Mayo GAA Discussion Part 2

Deleted User wrote:

Very near the end of the fight, i think they had a hold of each others jersey, then he gave two uppercuts to the jaw. Didn't appear to have too much effect .

Fair enough, I don't doubt that it happened, just surprised I didn't see it.. I may have taken my eyes off it at that stage. But I was right in the front row and had BJK right in my eyeline for most of it, hence my surprise. I had muck from Donnacha Walsh's boot fly onto my lap at one stage, as someone flung him by the jersey.

Kerry should have been out of sight in the first half.
Our ability to win ball bar Andy is very worrying .
Our build-up play from midfield lack composure hence the amount of turnover ball .
I'm not worrying about the back six as that will remedy itself . It's the front six and lack of management that will undue is again later .
Had Kerry not lost Geaney and had Odonohue, them their 3 pints talley in the second half would have been 10 and probably fAir.
My only hope for the league is to have our mid table secure and get to experiment on Irwin and others upfront.

PressRun wrote:

There are some commitment/discipline issues there, from what I've heard. Some too fond of thr beer and some others are simply not ready.

What do you have from it now 3/4 players ? That's about the best you can hope for I think. Plus some lads need the time alright about 23 or so when the body bulks up.

RD10 wrote: »

we have plenty of good backs, its up front that really needs to be improved on if we're going to be in with a chance later on in the year.
I'd like to see patrick durkan tried out in the half forwards. He's a direct runner, pace to burn and can score. worth a try!

Two of last years u21 forwards have already had game time in the league in Boland and DOC. It's inside forwards we really need though. Irwin got a few runs in FBD but I'm not sure if he has the pace. Reape is playing with the U 21 again so unlikely to get a chance. In the longer term the likes of O Donaghue from Belmullet looks promising.

The Mayo support last night was unbelievable. It made me proud. I hope the players felt it too.

Blackjack wrote: »

Some of the ones that have featured this year and some of them last year as well that I expect will get some game time on the senior panel

O'Connor
Irwin
Loftus
Hall
Boland
Plunkett
Coen
O'Donoghue

Others that may have featured but have not seen much of:
Reape
Kenny

And one I don't think will feature this year but certainly will in the future is Shairoze Akram.

I'd add Matthew Ruane and Seamus Cunniffe to the latter list as both are still u21 this year but have looked nailed on senior material if they have the hunger.

Panrich wrote: »

I'd add Matthew Ruane and Seamus Cunniffe to the latter list as both are still u21 this year but have looked nailed on senior material if they have the hunger.

Agreed about Ruane. Cunniffe I would need to see more of to form an opinion to be honest. I've seen him play but he may not have stood out as much as the others.

It was a strange sort of contest that could be viewed through the prism of a possible all ireland semi final match up looming further down the track.

Before talking about our lads it appears that Kerry are motoring along nicely with a seamless transition of their many talented minors and under 21s into the first team.With the absentee Croke lads,late absentee James O Donoghue and the only brief cameo of Paul Geaney(a lot of the Kerry players appear to having issues with their hamstrings).I was immensely impressed with them in first half.Their kickpassing and interplay was poetry in motion.It was alarming how easily they cut through our defence like a knife through butter.Very impressed with Jack Barry and Jack Savage in that first half.Kerry should have been well and truly out of sight after the first half,a ten point lead would scarcely have flattered them,David Clarke’s penalty save was crucial.Defensively there are weaknesses to be exploited in this Kerry team,(Shane Enright’s absence would be a huge loss to any team) with Cillian O Connor’s below par freetaking keeping us in touch.Dublin’s three in a row coronation is’nt the foregone outcome many predict.

Our performance in the first half was very disappointing,off the pace,sloppy hand and kickpassing with little in the way of an outlet up front.Andy Moran performed miracles up front considering how isolated he was in the first half.He is such a clever player with his skillset and game intelligence more than compensating for any loss of pace.He gave Mark Griffin a torrid time throughout the contest.Our second half performance was a significant step up in intensity yet we continue to rely on Moran and O Connor for any sort of penetration.We are not scoring sufficiently from play and are having to work far too hard for same.It is disappointing that we failed to take any of our goal chances and that as yet that some of the new lads have not stepped up.Perhaps one is expecting too much.Donie Newcombe was given a bit of a run around in the first half.It is hard to see David Drake breaking into the half back line and Paddy Durkan is wasted playing so deep.Fergal Boland’s footpassing is top notch,Conor O Shea is a very hard worker but needs to be contributing more on the scoreboard.Evan Regan needs to start developing on his promise,he appears to have a tendency to be a tad impetuous in temperament…silly black card.Stephen Coen is likely to be pushing hard for a starting position come championship.He appears to have many of the attributes suited to a top class centre back.Shane Nally did very well during his brief cameo.It is great to see Stephen Rochford introducing this relatively new talent into the mix during the league….Danny Kirby,Eoin O Donoghue and the others mentioned.

