Great listen, very interesting to get insights from someone who has played and coached. I felt like he was holding back a little from what he truly wished to say in relation to the county board.

The work of Boyler with the u-19s will make a huge difference for us in years to come.

His comment on Horan going back to basics was telling. It drives me daft when I see a simple hand pass or twenty yard kick pass under no pressure not played direct to chest, one of those slow looping balls that invites pressure. Those basic skills can never be focused on enough. We certainly never did when I was growing up. Maybe that’s why I never made it. But it’s ok, I’m now happy out in Melbourne as that is where my career has taken me. I can’t recommend it here enough if someone gets the chance. Now back to watching the AFL.

On the whole AFL debate...
Once a player has a definite decision made to move to the AFL, I think the vast majority of Mayo supporters will wish the player well. The disagreements arrive when it comes to the approach taken in the period before the player makes the decision. We have a deep rooted culture in the county of talking the place down while talking places overseas up.
If a player is consistently being told by his clubmates/neighbours/friends 'you'd be mad not to go' that's undoubtedly going to have an impact on the player.
While everything is far from perfect in this country (particularly housing) there are lots of positives too. Ireland consistently scores high in the quality of life index, work-life balance index, life expectancy etc. That's before we mention the opportunity to live near your family/friends/community that you were brought up in and represent them on the sporting fields. The alternative is to represent an AFL club that you've most likely barely heard of. Sure you might make a bit more money over there but as others have said, there's more to life than money.
I just wonder is there anybody in the county board presenting these sort of arguments to a player before they make the decision?
MayoMayo I'm glad you're enjoying life in Melbourne and that you couldn't recommend it enough. I actually lived in Melbourne myself for a while and one of the best decisions I ever made was to come home. I couldn't recommend my decision enough. I just feel we hear a lot about the recommendation put forward by yourself and not enough about the alternative.

Please forget about the AFL. It is not really relevant – you cannot prohibit fellows from travelling and availing of high financial reward and you can’t skull-drag them back to play for Mayo. What the County Board could perhaps do is have a specialist high powered sub-Committee dealing with suitable career opportunities available in Ireland for quality players considering joining the AFL. At least then they would have an option to consider but there could never-ever be any undue coercion.
There were great Posts from Two Pointer and JP in earlier sections and they were very right as regards a lot of points. However, my view is Mayo need far more than a few extra good players (mid-fielders/forwards) to achieve success. We need long term planning as well as short term solutions. We now need to reset- mend fences across the board where it is possible and try and get everyone pulling the one way as regards the fortunes of Mayo football. Of course we have to dream the dream/success; of course we have to believe it is utterly possible and the Managers major role is to get that message firmly into the heads of the lads wearing the Green above the Red Jersey.
But it is not all entirely down to the players – astute Management is a huge factor. A team is a blend, a mix rather like the multiple ingredients in making a good cake, (I baked one during Covid). Each player in the dressing room is different, some are outgoing, brash and flamboyant, some are quiet and introverted; some are middle of the road and have a private personal self-motivation. “Each player has a different reaction “to the big” occasion and all heads must be got right and focused.
Each guy needs a different handling and approach to get the very best out of them. That’s what good Management is all about – there is no one size that fits all. Also individual players (and as a collective) have to believe that their Management has total belief in their ability to deliver victory. That is hugely important.
Mayo has had reasonably good quality Managers in the past 30 plus years, John O Mahoney, R.I.P, John Maughan and James Horan. That said I firmly believe if Mayo had a Jim Galvin, Mick O’ Dwyer, Mickie Hart or Sean Boylan in our corner, undoubtedly success would have been ours on occasions.
Whoever the new Manager is - I sincerely hope:
1) He has the ability to choose competent people with him and most importantly he has awareness of the necessity to LISTEN to them. There should be no room for perpetual “Yes Men” on his backroom team.
2) The new Manager must have the ability to “think on his hooves”! Vitally important! How often have we seen Mayo Managers make pre-ordained changes that didn’t work out? A Manager has to be able to read the game, see the wood from the trees and make the astute and timely changes required for success. The bench can be as important as the starting 15.
3) He has to be a motivator extreme – he has to “rough-up” one guy, hug another, tongue lash some and put a reassuring arm around the shoulders of others. Not easy to possess such Man Management skills but I believe that is actually what is required and what the great Managers have.
4) He has to be able to manfully stand up to the County Board and indeed the bureaucrats in Croke Park when required. He has to have a professional approach to the local media and an ongoing warm rapport with the teeming masses of Mayo supporters who love their County and their yearning want to win a Sam Maguire. Tiocaigh ar lá – We are Mayo.

