Great interview, seems like Austin could do any number of jobs with a county team. Preferably Mayo if work and family life allow. Very interesting lad.

Director of Football/coaching

Are any of junior quarter finals streamed this weekend?

@Just a thought: Unless there's a (very) late announcement of one, no. No streams (again) this Junior exclusive weekend.

Disappointing and odd call, imho. A keen, captive audience right there but left to watch AFL/NFL/golf/Prem action instead. You'd have thought any of Bonni/TMK, Ardagh/NG or Shrule/Kiltimagh would have brought significant viewers - more than enough to cover the costs, turn a profit while also boosting the value of the package to boost its future sales.

I'd fear once again it's the myopic view (not just a local one, it's right across the GAA at all levels) that streams hurt ticket sales rather than seeing them (with plenty of analytics data to back it up) as the best possible marketing tool for selling tickets to the next & all future games. While ignoring the knock on benefits it has on boosting smaller club sponsorships, helping player retention/buy-in and building stronger links with the club diaspora (which can have disproportionately large financial benefits for smaller junior clubs who are most often hit hardest with emigration depleting their ranks).

You'd love to see counties (not just Mayo) put together stuff like a competition for kids to produce a 1-5 minute build up video for club semi-finals (with permission to use the club footage). You can just imagine the compilation videos of Rory versus Kobe both hitting +50m arrow passes, Eoghan/Brian versus Dylan/Josh hitting crunching shoulders or any of Eoghan/Leeroy/Conal/Niall/Kobe/Oisín breaking lines with slaloming runs... before you even start on the years of nostalgia folks could tap into for a Ballina versus Knockmore battle.

If they don't have the tools or resources to do it in-house (time being the only real tool or resource needed there) then turn it into a feature and UGC (user generated content) it. In the process, we might find ourselves tapping into an active base of up & coming content creators with an interest in GAA to benefit from at various levels for years to come.

@Tsu is Midwest covering any/all of them. Would certainly pay to see Bonni Vs Tourmakaedy as I'm based on the east coast at the moment and can't make it over for many club matches.

@Bonni Boyler: No mention or build up for any coverage, so sadly unlikely.

https://x.com/i/lists/1376941728054317060 (Official Mayo GAA's official list of clubs) probably the best bet of following along with the games. That or hoping for (pretty common at this stage) someone posting the odd update here or on discord.

Just seen on Midwest that diarmuid Byrne is getting the mayo minor job. Has he managed teams before. I not based in the country so I’ve no clue on this

@Mayo 36: Diarmuid was a selector/coach (I think Tom's recent appearance on the pod mentioned academy liaison as a pseudo-title too given his double jobbing there) with the minor team this year and has been involved in the management of academy u16 sides ranging from this year's defeated Buncrana Cup Final team going back at least as far as the lads that just finished up as u20s winning the Gerry Reilly Memorial Cup back in '21.

Couldn't tell you what specific role(s) he had with any of those academy sides, but you'd imagine he'll know the lads as well as anyone and appears to have a record of high performance (mainly in terms of good lads coming through playing good football, but we've been fortunate to have a Gerry Reilly win, a Tedd Webb win, a Buncrana Cup win and another Buncrana Cup Final appearance along the way) across his recent years working with the young lads coming through.

Probably back 4 or 6 weeks now since his name was being mentioned for this. No huge shock for him to be passed the baton on the back of his work. Fingers crossed for a great year ahead. For him, his team and all the lads involved (some crackin' u16s coming through. A load of their club games this year ended up as 2 point shoot-outs with conversion rates that would have put senior county sides to shame).

An innovation we could do with underage. Play with the size 4.5 up to and including u18.
Smaller skillful players would have more distance to kick 2s.
The International rules was played with 4.5 as the Aussies would never keep it competitive with the heavier size 5.
Now that kicking 2s is huge we want to develop it in as many players as possible.

