Mayo 'attacked what needed to be attacked' in preparation for new season
Mayo GAA senior football team manager Kevin McStay said they have 'attacked the things that needed to be attacked' in their preparation ahead of the new season.
In a press briefing at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park this afternoon ahead of the Allianz National Football League – which begins for Mayo with a trip to fierce rivals Galway on Sunday, January 28 – McStay said the clear focus after last season was to be better and stronger this year.
He elaborated: “We had an excellent review of the season, all matters on and off the pitch. The search for consistency for us will be massive, in games and within the season.
“Since we got back together we're looking for those improvements. Certainly they are not easy got. We would like to feel we were at a fairly decent level anyway, so finding percentages when you are at a decent level is not simple game, but we will keep after it.
“I want to mention what's ahead of us: we play our great rivals (Galway) next Sunday week, we play Dublin at home the following week, then we go to Kerry and then we go to Tyrone, and then we wait for Roscommon to come down.
“This is a tough league. If you are in any way off focus, I can tell you (that) when you look at the fixture list, you very quickly see the challenges laid out in front of us.”
Looking ahead to the league opener, the Mayo manager – flanked by another member of the management team in Damien Mulligan as well as players Paddy Durcan and Darren McHale – recalled that it's a repeat of the first game in the competition last year, which was a 'humdinger', and they are really looking forward to the challenge of trying to defend their league title.
Mayo go into the campaign with some new faces unearthed over the club championship campaign but minus the services of Kevin McLoughlin, Jason Doherty and Brendan Harrison, all of whom announced their retirements after last season's inter-county schedule concluded.
Said McStay: “It was an honour and a privilege for us as management and for the boys as players to be in among them. The three lads will be remembered as massive players for this county and they certainly left their jerseys in a very fine place when they walked away.
“Our plan now is to drive that on and see where we leave the jersey over the next period of time.”
As for the challenge ahead this year, in both league and championship, McStay said that while football is very competitive at the top tier of the inter-county game, Mayo are 'well in the mix' too.