Does anyone find Aiden Henry's angle on the next Mayo Manager quite strange?

For weeks he has used lines like
"The preferred choice was Armagh All-Ireland winner and former manager of Sligo, Tony McEntee" without anyinsight or justification of the comment. And then follows it up by saying "has seen his popularity within the county grow day by day since the Mayo senior job became vacant".

And ask any County player that was coached by McEntee and you won't find many saying he should get the job.

He won promotion to Div 3. So did Andy Moran.
Didn't win any significant Championship game in Connacht. Failed to seriously make an impact on the Tailteann Cup. If were looking at outside management this time around we can do a hell of a lot better.

Trying to fathom that journalists game for a few years now and I find him quite peculiar , I can never work out his game , does he spin (make it up ) for the good of mayo football or the bad , I dunno .

We don't actually need to talk about Mayo football

Just take out Liam Horans strategic plan - binned by the county board.
Give it a read and update it for 2025

Take the FAI player development plan 2015 (drafted post John Delaney) and apply it to our Games (the principles within it are excellent). I note that has also been binned by the new FAI board.

Nothing surer in Irish Iife, draft a good plan on how to change things and everyone will argue against change resulting in nothing happening.

One guarantee is Mayo GAA will stumble along in hope and never try fix the 75 year old problems by doing something different.

Not useless in Mayo - let's keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result.

I always believed and will always believe we can win it, but one thing i think has been overlooked was Mcstay's comment after the league final defeat, went along the lines of "system of play doesn't matter if we're failing on the basics" which we did in that game and subsequent one's. The Clifford one took the headlines but for me that was our failure this year, got in great position's but failed at the lat hurdle, don't know how to fix that

I think we're more likely to win Sam as a 1 in 3 final odds in a lucky year than ever be the best team in the country.
This then promotes different thinking and innovation.
Example.
You have two good 11 jersey candidates. Your mgmt team has ran the numbers and knows the 11 jersey is critical. You formulate a plan where one player comes on for the other even though both could fill a different jersey starting.
Similar, you have sub man markers that come in.
Not aiming to be the best overall starting 15 in the country.
Aiming to have a 21 on match day that's 1 in 3 shot in a lucky year. That's my high level thoughts on eventually winning Sam.

Coming back to this pod, Keith Higgins speaks really well and like the references to there being no bullshit with likes of Chris Barrett and Seamus OShea in their playing days, Higgins is refreshingly like that too.

From a present day perspective it was fascinating to hear the work Hugh OLoughlin has done to get himself in a physical shape to play u20s. Who better to learn from on how to get in shape than Colm Boyle. I didn’t realise there isn’t a consistent S&C programme running through U17-U20. This needs to be addressed asap.

He seemed to suggest the 2024 U20 team suffered from a lack of S&C development which partly explains last years struggles. My sense at that time in 2024 was they didn’t pick enough physically strong players

On his own playing days, I love when you have players who have links to the past and present. Higgins career spanned playing with lads from the 1996 team (Nallen, Brady) to the likely 2026 team (Coen, Durcan). His point around his perspective on the fear of winning being an issue is insightful too.

There’s a number of the 2012-2017 players been on the media circuit over the years (Boyle, Keegan, COC, Andy). I’d be getting Higgins on more regularly

[Deleted].