Really didnt like the under 20 management selection ,how they went against the experience of John Maughan one of the best managers Mayo has ever had and Joe Keane who served the last 5 years as the coach in Sligo, while Higgins ,McLoughlin and Drake have very little experience in management at all.Seems you have to be a recent Inter County footballer for the MAC.

I listened to Austin, spoke very well and has backed it up as a manager.
His distance from Mayo and the fact that his wife and he are expecting a second child I am sure ruled him out of applying for the Mayo job.
Perhaps if he talked to the panel over a weekend it could help our cause.

Oisín Mullin kicked a goal in the first quarter of the AFL Grand Final being played now. Fairly tense and scrappy affair besides.

AFL?…. It Means Nothing to Me.

Agree Mayonaze, an awful sport. Like watching a terrible football game from the 80s.

It loosened up a bit in the final quarter, to be fair. Another Mayo final for Oisín, alas.

Isn't it an awful game to watch. Only when the game became lopsided at the end did it look enjoyable.

Mayo and finals eh

It's dire stuff

It was brutal and Geelong were embarrassing. At times it looked like a load of lads on a stag weekend after finding a rugby ball.

Boom boom....Mayonaze!

I tuned in to watch my first ever AFL game this morning, and while it was great to see Oisín compete at the highest level and make an impact, I have to say the game itself was tough to watch. Even if there were 20 Mayo lads on the pitch, I don’t think the AFL would ever really capture the imagination of people back home in Ireland it just doesn’t seem to have that appeal. Honestly, I’m not sure I’d watch another game; I found it that uninteresting.

One thing that did stand out and not in a good way was what happened after Oisín scored the goal. It seemed like he started getting targeted with rough treatment from some of the Brisbane players, and what struck me was how none of his teammates really stepped in or backed him up. That didn’t sit well with me. What was going on there?

Oisin should be back where he ‘s loved, where he’s wanted and where he belongs. Mayo. End of.

@Kevin O'Connor: It was happening well before the score too. Early on there was a close-up shot of him tagging McCluggage as a ball was being thrown-in, where he got 6 or 7 fine elbows in the stomach for his troubles.

He'd completely snuffed out their key man in their previous meeting a few weeks ago (something he pretty much repeated today. McCluggage had 3 big involvements in the first half, 2 where Oisín was on interchange & a 3rd where they threaded a high ball through the eye of a needle for him to win a mark near the posts on Oisín despite decent marking. When they finally moved Oisín to mark Cameron [who'd been red hot & scoring for fun - but then got taken out of the game] McCluggage took over the game and pushed to be in the conversation for the MOTM [the Norm Stewart the comms were talking about]) so they'd highlighted him for all sorts of 'special' treatment. Poor to see the lack of response from teammates, but that goes for from play as well as from the out play nonsense.

Didn't rattle Oisín in the slightest. He kept his head & did his task(s) brilliantly. On a day where pretty much nothing went right for their team the two Irish lads were both solid in their defensive work. Probably the #1 & #2 best players for their side this morning, along with Dempsey who only really showed up when they were 50 behind and the game well put to bed.

Awful game for stop start play & the niggly or dirty hits, said as someone who relatively enjoys AFL. Not a good first taste for any Irish fans tuning in for a 1st look. The Lions went out to rattle & unsettle a much fancied Cats side, managing to do so very effectively to the point only 1 side showed up.

@Mayonaze

Totally agree with you .

Watched the game live, gutted for Oisin, but massive respect for how much he's accomplished in a few years. Would love to see him back, hopefully some day. Wish we could all just celebrate a Mayo man doing well abroad. Spot on analysis @Tsu

@You Three

I think we are all happy for Oisin doing well . I just hate the AFL I despise them coming over here scouting out players. So I totally agree with
@Mayonaze on his views on it to .

Mayonaze - it’s a free world and he can do what he wants. It makes me laugh to see so many Mayo fans complaining about his own choice to go and play pro sports while many of those same fans choose to leave the county as soon as they could.

