Couldn't even begin to guess who will actually get added... but always fun to throw together a shortlist of who we'd be looking at ourselves.
GK:
Colm Reape (Knockmore) - Addition of experience, offers something a little different with his sweeping. Decent year on restarts without being spectacular. If his head is in it should get real close.
John Vahey (Castleknock) - Hard to know how his work situation might play ball so might not be a viable option, for player or team. On form, he'd be in there. Pinging restarts off left & right boot. Hitting shorts and mids with great accuracy. A couple of fine saves and some great work under pressure for high balls in Castleknock's run so far. On form he'd be the one really pushing Jack.
Luke Jennings (Ballinrobe) - Absolute bomb of a boot so potentially offers something a little different with a direct delivery to forwards that can bypass a 'usual' kick.
In a year when a lot of the shining lights locally are 'more experienced' lads (Rory Byrne, Shane Nallen, Brian Lynskey) not an easy to call a pick for. A lot will depend on what we might hope to do with potentially a more aggressive short or mid restart, but wouldn't expect too much reinventing the wheel there & hard to see anyone but Jack heading into '27 Championship with the #1 jersey at this point. He looks to be growing in confidence with every game.
Def:
Owen Doherty (Kiltane) - Another flying year for Doherty, doing serious work at either end of the park. Gets the hand in, breaks up plays, applies serious pressure & then when he gets ball in hand the real show starts. Easy to see why the frequent comparisons to the likes of Zippy get made.
Luke Jordan (Ballina) - Hard stand out when the team aren't really clicking, but Luke was solid throughout the campaign and looked to be the one really trying to spark the side to life. Big tackles, big hits, big blocks and powerful surging runs out of defence to inspire the lines in front of him. There or there abouts in recent years, with him pushing even harder this year.
Liam Óg Horkan (Garrymore) - Right up there for club player of the year so far (fighting Enda Hession & Niall Hurley imho). Inspirational play at times this year. Positioning, power, aggressive tackling and line breaking runs. Has definitely earned that closer look (would have been in or around the Dev squad in '25, but seems to have gone to another level entirely.
Colin Commins (Garrymore) - Could basically throw down all of the Garrymore defence (or Aghamore) here but Colin probably the one raising the head the highest. In a team managing to keep the tightest defence despite playing multiple favourites to win the title he's been the one putting out so many of the fires on the opposition side.
Nathan Armstrong, Yousif Coghill, Mark Dervan, Conor Beirne, Ethan Lyons, Paul Gilmore, Eoghan McLaughlin, Cathal Keaveney or James Lavelle (or younger lads like Moyles from the 20s) all potentially well in that conversation. A lot will depend on what they feel we're lacking (pace, size, power, height, athleticism, aggression, physicality) to round out a panel for matchups & options rather than a straight X is better than Y.
Mid:
Sean Óg Tighe (Aghamore) - Probably the outstanding midfielder in Senior this year. Would offer that bit more physicality and aerial power than some options.
Liam Donoghue (Kiltane) - More a Ruane or a Flynn than a Thornton or a Tuohy style player, but a strong fielder that can dominate the middle even against bigger matchups & do serious damage pushing forward. Was in the FBD panel last year so the management would have a good read on what he offers, so interesting to see if they feel he's pushed on enough to stake that claim this year.
Potential to lean on more experienced lads like Tom Clarke (made an impact for Knockmore coming home from Galway club ball), Conor Reid (Moy Davitts) or Mikey Murray (Ballina) but with Howard & Thornton already pushing to break into that high fielding role (both hampered last year with unfortunate injuries [contact or niggle rather than anything worryingly recurring] at just the wrong times to slow down potential big breakthroughs) along with last years options mostly pushing hard there I'd not be shocked if we're looking at some of the up and coming 20s talent where we have a lot of tall high fielders to consider & getting a couple in for that slightly earlier touch of Senior (Adam Kelly, Cian May, Cormac O'Malley, Sean Buckley, Andrew Quinn, Josh Moyles, Conor Jordan or young Ben Holmes).
Atk:
Niall Hurley (Claremorris) - A truly outstanding year for Niall. Every side knew he was the danger, every side had a plan or 3 to try and stop him, yet he still managed to put on a show against all of them. His 7 points against 'mullet his lowest return of the Champ, racking up an impressive 39 (3-4-22, with 3-1-18 from play) in his 4 games. You'd wonder what might have happened if he'd young Beirne beside him for more than the 20 odd minutes they managed. Andy often talks of the benefits of having a maverick and he's got all the potential to be a special one.