Soc51 - please refrain from posting rumours about who's on what management ticket here, otherwise this place quickly becomes Rumour BS HQ, which I've no interest in facilitating.

Question, where exactly would you get a copy of that 2015 report? Is it readily available online somewhere?

@Moyside: I'm guessing you mean the (2011) Strategic Action Plan?

Your best bet would be to start with the Q&A document, which will link you to the plan itself while also adding a little more context and some valuable summary information.

https://www.mft.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/MayoGAAStratActionPlan-QandA.pdf

I read a piece today from the all Ireland final programme of 1951 , soul destroying to read they were asking how come mayo only had two all Ireland wins to their name , I kid you not .

And that even predates that cursed 'curse'....ho hum!

Many thanks TsuDhonim...it was 2011 alright, christ, doesn't seem that long ago, written after the 2010 catastrophe that was Longford...let's guess, nothing enacted and here we still are...

I'd find myself agreeing with a lot of what Sean Hallinan has to say in relation to the qualities the new manager must have going forward. Right now I'd say player moral in the county is quite low. They trained hard, trusted the coaching staff in their Tactical planning and yet did not reach the last 12 and regressed as individuals. So yes they neèd to be picked up from the floor, remodelled and ready to go again. But I expect once player management respect is established, we will see a turn around. Not going to be easy though

In relation to S&C - I posted on the same previously but was shut down.

There is no formal S&C or Nutrition for any underage team in Mayo. The County Board WILL NOT pay for it.

People wonder why we're slipping behind other counties.

“
“There is no formal S&C or Nutrition for any underage team in Mayo. The County Board WILL NOT pay for it.”

Really , that is shocking , surely there’s nutrition though , i honestly thought that was a given at county teams underage included . Are you sure ?

@ Moyside

The FAI plan is here
https://www.stfrancisfc1958.ie/images/coaching/FAI_Player_Development_Plan.pdf

THey have a new pathways plan also - where they recognise all kids should play multiple sports, advise coaches to embrace that fact and to work with the other main sports not to flog underage kids to death and have them all with ACL operations by 19.

As of Mayo S&C - its in the strategic plan 2011 - not enacted. Doesn't stop the "school of excellence" running the s#!t out of 60 14/15 year olds the day after a club/soccer/rugby match though.

Below is a sobering article for lads who are singing the praises of upcoming minors players
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2025/0722/1524581-minor-gaelic-football-players-senior-grade-development-progression/
As it turns out only 10-12% of any minor team will make it as senior player for the following reasons:
1. Was physically bigger than others at minor - lost that edge moving into senior
2. Was fast and skillfull minor - got overpowered in Senior as he didnt develop physically
3. Was burnt out after 5 years of development squads
4. Over trained while still growing, serios operations affected development at crucial time

A tale of issues well known in Mayo. So dont get too excited about S&C for U18's - it is likley wasted time and money. Teach them the skills and love of the game and dont burn them out. Thats all you really need to produce senior players.

@Tirawleybaron

I'm afraid you're contradicting yourself and bit there.

Proper, guided S&C with a focus on proper movement and strength development massively reduces injury, both contact injuries and load related injuries.

So investment in S&C at underage level is highly important to make sure players don't fall away in the transition to adult sport.

@SeanBurke - unfortunately its true. Underage teams in Mayo are viewed as financial black holes for the reasons outlined in the article above - very few make it so why bother spending money on it. The reality is it hampers those who do make it, and the financial cost of paying for avoidable injuries isn't weighed properly against investing it resources.

10-12% of minors playing senior but in a 3 year window thats a full 15 players - all of which will be behind their counterparts in other counties. Is it any wonder young fellas opt for AFL or rugby or soccer? You can be sure its not the case in Kerry, Tyrone, Dublin.

We have the occasional 'freaks' that make the transition quickly (Aido, Oisin Mullin etc) but that gap is getting bigger and bigger (from underage to senior).

There's a reason we're looking for new coaching teams from top to bottom, we're fighting to give our young fellas the best possible chance. Unfortunately you're not dealing with progressive thinkers. Liam Horan's binned Strategic Plan told us as much 14 years ago.

