Mayo GAA Discussion - Part 4

PARlance wrote: »

HornBalls

Horanball I thought it was? Assume you missed the 'a'?

If anyone is planning on building some optimism before Saturday, I'd skip the Second Captains podcast this week haha. Even Andy Moran was struggling to come up with any scenario in which we could win.

Not your typical Mayo GAA song, :pac: love this. Anyone able to embed it for me?

https://youtu.be/ukg3xv9r4Ko

The songs and tales of four rambunctious boys from Mayo currently residing in Galway.

STRAIGHTPOUR
Four noisy boys from the west of Ireland
Punk/Grunge with a Guinness head

Coillte_Bhoy wrote: »

Not your typical Mayo GAA song, :pac: love this. Anyone able to embed it for me?

https://youtu.be/ukg3xv9r4Ko

The songs and tales of four rambunctious boys from Mayo currently residing in Galway.

STRAIGHTPOUR
Four noisy boys from the west of Ireland
Punk/Grunge with a Guinness head

I made it to two minutes

Thats a terrible song

WesternZulu wrote: »

I liked it too but can't see it getting played on MidWest any time soon!

PressRun wrote: »

If anyone is planning on building some optimism before Saturday, I'd skip the Second Captains podcast this week haha. Even Andy Moran was struggling to come up with any scenario in which we could win.

Any link to that podcast?

Can't find it anywhere.

seligehgit wrote: »

Any link to that podcast?

Can't find it anywhere.

Are you a subscriber? You need to be subscribed to listen, afaik. They send an email out with the new episodes as soon as they go up, should have gone out this morning.

Starting from the back, I think we all know Dublin are going to press Clarke on his kickouts. Interestingly though, Cavan had a lot of success on their own kickout by having runners move into space and by having (most of the time) a keeper that could accurately pick a man out. I don't know if they'd afford Clarke the same spaces but it could be something worth exploring.

It's hard to see how our usual tactic of getting to the 45 or D and passing laterally will do us much good this time. Against Cavan, Dublin surrounded the D and had a solid line 30 to 40 yards out from goal. That said, the ability for the likes of Connor Loftus and Diarmuid O'Connor to take long range shots will be useful as Dublin gave up a few opportunities for Cavan to take points from the 45.

Another option that saw success for the Ulster champions was running at the Dublin defence. Having players come up and taking the ball off the shoulder at speed created pockets behind that wall that let them take shots. With the likes of McLaughlin and Durcan running up from the halfback line, it could be a good opportunity to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Con O'Callaghan may have worn 14 on his back in the semi-final, but if he spent 14 minutes at full forward, I'd be surprised. He spent a lot of time out along the 45 as a target for a pass to build the Dublin attack, and even dropped back as an option for some of Cluxton's kickouts. While Chris Barrett may be named at fullback on Saturday, I imagine it would be a different man tasked with keeping track of O'Callaghan as he roams out.

Speaking of number 14's, 6' 4" Aidan O'Shea has been targeted with a few high balls in to him during the championship, but it could be the 5'6" stature of Eoin Murchan that prevents Mayo employing that tactic in the final. When Thomas Galligan was the target of the high ball in the semi-final, Murchan dropped back as a sweeper in the box in case the Cavan man claimed the ball and turned for goal. While Murchan wasn't challenged, it would be no surprise to see him fulfill the same role even if it means leaving Tommy Conroy open for a few seconds.

The other roamer in that forward 6, Ciaran Kilkenny, would be an interesting one to see how he's dealt with. Very good at running and linking play but not an out and out scoring threat in my eyes. Coen would probably be the man he lines up with directly but I can't see him being the man to mark him.

The Dublin halfback line will be a challenge to deal with, especially if they all continue to drive forward like they did (especially McDaid). Kevin and Diarmuid will be doing a lot of backtracking to follow their men, but it could open up a lot of green grass if Mayo can keep up the tackling and force some turnovers. Having pace in midfield and Kevin and Diarmuid to pick those passes to Loftus/Ruane or even further up the pitch would be quite a tasty proposition. Cavan found success on breaking that initial Dublin press and got into good positions, although slow decision making and a hesitation to shoot cost them points.

The Ah Ref podcast has been excellent this week, four episodes released so far. The former P. R.O one was good, interesting to hear what it's like behind the scenes. They had Enda Varley on as well, another good listen.

The Supporter wrote: »

Dublin are on a 40 match unbeaten run in the Championship. They are 9/2 favorites with the bookies for Saturday. Ciaran Whelan was talking up Mayo on Sunday Game, Alan Brogan, Pillar Caffrey and Dessie Farrell have come out in the media also talking up Mayo. Why do no former Mayo Players in the Media talk up Dublin?

It's hardly needed. Nobody is saying they realistically think we'll win.

Panrich wrote: »

It shows where Dublin are mentally now. In 2016 and 2017 ex players were all going on complaining about Keegan and the antics he got up to and how Mayo were cynical. That was a sign that they were a bit worried going in to those games. They no longer have SHOW any concerns.

:rolleyes:

The Supporter wrote: »

Dublin are on a 40 match unbeaten run in the Championship. They are 9/2 favorites with the bookies for Saturday. Ciaran Whelan was talking up Mayo on Sunday Game, Alan Brogan, Pillar Caffrey and Dessie Farrell have come out in the media also talking up Mayo. Why do no former Mayo Players in the Media talk up Dublin?

Why on earth would they? Nobody needs to talk them up, we know what they are