GAA Column: Championship week is upon us here in Mayo

It's hard to believe we're a few days out from the start of the Mayo Club Football Championship. 

There's something strange about this time of year for this columnist. You have to try and be honest and forthcoming with your thoughts to give this paper the respect it deserves, but you're also trying to balance a siege mentality and give nothing away. 

Thankfully I'm a bit longer in the tooth to believe all that now. I was never one to believe too strongly in the theory that what is said to the media before a game will have a huge bearing on what happens on the field. If you believe it does, it’s more than likely deflection. 

My career is coming to an end quicker than I'd like to think, so if I don't know how to deal with big games, distractions and all that at this stage, I'm hopeless. Either way, here we go.

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Wide Open Senior Championship

The senior championship is as wide open as ever this year. There's no doubt about it. Teams with pace and athleticism are going to go far. That's what the game demands now.

More hard running than ever. More one-on-one defending than ever. As a career-long half back turned full back, I'm loving the new game. 

Loving the one-on-one defending, loving the demands of being comfortable on the back foot but having to be willing to put your marker on it too. You get to mark some great players and learn a lot about yourself in the process.

The Top Three

From the off at senior, I'll put my stall out on Ballina, Castlebar Mitchels and Breaffy as the top three in Senior. Why? They have pace. They have big men around the middle to win primary ball. And they have forwards who score.

People are tending to look past the importance of good defenders right now, but I'm convinced defenders win championships. Even more so with these new rules. That's why I have Mitchels and Ballina as my top two. Mitchels have frightening talent depth. Four inter-county seniors to come back into the team, three of which are defenders. Although with Bob Touhy and Sean Morahan in the States, they may be without them in the opening round. The return of Paddy Durcan is massive. 

On his day, there isn't a player in the county who touches him. Mayo and Mitchels missed him dearly. Donncha McHugh can lock down any forward if he manages to recover from a niggle, and the aforementioned Bob Tuohy has all the ability around the middle. When you have that spine, you have a serious chance and new manager, Kevin Filan, has them humming. Ballina likewise. They are two-in-a-row winners for a reason.

Great defenders in Sam Callinan, Padraig O'Hora, David Tighe and Sean Regan. Ridiculously mobile middle men in Dylan Thornton, Frank Irwin, Mikey Murray. And the evergreen Evan Regan who is scoring for fun. A lot of people amazingly overlooked Ballina last year, to their detriment. It's not going to happen again in 2025. Breaffy are positioned well too. They won the league final against Crossmolina whilst playing quite poorly, which says a lot. 

Had the new rules been played last year, there's no way they weren't going to be in a championship final too. Sean Deane has got a big response out of them and Davitt Neary, Mattie Ruane and Aidan are hugely suited to the new rules, and Jack Livingstone between the sticks is a big weapon for them.  

VOTE: Who will win the Mayo Senior Football Championship?

The Dark Horse

My outside bet would be Ballintubber. They aren't going away. We played them earlier in the year in Balla and they gave us a schooling that day.

They are well equipped for the new rules, primarily because Jason Gibbons is the best fielder of a football I've ever played against at club level. Cillian is sharp. I was marking him that day in Balla and, while the pace isn't there, his hands, intellect and accuracy from the dead ball is huge.

Michael Plunkett has two-pointer ability too. Stephen O'Malley, Bryan Walsh and Diarmuid are all bring really big quality, as long as they stay fit.

There will be a chasing pack like always. Claremorris have an exciting young team and will take a scalp. Westport and Knockmore will be there or thereabouts. Crossmolina are being well fancied after getting to a league final and the emergence of Kobe McDonald has everyone in the county excited. 

However, they face Garrymore in the opening round and they will be boosted by the signing of Michael Glavey's Andy Glennon, which is a shrewd move by the club.

VOTE: Who will win the Mayo GAA Junior Football Championship?

New Rules Impact

The reality is that this championship will be different from anything we've seen before. The new rules favour teams who are willing to take risks, move the ball quickly, and back their forwards in one-on-one situations.

The days of slow build-up play and working it into channels are gone. Teams need to be dynamic, need to have players willing to run hard and keep running hard for 60-plus minutes. That's where the pace and athleticism comes in. That's why I'm backing the teams I am.

The championship is different from league football. The margins are smaller. The pressure is so much greater. Teams that looked impressive in Summer will not always look as impressive when the championship comes around. 

My gut tells me we're in for one of the most competitive championships in years. The gap between first and eighth has never been smaller. Let the games begin.

POLL: Who will win the Mayo GAA Intermediate Club Championship?