Did West Kerry say that Kerry have a full time S and C coach that coordinates the S and C for all kerry teams.
When their minor manager was interviewed after the minor all Ireland final this year - he said these kerry minor players have the right attitude and when they have the right attitude they will be looked after in Kerry.
A lot of us inside and outside the county can see that each year we have been falling further behind the top teams - but it still hasn't hit home at county board level yet.

Most counties that have their house in order will try and put in a Head of Athletic Development or Head of S&C, whatever title you put on it.

That person, who usually has a lot of experience in training load and periodization across various age grades, oversees the wider S&C programme.

This usually entails screening and hiring other S&C coaches to work directly with the development team. These coaches report back to the HOAD and he tweaks the programme and advises on the best solution for each team/group/age grade.

When done correctly there is then a long term, periodized approach that carries an U14 all the way through to senior, getting the correct load, recovery, development and education along each step.

The result? A player joining the senior group with good strength levels ready for the physical side of senior football, good conditioning levels for the intensity of senior football, good mechanics to ensure the body can tolerate the jump up in physicality and intensity, and a good understanding of how to develop further. All of this whilst allowing naturally growth in all areas over time in the senior group.

It is done across the world in various sports by people who know what they are doing.

We have, and have had, for the last 10 years the finest of S&C coaches in Mayo, operating within Mayo GAA and outside. No one had been given the time or the financial backing to implement such a programme. Conor Finn tried his best but was badly let down by County Board.

The result? Conor is no longer involved, his brother is doing it for Leitrim, his protege Sean Boyle is doing it for Sligo and we're scratching our heads.

So what do we do this year? Hire a coach based in the UK to fly in twice a week to work with the Senior Football team and only the senior football team, at significant cost.

We alienate our own, treat them like we're doing them a favour and watch them thrive elsewhere.

Follow the breadcrumbs and you might just find your way to the gingerbread house and its occupants.

S and C hasnt cost Mayo All Irelands, its not been able to have forwards confident and comfortable to score of either foot.We rarely ever play a natural left footed forward in the 10 and 13 positions, we dont even have a recognised left footed free taker and we think we should be winning All Irelands.McStay had 3 years and couldnt even find one ,ended up playing natural midfielders in the Forwards.

@Sam Og, would you not say having an absence of S&C would be a hindrance for players/team ?

Cillian said recently when he was playing in the 2012 final, he didn’t have the physical presence to hold up the ball as a target man at 14. He was only 20 and if you watch back that game, he looked like a boy v men.

In more recent times Tommy Conroy in the 2020 in the All Ireland v Dublin, I thought he was blotted out of the game that night. He came back 8 months later and was bursting through tackles after physically developing rapidly in that time.

As for the no natural left footed player at 10 or 13, I think there is 1 coming who will play that role. I’m not convinced there are lads good enough out there that are being overlooked at present.

It hasn't no - but done you think we're preventing those players from achieving their potential by not investing in them?

The mythical left footed forwards. If they are so rare is it not more damning that we aren't doing everything possible to unearth them?

Its lazy analysis to just throw out a like like that. All Irelands are won because teams and counties have produced teams that are greater than the sum of their parts - with thousands of contributing factors. If we're banking on just having the best 15 players in the country then it will take a lot longer than 75 years for it to fall into place.

And whilst we're at it - to humour such a simple take on things:

We also don't invest nearly enough in coaching to make sure we produce two footed scoring forwards every year.

It's almost as if WE AREN'T INVESTING IN THE FUTURE AT ALL.

The argument has been had 100000 times over the last decade - remember when Dublins team of Terminators, backed by countless coaches in schools, clubs etc beat us time and again and the GAA world discovered the massive coaching disparity between Dublin and the rest? This isn't new information. I really wish people would wake up to what needs to be done and stop whit the what aboutisms that keep us in stuck in the past

We're just waiting for the lottery numbers to come in, but we're just too tight to buy a ticket

Which is why it will take a maverick from outside the fold to make the swingeing changes needed. Mayo will probably sit comfortably in division 1 ad infinitum, but never reach the promised land until the regime changes. They say someone incompetent at their job doesn't want to take leave for fear they'll be exposed.

