard condition but there was some interesting displays. I wasn’t too impressed with Reape display to be fair. Vahey looks promising,

Sorry lads didn't obviously see the game but ye can't honestly judge a lad playing in these conditions.
Anyone trying to kick from outside the arc in this cold is silly anyway.

Fair play to them for playing the game for charity but beyond that it's no barometer.

Was also very impressed with Vahey I was worried when hennelly announcsd retirement and Byrne opted out but he did really well...!

Always not great to loose but it was only a challenge game and for guys to show their hand..

Thought the debuts did well. Finbarr mcgh also impressive, Eoghan mcgh seems back near his best.

Diarmuid Duffy tried hard to..

Actually feeling much more postive about our league now despite the loss in awful conditions!

Mayomessi, didn't know Darragh Joyce was involved.

Lots to work on, serious amount of turnovers, short balls etc.
Midfield still looks an issue, Vahey based on club has huge promise few bad kickouts tonight including crucial one near end just after we'd pulled level that led score. But very tough conditions for all involved.

Some lads who've been around on fringes of panel or on panel a few years didn't stick out immediately. But only second game this year.

6 two pointers Galway notched up in their game v Kildare I’m told and Kildare got none .

Poor performance. Imagine the lads will be a lot more disappointed than most of us, but no harm. Good time of the year for a firm kick in the behind and a few lessons.

- Shocking conditions, but we oddly didn't attempt to play to them. Attempts from outside the 40 and intricate high pace handpass chains when the ball was an icy block not the order of the day. Hard to know for sure if it's tactical and they're rigidly sticking to current principals of play or if it was just multiple lads making poor choices, but disappointing in either scenario. We'd hope to see us smarter, on the line & on the field, for this type of thing.
- More kickout malfunctions. The lack of 'safe' Plan B's when a few go astray, or attempts to ensure we're kicking to advantage on contested ball, badly missing. Not overly worrying with a "we're clearly not giving everything away in a challenge game" thought, but when it's happening for years rather than games it's pretty concerning now. Reape getting the attention on it, and he'd a few very poor choices for sure, but there's a system malfunction there primarily. Serious work needed that's a couple of years late already.
- A large number looked worryingly poorly drilled on the new rules. One thing making a slip on them from muscle memory, that can happen anyone, but when it's a blatant breach and they're then upset/questioning a correct call by the ref rather than disappointed in themselves it's a concern.
- Some of the tactical slips/switching off in defence was poor. The biggest worry. One led to the goal, but at least 4 or 5 others that weren't punished. Looked more like uncertainty on the job required (press ball vs track a runner) at times rather than multiple individual errors, but hard to be sure there without being in a dressing room or training session.

Result irrelevant, as it always would be. If Diarmuid and Finbar had found the net with their chances, or Vahey hadn't made a couple of his saves, I'd have been no happier or more disappointed than I am. Biggest thing is fingers crossed Frank is (and Jack from the other night so both are) ok and back training soon.

Vahey will take a lot of confidence from that. Morahan put in a good shift. Prendergast, Duffy and F McLaughlin all showed some sparks, with Joyce working well deeper. More cons than pros overall, but at this time of the year they're both worth about the same. Plenty there to build on, imagine it'll all look very different in a few weeks time.

Good to see everybody get decent time. Vahey did well of the newbies. Brick, Reid, O'Flaherty, McHugh, Morahan...but I wouldn't shoot anyone over this. I foresee more lateral passing but the kickout is a decent intervention.

We’ll have a second pod up on Patreon later tonight, in this one Mike chats with Ger Flanagan and Paddy Finnegan about tonight’s charity game and the new rules.

Don't think that was a poor perfermance at all yes lots to work on and poor turnovers but with the awful conditions and only 2nd game of year.

Lots of new faces it takes time to play like a team.... Would not judge on tonight by much but I was pleased with some of the debuts espcially vahey as others said to.

Good display from a few of the new lads. I have to say Im not sure about Vahey, he is young but I was at a few of the Breaffy games in the championship, he is a bit prone to making a mistake , as with the bad kick outs tonight .But as I say it’s his first outing and he is young. Overall he did ok tonight.Morahan looked to be able to play at this level. He is also young. It’s not all gloom and doom from what I watched tonight.

6 is right Sean...
Paul conroy came on with 20 mins left and kicked four two pointers ...
He finished top scorer on the night...

Does tonight show that in January, February and March temperatures a 40 yard line is too difficult. Personally my view was a 35 yard line as underage and most club players are not going to have near a 40 yard boot typically. There's simply no flight on a ball in wet or cold conditions for a 40 yard shot marker to be reasonable. For all that playing time we had all those attempts dropping short and not one successful 2 pter.