I agree Clare, hate that it happens, I've been to AFL games, draw massive crowds, mirroring NFL in terms of off field entertainment, Irish lads getting paid to do what they're really great at, i can't ever hold that against them. Can't fault anyone who's good enough to give it a go. But having watched many AFL games, football is a much better game

Oisin should be where he wants to be. End of.

Yes , its mad to read comments like " Oisin should be back where hes loved " from anonymous posters regarding a person's personal life choices ,who they dont know but wish they were back in ireland to play for Mayo. I really cant fathom it ,for the life of me . As regards the game today , it was a disappointing final .

In light of recent events and the apparent interest in the AFL by a lot of people on this blog I thought it might be a good moment to set out how one could personally marry one’s knowledge of Gaelic Football with that interest to the benefit of the AFL and, of course, oneself. Think of this as a fictional primer as no true Mayo supporter would enact it. However, we all have different perspectives…

1. Read Moneyball and distill the lessons (ChatGPT will be a great help here). Pour over some AFL stats and blogs to learn the lingo.
2. Become a regular at Secondary School Gaelic matches and develop a reputation as a bit of a knowledge guru by remaining silent but offering the occasional gnomic utterance.
3. Grow said reputation by adopting a Thinker pose on the sideline punctuated by a few sighs and slight grimaces.
4. Ring up a few of the less well-performing AFL teams and dazzle them with your scouting brilliance. Apply a bit of plámás by expressing your love of Slim Dusty, Ned Kelly and Banjo Patterson (that latter worked wonders for Dermot Weld back in the day).
5. If the above spiel doesn’t work, explain that your late mother had a lifelong devotion to St. Kilda and lit many a candle in his honour.
6. Once you have secured the gig make sure to put the “expenses” earned in an offshore account. You don’t want the neighbours knowing your business.
7. Watch your reputation soar (in Oz) and put those expenses to work so that you can live a lifestyle befitting your status. Maybe get a chauffeur driven limo to transport you to multiple club matches on these wet weekends in Mayo.
8. Don’t worry about people banging on about integrity, community and loyalty. They are only jealous of your knowledge and success (and the limo, obvs).
9. Shed tears of joy as your scouting activities result in your boyhood dreams being achieved - St. Kilda win the Grand Final!!
10. Rinse and repeat…

Oh, almost forgot, Up Mayo!

Half-time in Mayo JFC Quarter Finals:

Shrule/Glencorrib: 0-5(5)
Kiltimagh: 0-6(6)

Ardagh: 1-5(8)
Northern Gaels: 0-8(8)

woops...

Eastern Gaels 0-09(9)
Ballycroy 0-04(4)

I genuinely didn’t mean my original comment to set some people off here, but for all the Wind Up Merchants…all you need to do is mention AFL, wind them up and watch them go.

We all love Mayo here (including, believe it or not, those of us who live elsewhere), but at the same time, it’s not the centre of the universe either. People are entitled to pursue life, love and the pursuit of happiness beyond the county boundary.

Best of luck to Oisín in his sporting career, wherever it takes him.

Full Time Mayo JFC Quarter Finals:

Shrule/Glencorrib: 1-10(13)
Kiltimagh: 1-11(14)

Ardagh: 3-12(21)
Northern Gaels: 1-16(19)

Eastern Gaels 1-15(18)
Ballycroy 0-10(10)

Unbelievably selfish and arrogant to tell somebody they should pack up their chosen career because somebody wants them to play football for their particular amateur team.

@matt donnellon

Don't think anyone said Mullin should pack up and play for Mayo on here . More annoyance towards the AfL. I'm glad Mullin is doing well and no one can blame him for taking his chances . I just don't like how the AFL come over here to scout the best . Though it is what it Is.