I for one would prefer to have our young players concentrate on skills against conditioning.
Time enough for that in their twenties or when they enter the senior panel.
I remember Colm Boyle bouncing Comer around the field one year and Comer doing the same to Boyle the following year.
Concentrate on skills and mindset for young lads.

There is a necessary SnC for young players when they are developing. Most Irish people have a proportion of muscle fibres that through training can be changed to be more fast twitch like.
Fast twitch fibres are critical for explosive pace.
Now, the sports science is known on this in two main aspects.
1. You can convert more of these fibres if training for speed young. There's a development window that will close on this as the athlete gets older.

2. If you do training that converts those fibres to slow twitch you can't train them back to slow twitch.
So basically you cannot ignore SnC in underage . There's an athletic transformation window that closes with time.

Typo, if you train those fibres to slow twitch they are stuck as slow twitch for endurance only.

So much of Sean Hallinan' s post which I agree with; summarises the qualities that county manager needs.
I think the key point he and other posters highlight in terms of player development is that in order for county management teams to succeed the players which make the county panels need to be 99.9% there in terms of skills, fitness and S&C.
It is an enormous job getting the best football out of a panel of footballers, developing a style& tactics to suit their strengths and preparing game plans and focussing on oppositions. That's the key management role.
What dismays me sometimes is that some think the county managers role is to develop the young players, as if they're only 50% the finished article when they make the county panel. That can't be an expectation of county manager, it just means they are not being set up for success. We need to focus more on underage development and broaden the numbers coming through at senior level who have mastered the basic skills and craft of football. Model our underage programmes on Kerry, Dublin,Tyrone etc. In that way, the management team's main role is to get all the football that's in the panel knitted together for game days.

Higgins clearly had a lot more to say about the county board but refrained from saying it. He said they should be looking after admin and others should be making the serious decisions. Until Mayo get the right people at helm we’ll struggle and I’m short we simply aren’t maximising our potential.

Higgins obviously agrees too with the idea of hubs around the schools. Have been saying it for years, Mayo must put more emphasis at schools level. It will pay dividends.

No adequate S&C programme . No coherent plans. No linkage. It’s awfully shoddy. Is it any wonder we win f€ck all!??

Fair play to the lads for this pod series, but I’d urge them and their guests not to shy away from harsh truths.

It’s an utter disgrace that the massive work done by Liam Horan was essentially binned.

An awful load of shite on here atm from people declaring the management requirement attributes to S&C to two footed players. Jack OC falls well short of the attributes list posted but he’s the best manager at the moment. It could be his way or the highway but the players buy into it partly because of the success and showing his tactical innovation also gives them loyalty. On 2 footed players, the Sunday game was lauding how many scores we were getting on the weaker side a few years back. The O Connors and Kevin Mc I think were to the fore. If you look at Kerry the have DC and (Dylan Geaney in the last few games). Paudie gets 1/3 or 1/4 off his right but always within 30m. Sean OS kicked a beauty 2 pointer in off his left the QF and has ability to kick some but no other Kerry player kicks many. Likewise Murphy probably 80%+ off his right. Mattie does it for us as does Ryan. Cillian OC no problem off his left.
Claims around S&C off the mark too, absolutely no way we’re slow. It’s more than S&C it’s sports science and I’ve no doubt our crew are well up on it. I can handle criticism of the lack of breakout pace and some players reluctant to risk so they take the back pass option
slowing it down. Whether that’s the management or players remains to be seen.
If I was to complain about the last 3 years it would be on slow evolution to tactics (the blanket followed by the new rules) m and not unearthing enough new players. The 2025 kickout strategy has been poor as has been goalie execution and not enough ravaging of the breaks. In reality few teams compete for clean ball in the middle. Cein Darcy was Galway’s best fielder and he plays wing forward. Joe OC Kerry’s best in 25 caught most of his on the wing much like Darcy. The lack of effort to find a no 2 goalie is another criticism. Rochford showed some innovation in our last 2 games but the fans were lost by then. I think we didn’t have the same talent pool for a few years so it’s good we’re still in Div 1 to be competitive in spring.
As far as I’m concerned underage success is of little importance in the context of building skill to a high level. S&C can be gained at any stage from 16 to 22. Skills camps can be made into fun competition.
There’s a tendency to think Kerry are miles ahead but they were 7 up near the end after being closed to 4 on a few occasions. Donegal didn’t perform (a lot due to Kerry playing so well) but still had an outside chance with 10 left. What Kerry did was play with the maturity of winners despite some fairly new lads. It’s more mindset. No Kerry midfielder is as dominant as David Moran was but they won midfield easily in the 1st half.