Galway kinda say different though JP in fairness .

Agree @JP 100%

Galway were playing kildare though. Monaghan are much better team in my opinion them kildare.

Gizmobob
Darragh Joyce was wearing 13 on the second fifteen and Ciaran Boland came on for Irwin was wearing 15. There weren’t on the programmme. No Kevin Quinn or Sam Callinan. Akram was wearing 28 and Brickenden was 17. Though Joyce stood out to be honest got o lot of ball in the center. He playing midfield in Claremorris u21 side against Castlebar before Christmas.

New pod up on Patreon now, in which Mike chats with Ger Flanagan and Paddy Finnegan about tonight's charity match and the new playing rules.

First real time to see the new rules in action, will certainly have an impact on how the game is played.
Kickouts will definitely be more of a challenge, and it will be interesting to see how teams adapt. Could see a return to bigger men in the middle.
The change to frees speeds up the game, and the penalty for not handing the ball over is significant. The role of goalie creates opportunities, probably more than previously but also carries more risks.
The league could throw up more unusual results than normal so even harder to make predictions but no doubt management teams will be keeping close eye on all games to see what is working or not. This also makes it difficult to decide who is kept on the panel for the league given the changing dynamics of how the game is evolving, and who might suit what style. Maybe teams will keep broader panel in place, at least for the first few rounds.

Why are we persisting with such light small forwards.Was not impressed with the forward unit ,Boland and Towey really need to step it up on tonights performance.Towey finds it so hard to win his own ball and Boland finds it hard to beat his man.No forward will make breakthrough from what was called up on that performance.

I agree with JP above. Pointing from outside the arc is a different challenge this time of the year to what it will be come championship time.
A scoring half forward line will win games.
I don't think it's fair to be critical of any player who played in these conditions, I would be much more critical of admins who didn't change starting time to mid-day.
The rules will favour teams prepared to break quickly from defence. It will be a welcome addition from the lateral passing possession game we have had to suffer

Gimme Five? I’ll give six:

Vahey - this guy was a, sorry, the game changer. Everything he did oozed class. Got his outfield lads back on track.
Morahan- he caught my eye. He made one sensational run and while nothing came of it, it wasn’t his fault. Am I right in thinking he would match Hession for speed?
Melvin - was involved and got a good score.
Finbarr MacLaughlin - chip off the family block
Thornton - very lively and intelligent
Akram - gave his all; this guy looks like he would die for the cause

Overall Monaghan looked far better drilled.
The rules? While only two goals were scored, my lasting impression was there could have been a whole lot more. Defences are vulnerable to quick long balls.

Reape struggled on the kickouts but he doesn't have great ball winners to aim at and I noti ed that the guys who were there weren't really calling for it.....particularly in 2nd quarter

Vahey did really well as I said but he did not chance going forward out of goal much which most keepers will do now but he has huge potential. Reape in fairness has the confidence to go up field and atheletism to sprint back to goal.

Rrape did struggle with kick outs but was it his kick outs or mid field that struggled to catch the ball?.... More midfield tbh..

Free the east bank, agree. Same issue was there when Vahey came in he struggled with a few kicks as well but we looked ropey in middle third again which is a caveat going forward. That's two games this week between Roscommon and Monaghan but it is very early doors so plenty time for improvement.

I liked how Monaghan weren't afraid to kick the ball in long or at a bit of a diagonal, it didn't always pay off but we got away by skin of our teeth on occasion.
Was harder to discern any major style change for ourselves. Or maybe I missed it feeling sorry about the cold! :)

Can't remember being colder at a game and that's saying something. Forget about players performances in those conditions, with new rules and teammates you're unfamiliar playing with. Nobody stood out and nobody was a disaster and no injuries. The whole exercise was really about the new rules and having the ball brought forward 50m 3 times was the difference between winning and losing. It also took a while to adapt to solo and go at frees but while the game was no spectacle it showed at least some areas where work is needed on the rules.

A lot of blog posters seem to put a lot of faith in certain players making a difference every year these same players are touted as game changers , two lads in particular. I really hope ye are right but I just don’t see it . Players that don’t have that explosive spectacular in their game are never going to make a huge difference . They’re grand as squad players and sometimes 20 min men when the game has been stretched a biteen but they’re not big potential game winners (I’ll get attacked for this ) like James Carr . People will shout at me he’s done nothing since that goal against Galway 100 yrs ago , my answer is maybe you’re right but the lads you’re on about have never done it and never will .

