Going to be the weirdest Mayo v Dublin game in years considering all the big personnel missing from both sides.

I'd say Mayo are actually going out with the stronger more experienced playing deck but when you go through absentees/retirements on both sides both teams will be almost unrecognisable, definite chance for others to step up

For Mayo (and I'm speculating on some of these), AOS, Conroy out. The crossmolina lads (Flynn and Loftus) probably won't feature for a few rounds you would think, Durcan still out, then the likes of swanny, cillian etc who have stepped away

On the Dublin side they will be missing basically the whole spine of their recognised first team.
Fenton and James Mc retires leaves them needing a brand new midfield. You would expect the cuala lads Con, PoCB and Fitzsimons will get a few weeks off, then it appears to be radio silence on whether the likes of cluxton, mccaffrey etc back in the fold.

Impossible to guess the team but I'll have a stab based on rumours of friendlies etc

Reape
Coyne
McBrien
McHugh

Hession
Ivers
Eoghan mcL

Carney
Frank irwin

Touhy
Diarmuid
Finbar McL

Cian mchale
ROD
Towey

....missed Callinan, he will be in there somewhere too if he is over his county championship injuries

Have serious doubts about Jack Coyne at corner back he was roasted against Derry from what I remember.

with all the absentees it should give a few lads chances to step up. It will also give us a good idea of where the squad is at to I think. The first 2 games may just give us a good outlook to the year ahead

@Supermac: Yeah, Sam is back in contention. Played Sigerson for UCD last week.

A couple in that starting lineup I'd be surprised to see fit to start just yet - Coyne, Tuohy & DO'C.

I'd be guessing a few (or all) of Brick, EO'D, Coen & Ruane likely starters with a couple from Reid, Neary, Boland, Duffy, & Thornton pushing for a spot in the middle 8.

Sam og - I would be in the same boat, thought his man got the better off him in a few games last year and with the new rules with 3 left back one on one defenders will be even more important.

@tsudhonim

Yeah I imagine Reid and Neary in particular are very close and by what we know have been used prominently in friendlies, I would fear for Boland again this year tbh. While he definitely has the 2pt kicking range I suspect McStay will be favouring more athletic guys around that middle 8, a lot more running needed this year. So I'd say guys like Reid, neary, flynn, carney, the mclaughlins etc all ahead of him in queue when it comes to the crunch.

I've not seen enough from Diarmuid Duffy yet tbh but management obviously like the look of him

@Supermac, yes it's a weird feeling ahead of Saturdays game, I'm not sure what to expect or what the Mayo team line-up will be like, but I am also looking forward to seeing the new Rules in operation.

Think Kevin, quote was " I think if someone gives you the statistics on the two-pointer, I think it’s 0.2 on average per game. It’s kind of negligible." after the Monaghan Match. Don't think he correct, think whoever has good long range shooter will go along way in winning games, and maybe Speed and Athleticism are going to be critical going forward. Can see a lot more injuries in all county panels. So we going need a deep well

Yes , hopefully we can see new faces in the league that will add to the championship panel.
See Paddy Power has us at 16/1 (8th position) to win the All Ireland.
Maybe they're right but still think we are a top 6 team come championship

TSU, say not far off, of those mentioned I think:
Brickenden, E. O’Donoghue, Coen, McBrien, Ruane, Reid, Neary, Boland started the last day v Westmeath.
Seemed be opting for size up front to support the middle third about 4 of the 6 forwards were midfield types from what I gather.

I felt Gizmo that we lacked physicality against Monaghan. We need fellows who can win their ball.

We might be a bit wiser after Saturday but I fear McStay and his selectors are not taking the new rules seriously at all. If he thinks the new two pointers are only going to be negligible and not impact games - he would want to think again. There was no incentive to take shots from outside the arc last year as there was no bonus. But now the bonus is very real and I'm sure the top teams are planning and practicing to get there shooters into place for these two pointers.