A lot of negativity here about AFL, a number of years ago I went to a number of games in Melbourne and really enjoyed them.
Gaelic football will never be right unless we do something about the hand passing.
It has actually increased in the new rules.

Thousands of Mayo people have left the county and scattered themselves across the globe for better work opportunities and lifestyle choices. I’d hazard a guess some of those Mayo people complaining about the AFL are also living outside the county…look in the mirror hypocrites.

Everyone wants the best players playing for Mayo but there’s more to life than football.

@Jr: Careful when quoting that stat. The average number of hand passes per game is the lowest it has been in the 4 years the GIU have tagged data for:

2025 - 394
2024 - 421
2023 - 450
2022 - 400

What has gone down and I'd imagine you're referencing here is the kickpass:handpass ratio (even including the ~25% of free kicks now resulting in S&Gs rather than kick passes the ratio has jumped up from ~3.4 handpasses per kickpass to >4 handpasses per kickpass).

Kickpasses:
2025 - 90 (~98 including S&Gs)
2024 - 126
2023 - 131
2022 - 120

Personally, I wouldn't be a big fan of the kickpass:handpass ratio as a measure to aspire to. It's a fluffy, non-actionable metric that counts meaningless sideways dinks (intended to have a side run around and tire themselves out) the same as the positive, aggressive and progressive passes (think Brick or Kobe from the weekend with their 50m darts to set up scores) we'd hope to see. With the former the one that'd increase most if rules were made to try and force the latter.

When many people give out about handpassing, what they're really unhappy with is the over-safety & ease of control of possession in those slow, lateral, game-killing phases. The preferable (for me) fix there is finding a more robust and defined tackle that gives the 1v1 defenders a better shot at a turnover. I'd be all for something around that, but sadly still struggle to come up with a wording for it I'd be happy with for myself nevermind one that might find agreement with others.

@Willie Joe I hope this is ok to post .

RIP To Eddie Walsh .a great killala man and hugely involved & respected in Killala gaa and surrounding areas . Great to see loads turned out today for the funeral including the whole of Killala gaa who did a guard of honour . I hope that is ok to post .

If Oisin is getting the money he is reported to get ,he would be a fool not to play Aussie rules,I have been to games in Melbourne great atmosphere I believe that anyone good enough to play professional sport should do so

@You Three

Ah totally understand that . I totally get where your coming from .

I don't blame Mullin one bit . It's more infuriating you know . They are young guys and with oportunities to travel with alot of money sure we would all go for it nearly...

It's more my heart on my sleeve stuff when I talk about AFL . I don't blame Mullin one bit at all .

I agree, I meant to say the All Ireland final.
I stand corrected.

There was a very special Mayo footballer playing on Saturday.
Scored 4 goals without kicking the ball for any of them. Could of had a fifth also.
With all the regrets about Mullin and worrying about Kobe, Ben Holmes is doing amazing things at U17, with little or no fanfare
He moves up to U20 level with Mayo, but his father was turned down for that job.
Maurice Fitzgerald gave Pat Holmes the run around in Croke Park once. He has produced a son more than capable of doing the same thing to others in a few years.

Just hope the anti- Holmes brigade among the county board and incoming Mayo management teams forget their history with the father and work hard to bring this kid through to senior and not push him off to the AFL also.

Mayo football hasn't had a FF with these skills for over 60 years. To see him and Kobe on the same team at U20 level, under the new rules would change the perception of Mayo forwards across the country.

The football played by Westport U17's yesterday would put most senior club teams to shame. Their ability to move the ball forward by foot and their ruthlessness inside the 21 is the opposite of what Mayo and most club teams have been doing for the past 15 years.

Fair play to Westport GAA (and their U17 coaches), they are showing everyone the way forward at the moment (as well as Crossmolinas new generation of U18's).

I had my U8 son with me today and he had me out kicking ball till it got dark wanting to be the next Ben Holmes.