Joey Holmes (Westport) - Never quite caught fire the way he might have (something you'd say about a few of the Westport lads), but with the height and athleticism he offers he'll be one likely to get the nod for me. Had the year in with Keith & the 20s too, so they'll know what to expect and showed enough in the club, again, to show there's a serious player there.
Diarmuid Coggins (Crossmolina) & Finbar McLaughlin (Westport) - A little disrespectful to merge them, but they both raise so many of the same points it makes sense here. Hard to know whether to tag them as wing backs or wing forwards, both playing that bit deeper for the clubs this year, they're often putting out fires where needed and can do either or both jobs (often at the same time). Electric pace, huge work rates, dangerous delivery forward and the ability to bomb over 2s. A similar kind of role as Fenton Kelly can/does offer us, but each with their own little nuances to their game & the two lads a bit more offensive minded when that adds value for us. In a game where you can never have too much pace, they both offer buckets of it.
Liam Lavin, Anthony Barrett, Ronan Clarke, Zac Collins, Tom O'Flaherty, Eamon Phillips, Jack Melvin, Niall Treacy or Darren Quinn all showing some serious moments throughout the year so you wouldn't question any getting a call, just hard to separate them from a chasing pack of players & nail down a clear spot they'd likely be taking at this point so none there I'd be confident of expecting to push in. (And again a few of the 20s like Oisín Deane, Dylan Flynn, Andrew Quinn, Ben Holmes or even ones that weren't involved last year like Cian May or Dara Flanagan, you wouldn't be shocked to see push with an eye towards the future)
(This is long enough, but doing a potential shortlist for the 20s and it could be twice as long again... and that's before we've even played 21s for a few bolters. A happy complaint to have, though whoever Keith and the lads choose you can say now they'll have some angry folks that a potential superstar wasn't chosen. Some serious talent will [have to] be missing out)
Paddyjoejohntom says:
October 1, 2026 at 9:21 pm
I see the county senior winners have a handy enough route to a Connacht final ( on paper at least)
They go straight through to a semi final against the London winners.
It's Ros. V Sligo and Gal v Leitrim in the 1/4 finals
My Ball says:
October 2, 2026 at 8:54 am
True @Paddyjoejohntom.
Won't be easy from there on though. I often wonder is it much benefit in trying to strengthen your county panel or try new players in the fbd or early league matches when a club goes past connaught final stage . St Brigids probably played in one of the best All Ireland clubs finals ever and had some fantastic footballers but very few were introduced to the Roscommon panel later in the season.
Having said that , would be good to see a Mayo club win a Connaght title again.
Achill75 says:
October 2, 2026 at 12:25 pm
Who will Andy add to the 40 man panel for FBD.Kobe gone and I take it that Robbie probably gone too.Niall Hurley surely top of the list and his brother Dara and Finbarr McLaughlin.Is Mikey Murray worth a call for more depth in Midfield.Luke Jennings for back up Goalkeeper.Liam Horkan another who is worth a look.
catcol says:
October 2, 2026 at 1:10 pm
Achill, re panel additions, what abou?:
Daragh Joyce - seems to be very versatile
The O'Connor guy from Ballagh - did Andy name check him?
One of the Holmes's
My knowledge on the ground is limited. Perhaps TsuDhoNim could add a few?
to win just once says:
October 2, 2026 at 2:41 pm
Perhaps with the year that’s in it the “Mayo of Mayo” could do it and Breaffy could win out. Amazing to think Garrymore won their 6 in an eight year window. They had a really great team then, lots of tussles with Aughamore / Shamrocks who finally defeated them in the final in 1977. Castlebar and Belmullet are at opposite ends of the roll of honour. I am sure Ryan would love to add a county title to everything else this year
TsuDhoNim says:
October 2, 2026 at 4:03 pm
Couldn't even begin to guess who will actually get added... but always fun to throw together a shortlist of who we'd be looking at ourselves.
GK:
Colm Reape (Knockmore) - Addition of experience, offers something a little different with his sweeping. Decent year on restarts without being spectacular. If his head is in it should get real close.
John Vahey (Castleknock) - Hard to know how his work situation might play ball so might not be a viable option, for player or team. On form, he'd be in there. Pinging restarts off left & right boot. Hitting shorts and mids with great accuracy. A couple of fine saves and some great work under pressure for high balls in Castleknock's run so far. On form he'd be the one really pushing Jack.
Luke Jennings (Ballinrobe) - Absolute bomb of a boot so potentially offers something a little different with a direct delivery to forwards that can bypass a 'usual' kick.