The one positive last night was Vahey, think he has to start against the Dubs on the 25th.
Hard to understand why more big physical forwards like Jack Fallon, Cathal Slattery and Conor Diskin were not brought in comparison to the the light forwards we had playing last night.There not going to cut it against the likes of Dublin, Kerry and Galway.

Exactly Sam og , it’s rare to see narrow bodies make an impact in todays Gaelic football and if they do they’re hard as nails Kevin Mcgloughlin style

I'd have to agree Sean,if you're 5'8"/5'9'' you are probably not going to outfield you're 6' footer marker, you probably won't put him on his arse with a hand-off. So unless you're a Canavan (exceptions imo),you better have speed to burn him off, with a side step to leave him floundering,be left and right footed and handed ,brave and accurate. You can't make yourself taller,as far as I know so you had better work like hell on the rest of it, otherwise inter county,in a serious county is probably not going to work out for you.

Sam Og, let Vahey develop and build confidence he's only just in set up and has high threshold level, could be a mainstay for years to come but last night when no pressure (albeit in tough conditions) a good few kicks went awry including one for the key score I think it was, could be corrected on that.
Kickouts are still an issue in general I think, as others alluded to this could be due to personnel issues in middle third. But it was hard to see many set strategies in general last night which has been issue last few years. But maybe we holding powder dry.
Vahey, McLaughlin, Morahan looked like prospective ballers fair play to them.

The championships top scorer last year isn't known for his height

He does have those other attributes in spades though,needed to succeed at this level thankfully.

@Gizmobobs fully agree..

Vahey has huge potential but he doesn't have enough experience to start v the Dubs.

No better place to start getting experience , Croke park v the dubs .

Its a 1st round league game for gods sake, how is he going to get game time , theres no Fbd games, Robbie Hennelly at 21 made his debut v Kerry in the 2nd round League game in 2011 against Kerry and ended up playing the whole championship in goal playing against Kerry in an All Ireland Semi Final.
Why do Mayo supporters still get carried away with League games.He doesnt have enough experience to play in a 1st round League its such bullshit.We won the League 2 years ago and look where it got us in championship.League is just for survival and developing and exposing players to top flight football.

Agree should get league time, and don't care if get relegated or not once players blooded. But be nice to stay up if at all possible. If could target first couple games to see if can get points on board be great.

On the size of forwards I'm equal really. If they good enough small like ROD great, if they good and big great. They just need to be able to kick ball over or under the bar regularly. 43% conversion rate I think it was yesterday.
Some players mentioned based on stature have been involved before and looked at by different managers.
There's also fact, and if last night is representative of year ahead, that we don't and won't be kicking fast ball in much.
Speed, fitness, special awareness and ability score bigger necessity.

The "hand the ball back to an opposition player" is ripe for exploiting imo. Teams will try to slow the game down by not making themselves available to receive the handover. Player should be allowed to place the ball on the ground where he is standing and retreat. Attacking team should have the option to tap and go from where the ball is within a few seconds, or go back to where the free should be taken from. With the exception of inside your own 20, when you can instead place it on that line.

I agree also that vahey should get game time but also want to try stay up if at all possible and would be a boost if we could beat the Dubs & Galway without some of our main guys. Don't care if we get relegated either but be nice if we could stay up.

Vahey maybe in when we have a few points on the board.

Reape also needs game time and he does have the confidence to go up field and the pace to sprint back which is what all keepers will do vahey will do it more eventually but throw vahey in last few games as a starter keeper when we know where we are at.

I enjoy listening to Ger Flanagan on the podcast. He’s a straight shooter and you know having played against a lot of these players he is a good judge of their capabilities

In terms of the new players seen last night, I think Sean Morahan and Finbar McLoughlin have high ceilings. I also think there are lads fortunate to be playing, I just don’t see them as being anything higher than decent club players

Some criticism of Colm Reape on kickouts but for me, generally , it’s a lot to do with weak midfield options. It’s 20 years since the minor midfield of Parsons/OShea became the centre field axis 10 years ago. We’ve produced very little authoritative, physically powerful and athletic midfielders in 20 years and until we do, we expect our keepers to work wonders on kickouts

“On the size of forwards I’m equal really. If they good enough small like ROD great, if they good and big great. They just need to be able to kick ball over or under the bar regularly. 43% conversion rate I think it was yesterday.”

Sounds ok on paper but if you haven’t the ability to win your ball , you won’t get a shot off . Doesn’t matter how accurate you are .
Evan Regan probably the most skilful forward in Mayo for many years but he just couldn’t really make the breakthrough at county level as he didn’t have that same levels of strength and toughness as the man you mention Ryan o D .