Imagine what could be achieved if we could get the right man in as director of football in Mayo

@Clare absolutely Clare Eddie Walsh was a great Mayo man and a great Killala GAA man he played and was involved at every level for Killala and was at one stage a county board delegate. We wont see his likes again may he rest in peace and get the best bed in Heaven.

@Tirawleybaron Pat Holmes gave Graham Geraghty his fill of it in 96.
And he is spoken of as probably the most complete footballer ever to come out of Meath.
Shame that Pat and John were overlooked vfor the u20 job

Was Kobe eligible for the U20s this year and if so why wasn’t he playing and will he make himself available next year. Surely well able for it, as he’s now playing senior club. He would have made a huge difference to the team.

he was eligible as he's literally playing senior club football. Does anyone know if the westport v knockmore lgfa county final is been streamed anywhere?

@Nephin: No restriction on an u18 player playing 20s. Daithí Butler from that '24 minor side played for our 20s this year (along with Coghill, Mortimer, Beirne, Lydon, McGreal, Dolan & Gilmore in the recent past who'd all have featured as u18s).

You'd imagine Ciarán's coaching background, along with his own playing background with some experience as an underage star, would have had a part in the call there not to join up with the 20s panel (or the 19s), together with the experience of his brother playing underage for Mayo (which had some heavy bumps along the way). No question of the talent, as there wouldn't have been to play as a double minor in '23 (rarer than a 3-year 20, but we still get the odd ones like Mortimer, Lydon, Silke & Duffy from this years 20s setup), so just a decision on what's best for the player in the long term.

Doesn't appear to have hurt his development any.

Thanks TSU. Looks like dad had an input alright.

Call me unbelievably arrogant and selfish, but I resent every minute a Mayo player spends in the land of Oz.

And I resent even more the thought that emerging talent could be snapped up without by your leave from the County Board - without any compensation.

@tsu love your work on here but it’s stretching it an awful lot to say that Mullin and O’Connor were the best 2 players on the Geelong team at the weekend. They definitely were not.
They are role players. They are not premium players in that team. In fact, nearly all the irish players are role players in the AFL. That’s actually one of the reasons they are so attractive to the AFL teams.
There is a salary cap on every team in the league. So in Geelongs case they can’t have 22 players like Jeremy Cameron and Bailey smith or Patrick Dangerfield in their team, because it would cost far too much. For example, the likes of Cameron would be earning at least 5 or 6 times what Oisin and Mark are earning. What Geelong do well is find VALUE. That’s why they are so active in Ireland. They see a competitive advantage in being over here. They want to find players over here that can be paid maybe $200,000 or $300,000 a year but provide them the level of performance of a $500,000 a year or more player. Do that with 3 or 4 players on the team and all of a sudden you free up salary cap space to get another match winner into the club that is worth $1 Million plus a season. That’s what the top players are paid. That is effectively how Geelong got Bailey Smith into their team this year. To make it even more attractive, the AFL allow irish players go on what’s called a Category B rookie list for up to 3 years, and money paid to players on that list is not counted in the salary cap.

Therefore Irish players are basically a free hit for AFL clubs. In an extremely equalised competition where talent is very evenly spread across all clubs, that fine margin could provide the difference to many clubs. Every now and again an irish player moves beyond role player status and becomes a medium tier player on a team (Zach Tuohy would be a good example here, Conor Nash is another and actually Pearce Hanley was too). Oisin is not at that level yet but could reach it in a couple of years and his pay would then increase accordingly. Mark is more established and would probably be paid as a mid tier player at Geelong. The very top players you see dominating each week come almost exclusively from the top 15 or 20 picks in the national draft each year, with an odd exception.
It’s actually very similar to US sports in a lot of ways.
The only irish player that was ever a true premium player in the AFL is Jim Stynes who was an All Australian and won a Brownlow medal (an astonishing achievement we will almost certainly never see again). No other irish player has reached those heights.