In a year when a lot of the shining lights locally are 'more experienced' lads (Rory Byrne, Shane Nallen, Brian Lynskey) not an easy to call a pick for. A lot will depend on what we might hope to do with potentially a more aggressive short or mid restart, but wouldn't expect too much reinventing the wheel there & hard to see anyone but Jack heading into '27 Championship with the #1 jersey at this point. He looks to be growing in confidence with every game.
Def:
Owen Doherty (Kiltane) - Another flying year for Doherty, doing serious work at either end of the park. Gets the hand in, breaks up plays, applies serious pressure & then when he gets ball in hand the real show starts. Easy to see why the frequent comparisons to the likes of Zippy get made.
Luke Jordan (Ballina) - Hard stand out when the team aren't really clicking, but Luke was solid throughout the campaign and looked to be the one really trying to spark the side to life. Big tackles, big hits, big blocks and powerful surging runs out of defence to inspire the lines in front of him. There or there abouts in recent years, with him pushing even harder this year.
Liam Óg Horkan (Garrymore) - Right up there for club player of the year so far (fighting Enda Hession & Niall Hurley imho). Inspirational play at times this year. Positioning, power, aggressive tackling and line breaking runs. Has definitely earned that closer look (would have been in or around the Dev squad in '25, but seems to have gone to another level entirely.
Colin Commins (Garrymore) - Could basically throw down all of the Garrymore defence (or Aghamore) here but Colin probably the one raising the head the highest. In a team managing to keep the tightest defence despite playing multiple favourites to win the title he's been the one putting out so many of the fires on the opposition side.
Nathan Armstrong, Yousif Coghill, Mark Dervan, Conor Beirne, Ethan Lyons, Paul Gilmore, Eoghan McLaughlin, Cathal Keaveney or James Lavelle (or younger lads like Moyles from the 20s) all potentially well in that conversation. A lot will depend on what they feel we're lacking (pace, size, power, height, athleticism, aggression, physicality) to round out a panel for matchups & options rather than a straight X is better than Y.
Mid:
Sean Óg Tighe (Aghamore) - Probably the outstanding midfielder in Senior this year. Would offer that bit more physicality and aerial power than some options.
Liam Donoghue (Kiltane) - More a Ruane or a Flynn than a Thornton or a Tuohy style player, but a strong fielder that can dominate the middle even against bigger matchups & do serious damage pushing forward. Was in the FBD panel last year so the management would have a good read on what he offers, so interesting to see if they feel he's pushed on enough to stake that claim this year.
Potential to lean on more experienced lads like Tom Clarke (made an impact for Knockmore coming home from Galway club ball), Conor Reid (Moy Davitts) or Mikey Murray (Ballina) but with Howard & Thornton already pushing to break into that high fielding role (both hampered last year with unfortunate injuries [contact or niggle rather than anything worryingly recurring] at just the wrong times to slow down potential big breakthroughs) along with last years options mostly pushing hard there I'd not be shocked if we're looking at some of the up and coming 20s talent where we have a lot of tall high fielders to consider & getting a couple in for that slightly earlier touch of Senior (Adam Kelly, Cian May, Cormac O'Malley, Sean Buckley, Andrew Quinn, Josh Moyles, Conor Jordan or young Ben Holmes).
Atk:
Niall Hurley (Claremorris) - A truly outstanding year for Niall. Every side knew he was the danger, every side had a plan or 3 to try and stop him, yet he still managed to put on a show against all of them. His 7 points against 'mullet his lowest return of the Champ, racking up an impressive 39 (3-4-22, with 3-1-18 from play) in his 4 games. You'd wonder what might have happened if he'd young Beirne beside him for more than the 20 odd minutes they managed. Andy often talks of the benefits of having a maverick and he's got all the potential to be a special one.
Joey Holmes (Westport) - Never quite caught fire the way he might have (something you'd say about a few of the Westport lads), but with the height and athleticism he offers he'll be one likely to get the nod for me. Had the year in with Keith & the 20s too, so they'll know what to expect and showed enough in the club, again, to show there's a serious player there.
Diarmuid Coggins (Crossmolina) & Finbar McLaughlin (Westport) - A little disrespectful to merge them, but they both raise so many of the same points it makes sense here. Hard to know whether to tag them as wing backs or wing forwards, both playing that bit deeper for the clubs this year, they're often putting out fires where needed and can do either or both jobs (often at the same time). Electric pace, huge work rates, dangerous delivery forward and the ability to bomb over 2s. A similar kind of role as Fenton Kelly can/does offer us, but each with their own little nuances to their game & the two lads a bit more offensive minded when that adds value for us. In a game where you can never have too much pace, they both offer buckets of it.
