Twenty years ago, I suggested a short kick-out strategy when I was playing with Breaffy. It was shot down. I could argue I was simply ahead of my time. The truth is the manager probably didn’t trust my reliability!

To prove his point, I tried one against Ballaghaderreen. Pearse Hanley intercepted it and buried it past me.

But short kick-outs were not in vogue at the time. The thinking then was to send it long and securing possession was the responsibility of the midfielders.

But as Stephen Cluxton transformed the position in the years that followed, the kick-out also became transformed. Contests were greatly reduced and working short kick-outs or finding a runner in space was the way to go.

Evolution does not always mean things are better.

As goalkeepers got more accurate and more confident in their kicking and defenders grew more and more capable and composed in possession, short kick-outs became more and more popular.

For teams, it made perfect sense. Possession was king and while you had a long way to go from the edge of your own D to the opposition goal, the improved skillsets of players in possession made this infinitely more achievable.

For managers, securing possession short was often a much safer call than kicking it long to a contest.

Mayo were very good at this a decade ago. David Clarke, in particular, would gladly take it short to a defender under pressure who would win the ball and pass it back to Clarke. Mayo had possession and the opposition often retreated.

Before the new rules came in, there was an acknowledgement of the impact of this trend on the spectacle of the game. A rule came into effect that goalkeepers were not allowed to receive the ball back immediately from a kick-out.

Again, though, skills took care of that. The receiver would make one pass to another outfield teammate and then the goalie was back in play and the pressure was off.

For those of us who grew up watching the spectacular high fielding of the likes of Willie Joe Padden and Liam McHale, you could admire the skillsets at work with the short kick-outs but be far from transfixed by it. The spectacle was suffering.

Jim Gavin’s Football Review Committee sought to mix it up and how!

The short kick-out range was greatly reduced – the ball has to pass the two-point arc now, considerably limiting the short kick-out. It shows how skilful modern teams have become that they can still manipulate the reduced space to manufacture short kick-outs.

But far more now the ball is going long to a contest. In of itself, that has changed the game. It has brought high fielders, considered an endangered species in the latter years of the old rules, back into fashion.

But other rule changes have made that battle for kick-out possession even more vital.

There isn’t enough published data to prove it but it passes the ‘eye-test’. Winning a kick-out very often means winning a shot at goal. Under the old rules a team might recycle for a minute before working an opening, if they could, against a mass defence. Now, with only 11 defenders allowed in a half, space appears more readily.

A clean catch or well-won break can lead to a rapid attack and score.

Even if the attack is slowed down, the attacking team still holds the box seat. The two-point arc needs to be guarded, the goal needs to be protected. There are greater dangers now for defenders and they have less support than under the old rules.

It is why, after the Monaghan game, we expressed amazement at Mayo, after half-time, turning over the ball to the Farney men on five attacks in a row. Those things should just not be happening anymore.

There are still turnover opportunities – Mayo, with their man on man defending, showed this against Cork. As soon as a turnover looked on, anyone close to the ball swooped in to join the turnover effort.

Mayo’s own approach this season illustrates the dilemma perfectly. When Rob Hennelly was in goal, they tried to fashion short kick-outs where possible or a kick to space.

When that wasn’t on, it was long to a contest. Often, this was a pod of Mayo players on one wing rather than a one v one contest on the other.

Andy Moran was asked about this after a league game and the question gave the answer – was this because if you lost the kick-out to the one v one, there was greater space for the opposition to attack down that wing?

“I think you’ve answered your own question there,” replied Moran.

So Mayo, and plenty more teams, are protecting their shape on their own kick-out in the event of losing possession. It is, perhaps, as Nigel Reape said on the pod this week, why there is not huge movement for short kick-outs by Mayo.

If there is and you lose possession, you are badly out of position.

It is why when we look at the Cork game, the short kick-outs were vital at both ends. Jack Livingstone only went short twice, once to Jack Coyne and once to Paul Towey, which was lost.

By contrast, Cork went short 14 times, winning 13.

It is a big gulf in possession won short.

Mayo appear reluctant to embrace the short approach. Perhaps the damage done from short kick-outs which went wrong in recent years is part of that.

A poor short kick-out from Colm Reape with less than ten minutes to go in the 2025 Connacht final resulted in a black card for Rory Brickenden and tipped the balance Galway’s way.

Rob Hennelly’s poor first half kick-out which led to Diarmuid Murtagh’s goal in this year’s Connacht semi-final shifted the momentum irrevocably towards Roscommon.

When they go wrong, they can go badly wrong.

But Cork getting so many short kick-outs off against Mayo is a very interesting trend ahead of Saturday.

Perhaps the workrate of the Mayo forwards in pushing up on the kick-out was not at the required level or perhaps it was a deliberate approach, that Mayo eased off on the Cork kick-out in order to be better set defensively, especially against a two-point threat.

It is probably a bit of both.

But Cork’s ability to win their own short kick-out compared to Mayo’s was the decisive factor in Cork winning so much primary possession.

Mayo had to try to counterbalance that in the contests for long kick-outs.

Mayo only won 43 percent of total kick-outs and that is rarely good enough to win a game. Under the old rules you might survive that. Under the new rules it is becoming increasingly difficult because every lost restart is another likely scoring opportunity for the opposition. Mayo’s defensive turnovers and pressure on the shooters was absolutely vital.

But there are reasons to be hopeful from a primary possession perspective.

Cork won 16 of their own kick-outs in total out of 24 restarts (67 percent) but when they had to go long, Mayo actually dominated, winning 70 percent (7/10).

But Mayo were not as successful on their own long kick-outs to contests, winning 52 percent of contests (I am not including long kicks to space).

Louth won 77 percent of kick-outs against Monaghan, some going with 14 men for the vast majority of the game but also a serious indictment of Monaghan. They will be a step up from Cork in this regard and how Mayo fare out in the contest for primary possession will be crucial.

We’re not sure Mayo can suddenly start looking for more short kick-outs. Jack Livingstone has it in his locker but it is something teams work assiduously on for months. It is a lot to expect a transformation in two weeks.

Mayo will be hoping to break even on long kick-outs at both ends, likely by making it a ground battle, breaking the ball from Louth’s big men and reacting faster on the ground as well as positioning themselves better. Louth have numerous targets long and how Mayo set up against them personnel wise will be interesting.

Mayo may also seek to limit the number of short kick-outs Louth can get off if their own short kick-outs numbers are not going to rise. Recall Cork got 12 more short kick-outs off than Mayo did in the quarter-final. That was the platform for possession dominance.

And possession is so vital in the new rules.

Kevin McStay once remarked that Mayo almost didn’t respect possession because they believed they would simply win the next kick-out.

That outlook is no longer viable, if it ever was in the first place. Possession is too valuable to be given away lightly.

The kick-out is no longer just a restart. It has become the equivalent of a rugby lineout or a basketball rebound. Win it, and you immediately have an opportunity to score. Lose it, and you’re immediately under pressure.

Whichever team establishes control around the middle on Saturday will feed off it. The crowd will too. Lose enough of those contests and the pressure mounts quickly.

Mayo might still win while losing the primary-possession battle. But they cannot afford to lose it heavily. Under these new rules, the kick-out has become the game’s key battleground.