@catcol i know of one emerging talent thats going to Oz after his leaving cert and more power to him and his family if thats whats what he wants to do. If anyone should be compensated it should be his parents and club. I hope Mayo doesnt become a feeder county for clubs in OZ but if lads wants to go and are good enough good luck to them. I wouldnt wait around either with a county that hasnt won Sam in 74 years despite appearing in numerous finals

First of our three club championship preview shows - the Intermediate one - is up now on Patreon. Senior and Junior ones are in the works and will follow later.

@Two pointer: A huge difference between Oisín or Mark being among their best players (that wasn't suggested) and being their best players the last day. A day when the team was shockingly poor.

None of the lads mentioned played well in the Grand Final. Talk of their salary or their performances this year (& Bailey was phenomenal this year - himself and Paddy a joy to watch) doesn't change that.

Danger gave a tour de force in the prelim, something the Irish lads couldn't do on their best day. Yet was anonymous in the GF. 10 disposals, no clearances and no goals. In multiple interviews since the GF he's been denying claims he was playing injured or not fully-fit, given how far off his usual standards that performance was.

Cameron again had a solid showing in the prelim, punching all sorts of holes and kicking around plenty of corners. However, the collision with Danger in the 2nd quarter that ultimately left him with a broken arm completely neutered him in this game. And even pre-injury, he'd been struggling to get going.

Even younger lads like Lawson Humphries, Shaun Mannagh and Connor O’Sullivan would all be better all-round ballers than our lads. Clearly. But none got close to their usual levels in the GF. It was a bad day pretty much all over for Geelong.

You're very welcome to disagree with my suggestion they were the best and suggest someone else (Dempsey, Atkins or Holmes the ones in that conversation for me), but things like their form this year or their salary is irrelevant to any conversation like that.

Mark did a really solid job shutting down Rayner & Oisín did a fantastic job shutting down McCluggage (and then Cameron when he got moved to try and better shut down their scoring... in doing so showing just how well he played on McCluggage who took over the game) on a day when most other lads struggled.

I’d agree Mark O’Connor did his job reasonably well on the day and appears to have Rayners number actually, but Oisin had a quieter day (even though the goal was class), but the bottom line is that McLuggage and Cameron were both in contention for man of the match in the end.
Max Holmes was clearly the best Geelong player in my view, followed by Dempsey. But they had a poor day overall and Smith in particular had a nightmare game. No one would be blaming Oisin or Mark for that loss though - their match winners did not show up as you pointed out, and the best players on the field were all from Brisbane (who are scarily good by the way - the AFL have given them far too many concessions and created a monster that’s not dissimilar to the Dublin juggernaut of the last decade, which is pretty ridiculous when you consider it’s supposed to be an equalised sport without inherent advantages to certain teams, unlike GAA).

On a wider point, these young irish lads are only going to continue to go out there to play AFL. I’m hearing its actually another Melbourne based club (not Geelong) that is in pole position for our much discussed latest starlet. I’m not really sure what the solution is to stem the flow at our end to be honest. Every person is different, some will like to, some won’t, but every county will continue to be affected.
A lot come home eventually and have good intercounty careers though.

Two Pointer and TSU - fascinating discussion there. What are you actual opinions on AFL? Is it a quality game, notwithstanding some of the more commercial dimensions?

What could be done is an alternative financial reality put forth tuwards each player independent of the GPA.
The GPA put forth a load of absolute biased reporting around the financial penury of being a GAA player.
The likes of big companies like Port West et Al should be allowed pay big money upfront contacts to young GAA players to help keep them in Ireland.
There's young players have returned from Oz with no more interest in sport and what on the surface looked like depression.
All these young players hear s the positive side.
It's telling that the GPA have done zero to combat AFL poaching. It suits their whole ethos.
Make it tax efficient for companies to do lump sum multi year deals to hire young talent for promotions or sales work etc.

@catcol: Tough question. Very much one of those "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" things. I enjoy it.