JP, that’s it exactly. S&C has been fairly ignored in Mayo at all underage levels up until very, very recently. Even with that, it’s basic stuff and with no coordination with any other teams/age groups etc.

Many of us here, especially those of us who follow underage closely, have been crying out for years at this stage that Mayo are far behind in S&C, a crucial component in preparing a county for success and unfortunately, we are often met by people, saying that focus should solely be on skills development and that S&C can be detrimental to this. Pure nonsense. It’s just ignorance really. They are both hugely important facets of the sport now. Armagh steamrolled our minors last year in the AISF. It was akin to men against boys at times and anyone who saw that game couldn’t but have been impressed with the Ulster boys skills. As good, if not better.

Keith Higgins said Mayo should have, need to have a dedicated S&C director. It’s overdue. Someone who oversees all teams (closely monitoring over years) and has a team with individuals assigned to specific underage teams.

Just looking at secondary schools for Mayo Senior championship starters since 2012, 4 teams dominate Mayo Senior teams, St Gerald’s with (18 players) top of the pile followed by St Muredachs with 10 and St Colmans 9 and Rice College 8 .You just wonder why St Geralds are not winning Hogan Cup Finals producing that many Mayo Senior Inter County footballers.I would like to hear an interview with the Senior team managers of Geralds ,Colmans and Rice college on the new Mayo pod with Edwin of what can be done to compete with the Kerry and top Ulster schools.Colmans and Geralds who have both won Connacht Titles in the last 2 years but lost to St Pats Maghera and Omagh CBS badly and Rice College losing St Ronans Lurgan in the 2018 Final . Do St Geralds and Rice college have access to a few pitches like they have in St Colmans Claremorris or and have they access to gym facilities, what is the coaching like from 1st year to Senior.Also another thing I would like to hear is from an ex player of Muredachs why have they such a poor tradition and is football taken serious in the school, they are operating at B schools level at the moment, I would also like to hear more about Keith Higgins suggestion of these schools been used as hubs to develop players in the County.

Mayo schools championship starters since 2012
St Geralds 18
St Muredachs 10
St Colmans 9
Rice College 8
Ballyhaunis 4 K.Higgins,A.Freeman Boland,J.Coyne,
St Nathys 4 McBrian, A.Moran, D.Drake,C.Hanley
Belmullet 4 2 O'Donoghues,C.Barrett,M.Sweeney
Ballinrobe 3 D.Vaughan, T.Conroy, O.Mullin
Gortnor Abbey 3 C.Loftus, J Carr, C.Carolan
Foxford 3 Reape,McHale, Orme
Balla 2 J.Gibbons, B.Walsh
Davitt College 2 A.Dillon, D.O'Connor
Kiltimagh 1 Brendan Harrison
Swinford 1 Aidan Campbell
Charlestown 1 Tom Parsons
St Jarlaths 1.C.Mortimer
St Attractas 1 Paul Towey
Headford 1 Mark Ronaldson

St Gearlds players since 2012
1. Robbie Hennelly
2. Tom Cunniffe
3. Richie Feeney
4. Aidan O’Shea
5. Seamus O’Shea
6. Cillian O’Connor
7. Barry Moran
8. Patrick Durcan
9. Conor O’Shea
10. Danny Kirby
11. James Durcan
12. Matthew Ruane
13. Michael Plunkett
14. Rory Byrne
15. Donnacha McHugh
16. Bob Tuohy
17. Davitt Neary
18. Sean Morahan

Kerry have invested and supported from county board level their schools development. In particular their strongest A level schools.
At this point good footballers choose to go to these schools for that purpose.

