Vote of confidence in a leaky back line.

Why not try coen at 3. As far as i know he got one proper go at it against donegal 3 years ago and never again

Weakest team to go out against Galway in a league corner championship game in a long time..it could be our biggest loss to them for a while..

Nailed it :)
As if that team will start

Why oh why do we only release the first 15 and not the panel. I think it is disrespectful to supporters and the players themselves. Why the secrecy? Is it only ourselves and Dublin that do it this way anymore? The vast majority seem to include the 26 in their graphic or whatever. We've been at it for years. Very frustrating.

Doubt that team will start ( as we never tend to play named teams ) but it's not a bad team, I don't get all the negativity, see all scores we got against the dubs and bar the early scores we were good, the loose marking of Buglar was poor and that's on Matty and Kelly so doubt both will start maybe hopefully Jordan be good to start .

On Coen at fullback all ill say is lads, you need pace and tons of pace to play in the new rules fullback lines. Fullback line required faster lads than any other line now.

At least Galway forward 's will have plenty space to go attacking, cannot believe the very same set up again.

Still playing lads in positions they are not suited to .well all we can do is hope for the best

Pace is needed in every line.

Agree keep the faith but until GAA introduce rules and stiff fines, nothing will change.
I would like to see Flynn at mid or 11 but we've every chance of pulling off a win.
We need to see some urgency in our breakaway and our performance in last quarter will be interesting.
Sideline dynamics will also throw some light on whose calling the shots. McStay needs to earn his corm...

We just keep making the same mistakes soft goal loads of wides lateral passing taking off guys that are playing well fast forward to 26 and new management.

Not a chance of thar team starting.
Wait till Sunday evening to start giving out

I don’t think pace is the all important factor. If you read the game well, which coen does, he could thrive. It may take some adjusting but we need a leader in the fullback line with experience

The GAA should mandate counties to name the 26.

It's the height of disrespect to lads who are in the squad and yet are not mentioned.
If nothing else other than their families pride.

As for dummy teams in the league what utter BS.

These dummy teams are a load of manure.
Name the team and panel.
Ffs it's a league game.
No need for all the smoke and mirrors.
They don't themselves any favours

https://x.com/Galway_GAA/status/1885431372065759330?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Galway team announced, quite a few big names on the bench

Galway team

Gleeson
McGrath
Fitzgerald
O'Flaherty
McHugh
Daly
Kelly
Conroy
McDaid
Sweeney
O'Laoi
D'Arcy
O'Curraoin
Tierney
S O'Neill

Subs

Flaherty
Glynn
Molloy
Silke
J O'Neill
Maher
O'Conghaile
Finnerty
Costello
Walsh
Heaney

Galway will win it with two pointers
It really does not suit us and I think it suits their team more than any in the country !
If that rule stays then it’s gonna be a long summer and winter for those who live on the border like myself :D

Very strong Galway panel. Don't know why the media aren't pursuing the issue of not naming 26 man panel but fair play to Galway.
It should be a great experience for whatever newbies start for Mayo, let's hope we get an improvement from last week..

Good to see David McBrien there and glad Paul Towey has a chance to start.

Agree very strong Galway team compared to ours.

Always felt we would struggle with the first games. Though as I said the young ones played really well & surprised me v Dubs in periods. You never know we may still come good but don't have high hopes for it with our full deck available yes but it is a big ask for this mayo team to beat Galways strongest nearly..

So hoping we show some promise again and giving the guys like Towey, Neary game time and not get a hammering I will be happy even though it's always crap to loose to the neighbours.

You never know we could pull off a surprise.. you just never know what mayo will turn up on the day..

Cian Hernon, Jack Glynn, Liam Silke, John Maher, Shane Walsh, Damien Comer, Rob Finnerty all certain starters for Galway not playing Clare so I don’t see how that could be viewed as Galways strongest line up.

@Big Mike fair enough.

But on paper compared to our line up ( if that's actually our actual team..)

Ye have a much stronger team even jf it's not your strongest.

No excuses on either side before a ball is kicked. 26 v 26. Mayo at home, great opportunity to go 1 up before a championship meeting

Galway have built up a very strong squad. Strong bench they have on Sunday and no sign of Damien Comer, Cian Hernon or Peter Cooke yet. 3 players who could make their starting 15. That said I'm not even sure if Cooke is involved this year.

@Mac: No, from all said around Galway it sounds like Cooke isn't back around the panel this year.

That said, you've still got Comer, Mulkerrin, Cunningham, Culhane, Egan & McCabe (& McLaughlin out injured in the warm up for the Armagh match, along with a few more of the young lads looking to push through) to add to that 26. Plenty of depth there, alright.

Kevin McStay and management really need a win. This could be a real struggle. Surely Joyce will want to twist the knife

The extreme mood swings of Mayo supporters are still in evidence.
Last week was a mixed bag - the defensive line was too deep I thought, there was too much lateral passing at times,some straightforward chances wasted but we also scored 1-07 without reply and showed some excellent, intricate forward play.
Its a strong Galway team named, but we hammered them in the league last year and it probably stood to them in the long run as they blooded new players.
I think a wait and see approach for the first couple of rounds of this league is needed - let a few new fellas get a decent run and see what they can offer.
Having said all that, if the approach is still over-cautious after round 4, we'll be left behind and it will be hard to see where/how we're progressing.