I'd personally rank it just ahead of rugby (international - well ahead of club/province). Probably on a par with hurling and a little behind soccer for me. With it well ahead of basketball/NFL or the rest (never really liked any bat/racket sports - where poor hurling suffers a little - never quite figured out why). With Gaelic Football well clear as a preference at the top.

Could well imagine the stop/start nature of uncontested marks rubbing some the wrong way, or if a game gets scrappy and a few too many stoppages (like the Grand Final for periods of the 1st half). Fantastic to watch though when a lad pulls out a great specky (spectacular mark - fielding with the help of a knee off the opponent's shoulder type of thing) or someone puts in a performance like Dangerfield did in the preliminary final it's a joy.

So, like most sports, you'll have some games that are great and others that would have you instantly changing over (tried watching some of the slightly lower grade VFL games at one point... but that was too often a struggle). That said, even sports I wouldn't rank that highly day-to-day like golf/darts/snooker/athletics/boxing can have some absolute classic moments (like Shane the other evening or some of Katie's classic wins), so context can add (or remove) a lot from the occasion too.

All this from someone who'd happily watch random sports I've never heard of before when an Olympics or World Championships rolls around, so wouldn't exactly be picky on knowing all the rules or against randomly picking a side to support in a sporting contest.

@Glorydays, from a Mayo perspective, it’s sad to hear isn’t it.

@Catcol, careful now with that resentment. You’ll get the it’s a free world crew lambasting you for caring too much about Mayo football!!

@Catcol and @Mayonaze

Totally agree with that and AFL sickens me if I'm honest .

It's sickening from a Mayo Supporters point of view that we may be losing yet another talent to the AFL. What I'd say to Mayo Supporters who think this is OK is, do you think we can win a Senior All Ireland with some of our generational talent playing in the AFL? The answer is probably no. When we're all trodding out of Croke Park after another All Ireland loss, maybe the penny will drop then. We simply can't afford to lose our best players, we simply do not produce enough generational talents that can get us over the line. Kerry kept D. Clifford, they're reaping the rewards today.

@Way Out West; that penny should have dropped in 16/17 when arguably our best talent in years was out in Brisbane. As Ger Flanagan said on a recent pod, Mayo simply cannot allow that to happen again (or along those lines) and he’s absolutely right. In fact, Ger nailed it in his comments and I’d strongly recommend anyone who hasn’t tuned into that pod, to do so and listen to that discussion.

Aside from that, Aussie rules football is a dreadful game, brut force and grunt work. Ok, I’ll admit Gaelic Football had gotten pretty grim but the new rules have transformed it. It promotes fast, skilful attacking, front-foot play but also provides an ideal platform for top quality one on one defending. The art of tackling had been largely overshadowed by mass defensive systems which simply crowded out the space for attacking teams. In my opinion, and I had been critical of the game for years, it’s now a brilliant sport and will continue to develop into a really exciting flowing spectacle. Ok, some games at club level still resemble the ‘old game’ but you’ll see less of this over the coming years, as coaching and tactics develop.

But, Aussie rules…I cannot see the attraction with it and using an oval ball. I’d say it’s fairly boring stuff to play in comparison to the new Gaelic Football.

@mayonaze , I'm pretty sure we all know your feelings now at this stage.

@The deel rover, It's good to talk about your feelings! Mayonaze has made very good points on this matter, I agree with his/her viewpoint. We all wants what's best for Mayo Football, losing our best talent is not good for us as a Footballing County. We will continue to fall just short, which is depressing to be honest.

True , but he resorts to calling anyone who didnt agree with his opinion " the its a free world crew " which as far as I am aware, it is .

We're all Mayo Supporters on here, some of us want different things though, which is fine. I just don't want to see us fail again, keeping our best players playing reduces the chances of that.