A lot of the focus in 2024 will have been on addressing the 2023 exit to the Dubs in Croke Park. We were a whisker away from doing that in the Hyde last year, but went out and started the next game like we had lost by 12. I think the Dubs mean at lot to this and I would hope they see it as an opportunity to set a marker for the year ahead.

The new rules in Croke Park for the first time, not only is this a new experience for the players, it's a new experience for the entire country. A lot of eyes will on this.

Still a few weeks to go until Croker. Lads got their first taste of the year last night. Training over the next few weeks will show who wants to keep their jerseys.

Still find it such an odd call we'll have 14 of the lads involved yesterday (15 if we include Sam who missed last night) about to go back to Sigerson teams and play under the old rules again in the coming weeks. Such a missed opportunity for that competition to take centre stage as a learning tool, and I'd imagine a real headache for the coaches trying to educate around new rules.

It'll be interesting to see if we see a lower return of Sigerson lads in Round 1 or 2 of the league as a result nationally. I'd doubt it, but it'll be interesting to watch it pan out.

- It could take the full set of League matches before any discernable patterns of play emerges not just for us but for most teams.
- Individually many of the new rules look worthwhile, however last night's match ended up being a fast paced version of many 2024 games.
- Good crowd in attendance, hopefully plenty of money raised for charity.
- Best of luck to Crossmolina next Sunday.

True Sean, but winning the ball and kicking it out the gate no use either it's like all things it's about finding a balance.

"if you haven’t the ability to win your ball , you won’t get a shot off . Doesn’t matter how accurate you are."
Would you rather an O'Donaghue or a Canavan type winning the ball for a mark or an Aidan or Carney type? Winning every ball, getting kick off and nailing the corner flag or dugout isn't much use, so I feel accuracy is important.

Unfortunately we haven't been blessed with big men who are quick, ball winners and scorers.
I think under new rules game will be more faced paced, bigger men may not last the full distance, but could still be a huge asset. Whether we use them if we have them is another thing, how many balls have we kicked in when we've had big men inside the past few years?

Agree Sean Burke, I’d pitch Vahey in against the Dubs. It’s not such a big call - management like him enough to have him in the squad, so let’s see if he can add value, that is do something Reape doesn’t do.

@Catcol that's a bit harsh on Reape. Sure he is the reason we son the league v Galway. Not his faukt our midfield can't catch the ball.

Vahey as I said as huge pitential but we don't know he will go when the real stuff happens.

Kickouts are a huge worry after last night.i know we were missing a few of our main middle 8players but Monaghan had an excellent press especially in first half and we had no answers.

@Clare you are very loyal to North Mayo.
Fair play to you
I hope we experiment widely in the league.
I think that the new rules are way overboard, and could be changed or tweaked after the league a week before we play Sligo.
That game has to be our focus.

Maybe Clare, but trying out Vahey can’t hurt really.

Roco - agree with you on the keeper/midfield issue. Midfield is our biggest problem area in my view and has been for years now. You won't win many games without ball winners in that area who can create a platform for attack. It's been blatantly obvious since 2021 that Ruane is not suitable for the position but we still persist with it. New personnel needed there but don't know where it'll come from.

@Catcol yeah true no harm guess league is for trying out new players see where your coming from.

@JR haha ah I think vahey has huge potential and deserves a starting position in league.

Just worried if he starts v Dubs and got nervy and we get a hammering would not do his confidence any good but sure maybe he should start v Dubs.

After listening to ah ref podcast and a lot of clubs still looking for managers.hard to be going into club management with these new rules

New rules @Cp and new nosey approach by Revenue could make it very hard for clubs to attract managers. Then you also have referees who may not fancy the extra workload (or the nosey tax collector) so, could be challenging times ahead on the club front.

Dublin's long spell of winning Leinster football titles needs to come to a end within the next few years if not this year. Next year 2026 will the return of a Mayo vs London fixture to the Connacht football championship after Covid-19 not having the fixture in 2021. In 2026 the system will change if would prefare not to have 3 Connacht Quarter-finals in the same weekend.

Rotation Fixtures in the 2026 Connacht Football Championship will as follows.

Mayo vs London & Roscommon vs New York:

Connacht Quarter final with 2 teams of Galway, Sligo & Leitrim will be played after overseas fixtures in a different weekend.

In the Connacht semi-finals will be also in 2 seperate weekends in 2026.

Teams A & B) will Quarter finals with winners of Mayo/London & Roscommon/New York.

Team C) Quarter final fixture between 2 teams of Galway/Leitrim/Sligo.

Team D) Bye team to the Connacht Semi-final 1 team of Galway/Leitrim/Sligo.