Mayo at home , fresh and fit , only lost by a point last year in championship, hammered us in the league .
Mayo by 2

Looked again at the first half from last week. We really hit a purple patch in the second half quarter, and if we can repeat that, nobody will relish taking us on. Neary looks very strong.

Ata boy Catcol, thought from reading this earlier I'd watched a different game.
We've enough to beat dour galway , just go for it but how much better we will be with Eoghan Mac and Flynn.
Hopefully Diarmuid and Conor Loftus are available are their peak powers if so this team is capable if alot of things.

Reape as an attacking goalie is up there with top 3 in country bar two obvious lads .
Pace in fullbackline, ballers in halfbacks when at full power and so dynamic and linebrekarrs in conor, mcbrien and eoghan.
Power in flynn and another midfield
Accuracy in boland from distance , diarmuid/ruane power and then new age Michael Donnellans in Neary or Niall Coggins real line breakers, pace, athletes, hardy lads and finishing ability and then fullforward line towey and ROD provide Accuracy, personally either of mchales more dynamic than towey but let's see how it goes and then aido or Frank irwin. Jesresy is irwins to loose untill big man comes back

@Tuamstar If Galway who are only missing Comer from their strongest 26 don't win against Mayo down on a number of starters it's time to starting worrying what this year and championship will bring for the Tribesmen.

Although not overly concerned about relegation, would rather avoid it. Will be in big trouble if we lose on Sunday and looking at the two teams, I am not filled with confidence. Our defence overall looks suspect and we hav'nt the forward power to overcome conceding a big score. I have daid many times that Brickenden is a pretty decent footballer, but nobody will ever convince me that he is good enough to play full-back-I think he is more suited to the half-backs or midfield and he could be worth a try in either of these positions.

2 years ago. He went all out strong in the league and burned out by June. Obviously a different approach this year. Might be no harm. Let's see what happens.

The Galway love in is ripe as ever. Time they got a good humbling

Not a very inspiring line up. Coen still playing… ROD was poor last week and needs a big game. Cillian O Connor would be ideal with the two point arc. It’s on McStay why he’s not there. The fact that he’s not retired says it all.

Stephen Coen is not a full back. He's not sharp enough and he's not a man marker type player.
Mayo need to change mindset towards pacey man markers in the full backline.

I agree JP ,we have a good FB let's build around him.
Hessian for one corner.
Coyne had a poor year last year.
In the new game it in one of the most important lines on the field.

Hession did really well v Dubs considering he has been unlucky with injuries..

When Hession is at full fitness he is a starter every time.

Eoin O'Donoghue is a better corner back than a lot that have been tried there. I just eye test know this from watching him over the years. No one who has been tried there has done of his club and Sigerson track record. Sean O'Shea did not enjoy at all been man marked by EOD in Sigerson. He's got the right mindset, he's chippy and he's big enough and quick enough to mark up to around 6'1".
Jack Coyne David McBrien Eoin O'Donoghue is my preferred full backline for this year.
Eoin is 29 this year, perfect age to play well as a corner for a few more years.

I'd also like to see EO'D making one of the cb positions his own JP but he didn't appear to quite have the sharpness back on the cameos we've seen of him on his return from travels.
Hopefully this was just due to him going away to live life a bit and he can recapture his past form.
I always liked the aggression he showed in the tackle, even if he could be prone to overstepping the mark,as in last year's club championship.
Hess can do a job in the corner but I'd prefer to see him getting more of a licence to drive forward from hb.
Anyway best of luck to Mayo tomorrow,we definitely need to target winning our home games.

I hope that team starts for us, if they get off to a better start than last week improve their play around the arc (bit more direct and quicker on the shot). I think we'll win this one and McStay and the players will definitely want to. 4-5pt win....

Is the attacking corner back as needed now? Isn't it overlapping unnecessarily with a role players 5-12 can do.
You're over complicating the 3 man back then also.

No faith in this management team, they seem to have a love in with Stephen Coen.watch back the 58th minute to see him get skinned for pace for Sean Buglers point, while Sharoize and E'OD are left on the bench.On that performance the last day he shouldnt be starting tomorrow.

I have alot of time for eoin o donohue. Tidy efficient back. I recall a few years a go when he was playing sigerson for galway giving sean o shea the kerry player a proper lesson. Hope he gets some playing time.

Really corner backs are needed now, men that can field a ball over their heads, tackle hard and good basic kick and punch passers. They should be very rearly be leaving their own half of field.

All about the two pointers . It’s going to be huge

If yer against the wind in the first half and they have long range shooters.... yer gooshed

Tuning into Donegal Dublin for the second half and it's a good game

Solo and Go is the big innovation.

The way results have went tonight, we really need to win tomorrow or we will be under massive pressure after only 2 rounds of the league.