As a fully paid-up member of the "Free World Crew" (must get in on a T-shirt) I agree that it is sad that we cannot keep hold of our best talent. However, the notion that clubs or anyone else should be compensated when a player leaves is nonsense. There is no contract in place between player and club and, in any event, Football is meant to be an amateur sport. That dynamic can only change when Football starts to become professional and for that to happen there has be be financial transparency. Alas, as we know financial transparency is not the GAA's strong point. Until honesty about money invades the current GAA culture we will continue to fail.

FWC gang member.

Let’s focus our time and energy on the players who are here and committed to playing for Mayo. If someone decides to go abroad to pursue sporting opportunities, that’s entirely their own personal choice and there is nothing we can do about it. What concerns me more is that there are potentially scouts with strong knowledge of the county keeping an eye on our best talent for the Australians. You can’t blame the players for taking an opportunity when it comes their way.

Our Senior and Junior podcast preview shows are now up on Patreon. There's a freebie taster now up too of yesterday's Intermediate preview show and we'll also be making freebie segments available of the Senior and Junior shows as well.

@Ex-Pat ; I’m smiling here at that one! FWC :D …obviously when I said that comment it was meant to be very much ‘tongue in cheek’!!

@Kevin, agree. That definitely is a real concern and more than a little disheartening if anyone Mayo based or connected with the GAA in Mayo is at that.

Theres a lot of debate in here about players going to oz, the one side that are adamant that youre not allowed try and have any influence on a players decision , is quite bizzare , nearly everyone that goes to emigrate will have their family , friends etc have a go at convincing them to stay at home . when it comes to high performance elite type athletes that could possibly make a differnce to the Mayo team , absolutely every effort should be made ten fold , every stone unturned etc etc . If ultimately that player wants to head off no matter what like hanley and mullen , then theres no more can be done . Weve all heard the rumours at this stage but hes only a gasun and it really isnt right to discuss it too much anyway .

‘If Mayo have any ambition of winning anything then that guy needs to be kept in Mayo.’

Any young fellas with the talent and ability to make it in the AFL should be identified at a young age and assigned a minder from State security to ensure that he does not defect. In addition, we should build a Trump Wall around Mayo to keep any supreme athlete inside. The only way for the overambitious to defect will be via a boat from Roonagh to Botany Bay. If they are prepared to undertake that hazardous journey then good luck to them. However, that trip will wreck their S&C and ruin their chances of AFL glory. It's a win-win for all of us.

Ex-Pat for County Board Chairman! Vote No.1

I forgot to add, that quote I posted a few hours ago, was from Aiden Kilcoyne on the most recent Mayo GAA Podcast.

@KevinOConnor I agree totally with you.
Next man up as they say in Kerry.
Lost their 2 midfielders, but brought in 2 that could fetch and they moved immediately after to the full forward line to occupy 2 Donegal defenders.
Coaching is very important, and mind you we got a lot of things right this year.

JR what did we get right this year?
Apart from being fairly solid at the back, the rest was a bit of a car crash IMO.
We tidied up the breeches to be fair, but never exploited the new rules to help our attack. Over & back to bore the opposition into falling asleep was our approach

Some of our man marking was excellent, especially Donnacha McHugh on Murphy.
Also Stephen Coen advanced to the forward line to engage a defender a good while before Kerry used the same tactics in the final.
Difference was our forwards could not utilize the freedom.

I’m with JR on this and I’ll add that I think our defenders have a high ceiling which is vital to their capacity to improve on last season further , coyne also showed well this year . We have a couple of forwards that could prove worthy over the next couple of years to come through . Where I’d like to see us improve on is dirty ball in the middle, we need to up our game their massively , I know it’s not good to use examples of the recent past but a Kev Mcgloughlin and Jason doc type is what I’m on about .

During the league last year all were complaining about our backs but they came good.
Since 96/97 pundits said we hadn't a marque forward but it was mainly defensive lapses that cost us.
A good FB line vital now.