South mayo exile, agree. Based on feedback of U20 challenge game, Kildare made hay with wind in first half with two pointers. When had lead built up was harder to break then down in second half.
So all sorts of things will be a factor this year, who to play if playing with wind etc.

First team prediction of the new year.

Reape
Brickenden McBrien Hession
McHugh Callinan McLaughlin
Carney Ruane
D McHale Irwin Boland
C McHale R O'Donoghue Towey

I'm not sure if Darren McHale is fit. No body has mentioned him and he's a player management seem to really like, who hasn't had too many opportunities to play in Croke Park.

Very uncertain about the half forward line though. There are so many young lads in the panel that can play in that area or midfield that you would be disappointed if there wasn't at least one of them flying.

Not as bullish as I was when I thought we would have the Crossmolina lads and Touhy. If we play well, and we have been starting the league well under this management, we can win this. Mayo by two.

@FrostTHammer.
I'm a big fan of Darren McHale , think new rules will suit him as he's a heads up player and can also score from play , bit of bite to him too.
We might see 4 /5 changes to the team for each league match .
Not confident about beating the Dubs but hoping for a good performance and new lads to do well .
Be good to see a decent crowd from Mayo at it although I know the timing might not suit everyone

Hello All,

Unable to attend the Dublin game at the weekend. If anybody would like a lower cusack ticket for €15 let me know. Can transfer ticket / use revolut.

Thanks

Regarding the BLACK CARD,

It just doesn't work in terms of punishing a team for cynical play.

I believe a team should be deducted the value of a goal (so -4 with the new rules) if any one of their players receive a black card.

For example if a team are winning by 3 or 4 points (based on new rules) and the opposing team are having what may be their one last attack and needing a goal no one will drag them down knowing the implication of -4 points. If there is no points deduction penalty they everybody will drag a player down in that type of scenario late on.

This will also mean referres will have to be more certain on the black decsion but at the end of all the players know the implication on points deduction.

What are people's opinion on this?

@JasonN180: The 4 point goal proposed motion was removed before congress voted, so those are still 3.

The biggest issue with the black card (ignoring the narrowness of application which will hopefully improve with the new wording - though still a little prescriptive for my tastes and I'd leave it more open to potentially apply to any cynical act if deemed appropriate) is a common failure to implement it at all rather than it not being harsh enough when it is implemented.

Making the punishment harsher is more likely to exacerbate that problem, IMHO. So I'd not be overly keen on that tweak.

The new punishments around dangerous head high tackles, new rules around black cards for a wider range of offences and new rules around dissent should see frees in general more punishing for sides than has been the case for years. I'd expect we'll see a different approach, with far fewer fouls (or at least dramatically fewer intentional ones) than we'd be used to.

Could McStay at least at this stage announce his panel for league.

Apologies TsuDhoNim,

The main aim from my perspective is to stop players making a cynical foul late on. Having a -3 point implication stops cynical fouls and the biggest issue late pull downs. It makes for more of a chance of some great runs and goals to level or win a game. That's what we all like to see. We don't get that in Gaelic at the moment.

Culmore - Unlikley, it will be the same aa every other year and we should know who is in the panel based on pictures we see online over the next few weeks.

Starting team that beat Dublin in the league last year

Colm Reape
Jack Coyne, Rory Brickenden, Sam Callinan;
Paddy Durcan, David McBrien, Eoghan McLaughlin;
Jordan Flynn, Jack Carney
Conor Reid, Fergal Boland, Bob Tuohy
Aidan O’Shea, Paul Towey, Ryan O’Donoghue

Durcan,Flynn,O'Shea are three that would be playing this weekend anyway any other?

@Tony Freeman: I can imagine there might be some kind of push from HQ around this. Kildare, Leitrim, Waterford, Tipp, London, Limerick & Carlow have all released league panels now. So something new happening there.

It was fascinating to see Kildare share their development panel (~26 members) along with the NFL panel (~37). First time I've seen that level of detail.