FORMER Mayo midfielder Seamus O’Shea admits it “does not quite sit right with me” that his county could potentially lose three Championship games in-a-row and still win the
All-Ireland.
Just like Tyrone, who beat Mayo in the 2021 All-Ireland decider, the westerners were knocked out of their province early yet could still lose two of their upcoming three group games in the new round-robin campaign and still advance to the next stage.
It was only in 2001, with the introduction of the All-Ireland Qualifiers, that the prospect of a team losing one game and still going on to claim the Sam Maguire Cup became a possibility.
Now, with the introduction of
four-team groups in the All-Ireland series, with three teams qualifying for the knock-out stages, a three-in-a-row of losses wouldn’t technically prevent a team from winning Sam.
In Tyrone’s case, if they were to lose their opening two group games against Galway and Armagh, but then beat Westmeath, they would still be expected to finish third and to qualify for an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final.
As for Mayo, they could potentially lose to All-Ireland holders Kerry this Saturday in Killarney, and slip up to Mickey Harte’s Leinster finalists Louth in round two and potentially advance too.
“I am sure it will adapt over the next number of years, but my immediate reaction is that it does feel a little flat,” he said.
“I guess now because there is the safety net for teams, and the fact that you could lose those three games on the trot and win one and still be through to a preliminary quarter-final, it does not quite sit right with me,” said O’Shea.
“As a player, when you go back to our games against Kerry in 2014 and 2017, those were huge games to play in because that safety net wasn’t there and there was a nervousness around the place because you knew that you were going home and the season was over if you didn’t win.
“Right now, it feels like a month away before we get to those kinds of atmospheres because the games don’t matter as much for the first couple of weeks.
“I’ll defer to the powers that be in terms of what they want to do. I guess as a player, for me, I enjoyed the older format where it was knock-out quarter-finals.
“But I appreciate there wasn’t as many games and when I look back on my career, some of those years we went through the Qualifiers were really enjoyable because we had games week on week and they all really mattered.
“There is something special about getting to Croke Park on an All-Ireland quarter-final weekend when it was that way and you knew that your season was over in the next couple of hours if you didn’t perform.”
Despite that safety net, there is a pressure on Mayo to turn in a strong performance against Kerry having been surprisingly dumped out of the Connacht Championship.
Manager Kevin McStay has options to tweak his team, particularly in attack where veteran star Cillian O’Connor is pushing for a recall. The two-time Allstar and all-time top scorer in the Championship has only started one game this year due to various injuries, but made a strong impact when he came on against Roscommon almost six weeks
ago.
“For me, I think we need him back in the team when he’s fully fit,” said O’Shea of his former colleague.
“When you have a forward line with Cillian, Tommy Conroy and Ryan O’Donoghue, there are plenty of scores there and it gives them plenty of opportunities to stay in any game. Hopefully we can have all those guys fit and available over the next couple of weeks.
“When he [O’Connor] came on against Roscommon, he kicked a huge score when they badly needed it. I understand that they are trying to balance things in the forward line, there is a lot of talent there, but I just think we would be doing awful well if we were able to start a game without Cillian O’Connor playing.
“I thought he looked sharp in the time he did get during the League, he played really well against Roscommon when he got a full game so I think if he can stay injury free, he is too important to not be starting. We will see what happens but I would like to see him in from the start.”
Seamus O’Shea was speaking at the launch of the Electric Ireland GAA Minor Championships