One thing to take away from today. We need to find big physical men. Absolute dogs of men. Same physical attributes as David McBrein. Donegal are absolute animals of men. And Dublin tonight looked like they were up for a physical battle. I’m just not sure our panel is physically strong enough. Galway, Armagh, Donegal are all big strong teams with men who can kick a ball 60 yards down a field. For me, if we don’t strengthen up, on a hard surface you could see the likes of Donegal run straight through is. Time will tell but tonight wouldn’t fill many mayo supporters with confidence

Hello for 2025.
Who knows about tomorrow, I was unimpressed with us against Armagh but we won so another win would give us a chance to avoid last year's battle. Best team suited to these new rules based on their kicking in last year's semi against us is Donegal. I see they bate the Dubs tonight. We will see how it goes tomorrow, enjoy the match

Donegal were good but then again where they good or are Dubs suffering atm..

We only lost to Dubs by 2 points and were missing alot of our main guys and yet Donegal only beat Dubs by 4 points.. And they are massive favourites for sam..

So it will be really interesting to see how we go when we have our full deck back.

For tommorow I am still nervous as just feel we are missing to many starters.

Really feel it is Galways to loose to be honest.. Unless our young ones pull off a surprise!

Who are massive favs for Sam ? Massive favs indicates odds on and short odds at that , Donegal or Dublin aren’t even favs never mind odds on .

@Sean Burke all I keep hearing in the media and that are Donegal are one of the favourites..

They did reach the semis in fairness to Donegal last year in fairness. More then what we did.

@Sean Burke Dubs are actually still 2nd favourites according to paddy power and Donegal in at 4th.. Soo.. They are well in the mix.

@Clare in our case, come championship our team will line out very different. It seems Dessie is using the league to give some of the younger guys game time. I think the way teams are lining out for this year's league with the new rules, it'll be very hard to tell where anyone is until the business end of the championship.

@Hill16 yeah exactly totally agree..

I think ye will be well in there despite the reitrements.

I still think that we will come good come championship to with players back.

Definetly would not write Dubs off at all.

Espcially after Cuala winning & Con on fire..

@Hill16

I think ye are suffering atm due to no Con as resting after final win he is some player for ye.

Sorry for double comments!

No bother Clare you’re dead right

@Sean Burke ah thanks.. I am more concerned we don't get a hammering tommorow if I am honest! : /

Enjoyed both games.
Much faster.
Solo and Go is great.
Teams learning quickly not to talk to Ref or give ball back.
Proposal of 4 for goal was probably right as 2 pointers give the team with a big wind a great advantage.
It is only the league, so need to be careful how we look at teams.

Big test tomorrow for us strong Galway panel but we’re well capable at home ,not noing our full 26 as many have said already is fierce annoying don’t no why we have to keep it under wraps, but as every single year the league takes on a life of its own evident from last year Derry were all Ireland contenders after the 3rd round and ran out of steam it is so unpredictable as we seen tonight in results so far , teams at this stage of the year going through different blocks of training with mixes of newbies and above all with the different rules so if we win or lose tomorrow emotions need to be put in check the championship is what it’s all about, yes to see some positives as in defensive structure and and a game plan develop as the league goes on is what we want to see and we really have to stay up because slipping into division 2 is a bear pit and will only get more competitive

Difficult challenge v Galway but we should relish it Again I see that non playing Mayo players are better than those who start, Cillian, Eoin o D and Akrim getting mentioned of late Form is hard to figure out in early stages of league., Galway were too good for Armagh last week who in turn hammered Tyrone tonight, who themselves were too good for Derry last week. It’s a competitive league and every point is hard earned.

I get we’re under strength and in some state of transition but I don’t understand the low expectations when it comes to playing Galway. They’ve been as negative and defensive as anyone since Joyce came in 5 years ago. They’ve beaten us twice in 9 games in that time - both in Connacht by 1 point. We on the other hand have absolutely hockeyed them a couple of times and ended their season on 3 occasions! Chin up lads, we’re well able for them!

Not sure the dub fans are being realistic at all about their squad. The team that lined out against Donegal will not see McCaffrey or Mannion or Fitzsimons or probably Small senior returning for the championship.
Midfield seems to be the crucial area with these new rules. I'd hope 3 wins would keep mayo up but they'll be hard fought. I'm already resigned to Ulster says yes to Sam.

Be interesting to see how Coen goes today after a really poor display last week on Sean Bugler.

@Ever the optimist it's not that we are not being realistic about the squad. There are big changes and it's not to say I think we will win Sam, but the squad will be massively different come the championship. While it's sad to lose them players, we have some nice new players that will with experience hopefully come good. We have the likes of young Luke Breathnach, who is a big talent. Then the Cuala contingent of O' Cofaigh Byrne, Duffy, McMorrow, and the 2 O' Callaghans to come back into the fold. Again I'm not sure about winning it, but I think we will at full strength give anyone a game on their day.

@Windy City

They've also made 2 of the last 3 finals whereas our last two quarter final appearances we have been on the wrong end of absolute hammerings. They've also won the last 3 connachts. There's a lot of ways to swing statistics.

At the end of the day it's a league game and a competition nobody really wants to win . It won't be the be all and end all

So being forth favourites at 6/1 makes Donegal massive favourites for Sam .we must have entered the twilight zone