Slightly off topic but does anyone have the dates/weekend for the quarter semi and final in the senior championship?

Mortified. Best of luck trying to chase those dates down. Its an annual bug bear of mine trying to find them so I can book time off work.

The usual response I get from Machale park is 'arragh dont be worrying about them, we'll announce them later in the year ,sure dont we have to play 3 rounds of championship yet " !

The problem with senior schools competitions is that schools in north are larger and specialising in gaelic football. If we can produce a few quality players in our senior colleges we are doing well. St Colmans achievements this year can not be undersetimated

Ontheditch
Thats another BS excuse
Dingle secondary school won 2 Hogan cups with 222 boys and made up of just 2 clubs.Kerry schools are just way better coached and prepared than Mayo schools, leave out Colmans and Geralds and Rice college and theres very few that do well.

Schools importance is overrated, many schools now don't put in the hours outside of school time like they used to.
Talking to players they obviously enjoy playing schools, but the club is still no.1, but school gets them out of school so bonus.
So IMO focus needs to be put into clubs as that's where you'd get more bang for your buck. Unfortunately, rather than support clubs, the noise around our neck that is McHale park means instead of investing in clubs, the CB sucks resources from the clubs through levies.
That won't change anytime soon if we horse millions into the bog in Bohola and the undersized fairy fort pitch behind McHale Park.

I disagree a colleges match is of a much higher level then a club underage grade match , you have a mix of the best of 3 or 6 clubs combined.Some schools like Colmans train 4 times a week during the school year while in a C or D colleges school like Swinford you are lucky to get out training once a week,Them players are falling behind no matter how good they are.
Another thing is if you have a very good underage footballer in a small club playing in a lower grade/division there relying on a good school to expose them to a higher level of football.
Limerick hurling and Kerry have proved that schools are the best way to bring the standard up throughout the County.

@Achill75. It's not as simple as that. Schools are committed to a physical education program and a sport for all policy, aimed at keeping as many students as possible to a fit and healthy lifestyle. Schools are not exclusively GAA nurseries unless you have a committed member of staff. Besides clubs have kids for the summer months when kids are free of academic.
I agree with gizmobobs, the focus is on clubs not Schools. The expertise is with the clubs, that's where to invest

@achill75. Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne are not typical winner of Hogan Cup, their 2 wins were 10 and 11 years ago, exceptional achievements from a small base of boys. St Brendan's Killarney won it twice in (800 boys) and 5 of the last 6 winners are from North.
The other winner being Naas CBS, all male school 1200 boys.
The days of Gaelic football schools, certainly in the west, are long gone. Invest in clubs imo. Jarlaths were the last team to win it, 23 years ago.

I think we need to start picking forwards that can score instead of workhorses.
Neary and Dawson a good start.
Trying to convert midfielders to forwards is not working for us.
Bring Jordan back to midfield.

Counties planning to knock Kerry of their perch need to find a 'David clifford' of their own for starters. That's setting the bar very high. Tightly marked, won the ball and over the bar under pressure in a flash for his two pointers

Fair play to whoever in Colmans is giving up their free time to the cause, thats the exception rather than the rule if you talk to kids who are in school, and what they think of schools games in their priority of competitions.

Yes absolutely Gizmobobs. I don't think posters appreciate the achievement of colmans getting to final. It's a runner up spot that I wouldn't have any problem accepting and they are connacht champions, a coveted medal in its own right.
It would be nice to see claremorris following through and producing a few county footballers. But credit to teachers/mentors who oversee the football