Looking forward to the Roscommon game a hell of a lot more now that we’ve two points on the board.

Liam Irwin would want to get the finger out if he's going to get his chance. I'd have serious question marks over him, both in terms of his playing style and his attitude.

Panrich wrote: »

It would be a crying shame if he didn't make it through lack of application as he has all the physical presence that we are missing close to goal and like Andy seems to be cute enough to be in the right place when a goal chance is on. He is not blessed with much pace but then neither is Dean Rock.

I think pace is an issue with him alright. On Parkinson's 'the gaa hour', he listed out a few players from mayos U21 team (Irwin was one) that played in the FBD this year. His point was they were pretty much all dropped for players like freeman and regan once league started. Wouldn't really fill those players with confidence.

For me, after last night's game and after Roscommon's result against Donegal, we need to be careful going into the next one. Roscommon will be desperate for the win, so no room for complacency.

Based on last night's game, Clarke is going well, though his long range kickouts are still fairly dodgy. He needs to work on this. We will be in bother later in the year with his kickouts if/when teams push up on us.

I really would like to see Cillian closer to goal, tbh. He is all over the place at the moment and given the lack of options up front, I think it would be handy to get him back into scoring goals and whatnot.

Donal Vaughan was running around like a headless chicken again last night.

The back line were cut open rather easily last night, which is worrying. We need Keegan, Cafferky and Harrison back.

Stephen Coen is worth persisting with, but I don't know if he'll keep his starting place when the squad returns to full strength. Same for Donie Newcombe.

Not sure what's going to happen with Freeman and Regan. That Freeman didn't get a go last night might be worrying for his future on the panel. What do people think about Jason Doherty's prospects this year?

PressRun wrote: »

For me, after last night's game and after Roscommon's result against Donegal, we need to be careful going into the next one. Roscommon will be desperate for the win, so no room for complacency.

Based on last night's game, Clarke is going well, though his long range kickouts are still fairly dodgy. He needs to work on this. We will be in bother later in the year with his kickouts if/when teams push up on us.

I really would like to see Cillian closer to goal, tbh. He is all over the place at the moment and given the lack of options up front, I think it would be handy to get him back into scoring goals and whatnot.

Donal Vaughan was running around like a headless chicken again last night.

The back line were cut open rather easily last night, which is worrying. We need Keegan, Cafferky and Harrison back.

Stephen Coen is worth persisting with, but I don't know if he'll keep his starting place when the squad returns to full strength. Same for Donie Newcombe.

Not sure what's going to happen with Freeman and Regan. That Freeman didn't get a go last night might be worrying for his future on the panel. What do people think about Jason Doherty's prospects this year?

Doherty has being rubbish for a long time now he's had plenty of chances same with freeman

Blackjack wrote: »

Agree with the above. I heard he celebrated the under 21 win a fair bit but appears to have settled a bit now. He needs time and experience. He does not have speed on his side and one thing we are not short of is slow forwards so he'll have to show his scoring ability to displace anyone from the current section.

As for Doherty, I'd have him a had of Freeman. Freeman is turning into this mythical forward that improves each time he doesn't play. Feeney seemed to have a similar aura about him.
By the same token Doherty is falling in my estimation but he does put in a lot of hard work but does not add as much as I'd like to the scoresheet. The problem is who do we have to take his place and do the role that he does.

I definitely believe Jason Doherty has regressed as a player,he still has a ferocious workrate and is physically well capable of holding his own but he simply doesn't trouble the scoreboard enough.

Not sure that mythological stature attaches to Alan Freeman any longer,that largely arose after the fall out of the 2013 All Ireland final.I think it's at this stage well established he's never quite siezed the opportunities afforded to him in the interim.