Liam Lavin, Anthony Barrett, Ronan Clarke, Zac Collins, Tom O'Flaherty, Eamon Phillips, Jack Melvin, Niall Treacy or Darren Quinn all showing some serious moments throughout the year so you wouldn't question any getting a call, just hard to separate them from a chasing pack of players & nail down a clear spot they'd likely be taking at this point so none there I'd be confident of expecting to push in. (And again a few of the 20s like Oisín Deane, Dylan Flynn, Andrew Quinn, Ben Holmes or even ones that weren't involved last year like Cian May or Dara Flanagan, you wouldn't be shocked to see push with an eye towards the future)
(This is long enough, but doing a potential shortlist for the 20s and it could be twice as long again... and that's before we've even played 21s for a few bolters. A happy complaint to have, though whoever Keith and the lads choose you can say now they'll have some angry folks that a potential superstar wasn't chosen. Some serious talent will [have to] be missing out)
Achill75 says:
October 2, 2026 at 4:14 pm
Whos the best 6ft 2plus midfielder in the County under 22?
From what I have seen of Josh Moyles think hes County standard , good in the air , lots of pace.Would like to see him tried at centre field for Mayo.
catcol says:
October 2, 2026 at 4:58 pm
TSU that is tremendous stuff; you're whetting my appetite. I really love this stuff where the possibilities are endless.
I've noted Hurley (the Hurleys?) Holmes, McLoughlin, and Coggins myself. Coggins seems to have pace to burn.
John Vahey is an interesting one. He played in that charity match when Andy was with Monaghan, and I thought he was terrific, but as you say we already have an All Ireland-winning goalkeeper!
All these guys of course will be busting a gut to catch Andy's eye. The A versus B matches are going to be some fun next year.
Observer2 says:
October 3, 2026 at 7:49 am
Re the Mayo/Kerry match in Saracens in November, a few bits of interest in the 'Irish Examiner '.
It seems that both counties are expected to send over strong panels, but the match itself is unlikely to be 15 a side.
The gate receipts could reach in the region of €1 million, with a charitable involvement in the proceeds.
Admission prices are €40 for standing, with seating priced at €50, €60 and €75.
Anyone here going ?
Samantha Maguire says:
October 3, 2026 at 7:50 am
Anyone have a link for tickets for Kiltane v Islandeady? Not on Mayo Gaa as far as i can see.
TsuDhoNim says:
October 3, 2026 at 2:29 pm
@Samantha Maguire: Those have gone live now.
https://www.universe.com/events/kiltane-v-islandeady-egan-jewellers-intermediate-championship-quarter-fin-tickets-YDJZP1
@Achill75: Tough question.
I'd probably say Kobe (u19) [if you'd include a forward who shouldn't really be playing midfield but can] or Seamie Howard (u21).
But you'd make a case of pros for any of Hugh O'Loughlin (u21), Josh Moyles (u19) or exciting future potential for young Adam Kelly (u18).
Gizmobobs says:
October 3, 2026 at 5:58 pm
Say be 13 a side max, maybe even 11, pitch is tiny as rugby pitch with very small end goals.
Very disappointing first semifinal, result went along what I expected however. Once someone cut off the space for Breaffys 2 pointers and went at them with speed there were always going to be in a spot of bother.
GBXI says:
October 3, 2026 at 8:06 pm
Breaffy so flat, will be bitterly disappointed because they had a team this year that is as good or better than any of the final four. Castlebar as said had their homework done and were much hungrier. I continue to be impressed by John McMonagle - want to see him get lots of league game time.
Supermac says:
October 3, 2026 at 8:47 pm
Really poor show from Breaffy again, yet another championship that opened up for them that they failed to grasp.
Castlebar lesser lights really good with forry the main man but the entire defensive unit very strong.
In other news Akram and John Vahey started for castleknock as they reach only a 2nd sfc final ever
Ontheroad13 says:
October 3, 2026 at 8:58 pm
Thats one diabolical performance from moy davitts tonight, everything that could go wrong did.
My Ball says:
October 3, 2026 at 10:22 pm
@ Ontheroad13, Yes Moy Davitts were poor but didn’t help themselves with poor shot selection and discipline.
Congrats to Ballinrobe on.their win. Would like to see Davitts v Robe final
Ontheroad13 says:
October 3, 2026 at 10:28 pm
A South mayo final would be good, its clear ballinrobe have peaked at the right time.
My Ball says:
October 3, 2026 at 10:51 pm
Kiltane probably see a clear route back to Senior with Moy Davitts out off the way ..
Observer2 says:
October 3, 2026 at 11:02 pm
I thought Bob Tuohy played very well for Mitchels today.