All-Ireland Final countdown: Time flies by in the red and the green

Much has been made of how important the battle in midfield has become with the changed rules of Gaelic football. From short and long kickouts to high fielding and ‘piggery’, dominance in the middle third is crucial and Jack Carney is in the thick of it for Mayo more than most.

Carney will likely go up against Kerry midfield duo Sean O’Brien and Mark O’Shea in next Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC Final. Up until the meeting with Cork last month, Mayo’s last quarter-final had been in 2023 against Dublin and the motivation to return after a long absence (by Mayo’s current standards, at least) was strong.

“It’s very hard to look on from the couch in summer or from abroad at a team that you've played against,” Jack Carney told the media at last week’s All-Ireland Final press event in the Dr Michael Loftus Room at MacHale Park. “That, coupled with Andy [Moran] having a real faith in that when we get to Croke Park, our team lends to the style of play, the expression, the playing with freedom, playing fast. I suppose he's right and it's proved that,” said Carney of Mayo’s recent wins over Cork and Louth.

“We were nowhere near perfect in either game but I think we really enjoy playing there. Long may it last, and hopefully we're playing there plenty more in the next few years.” 

That open style of play, he feels, suits his own strengths too.

“I like playing expressive football, kicking the ball, shooting the ball as much as I can. There is more space there. The crowd gives you far more energy as well. It's an amazing place. You've always dreamed of playing there so you want to just give your best. I do love playing there, yeah, and the more I can play there the better.” 

The Kilmeena clubman saw much of the league season and the Connacht championship at wing-forward but has been in the middle sector following the beginning of the All-Ireland Series against Monaghan. The upturn in Mayo’s fortunes – and his own – is not down to just that however.

“To be honest, they're very similar in the inter-county game in that a kickout can come out on top of you just as often at wing-forward as it would when you're in midfield.

“But I'm very used to playing midfield with my club. I really enjoy being involved in that contest around the middle, one v ones. Some days, it goes your way and it's great. Other days, it doesn't and that's just the way football is. Anywhere around the middle there I'm really happy to get the jersey.

“I think it's always a huge, huge battle. I suppose some of the time it can be a toss-up, it could be a breaking ball here or there and some days your luck is in and others it's not. But I suppose if you just continue to prep and try to do the right thing each time, you should eventually come out on a decent percentage of those kickouts.

“I suppose that's all we can do over the next weeks; have a look at Kerry but mostly prep ourselves for that physicality and for the breaking ball because I suppose most of the ball gets to ground. It's about who's reacting to it first and who's diving on it. You can prepare for so much but with this new game, you just never know what will happen.” 

Up until the Connacht SFC semi-final defeat to Roscommon, Rob Hennelly was the man whose kickouts Carney would be looking to win. But since the Monaghan encounter, Jack Livingstone has since been the man between the sticks for Mayo. Carney said there was an ‘adjustment’ in receiving a different kickout but not something alien to them either.

“There's adjustment throughout the team all year round. Our full-forward line was very different in the very beginning to the way it is now, and so has the midfield been very different. No more than within the game itself you have to adapt in a season.

“Obviously the two kickouts are slightly different, but our behaviours should remain the same. You need to move, you need to make the break zone, and you need to make sure the opposition doesn't catch the ball. It's really simple.

“To be honest, when you're moving from club to county and you're in training with different goalkeepers as well, you're always adapting anyways. Whether it's Rob or it's Jack or even David Dolan is here training with us, we probably received an equal amount of kickouts in training from all three of those lads.

“It's probably just about adapting well to different keepers and different scenarios. Same thing applies when you're training here. You'll play with different players on your team, and you need to know them.

“I suppose that's why the number of training sessions that we've put down has really helped with that. With the subs coming on, we know who we're playing with and that sort of thing.” 

Should Mayo’s central men win possession, they have the fortune of kicking into a red-hot inside forward line of Darragh Beirne, Ryan O’Donoghue and Kobe McDonald, who have been outstanding in Mayo’s run to the final.

“They always want it, first of all, and they let you know if you don't give it to them too! But for us, it's incredible to look up and always have that option.

“Again, even if they don't win it, they're entrusted again to give it to them the next time. I suppose that's what football is about. It's about enjoying it, playing to your strengths. I think at the moment, one of our strengths is playing forward and playing as expressive and progressive as we can, and I think Andy really supports that.

“I'm really looking forward to leaning into that and doing that as much as I and we can over the next two weeks and over the next few years.” 

Even for Jack Carney himself, who has shown more than a knack for two-point scores this year, he has not always found his range, notably kicking a couple of early attempts wide against Meath. But the trust he is given means he can keep trying, as evidenced in the same game when his two-pointer at the third attempt eventually put Mayo in front for the first time.

“I knew that the next effort, if it comes my way, I'm still trusted to take it. That makes you really free. There's no pressure on me really because I know that I'm trusted to take it and if it goes over, that's great, and if not, that's fine. I'm still trusted to take it, and I will still be trusted the next day to take it. I think that trust and earning the right to take it is probably the biggest thing.

“It could be anyone. As long as that person has earned the right to take the shots and has just put in the hours, we're absolutely happy with them taking them, we're absolutely fine with them missing, and we're absolutely trusted to take the next one.

“I think that takes so much pressure off a player. You don't really care about what the fans think if you're missing because you know who has put in the time and you know who's trusted to take that.” 

Carney, who made his debut for Mayo in the National League in May 2021, has become as important a figure as anyone in the panel. And it’s not from the wind that he has licked it; his great-grandfather Jack Kenny not only played hurling and football for Mayo but had the unique distinction of playing a junior game for Mayo and the senior game immediately afterwards.

“That makes my family very proud, and it makes me really proud. I suppose I'll have a lot more time to reflect on that sort of thing when, number one, the season is over but mostly when I'm retired which is hopefully in a long time,” said Carney.

“You don't really get the time as a player between going from club to county, and back to county after the club to really stop and think about these things. But every so often it passes through your mind and you're reminded by your family that it means a lot to them.

“That's all you want to do really, is first of all enjoy playing football and second of all make your family and supporters proud.” 

Given his family history, did he expect he would play for Mayo someday?

“I don't think any fella expects to be here. It feels like forever since I started playing with Mayo but it has also gone by so, so quick,” said the 26-year-old.

“It's a paradox. You've put so much time, so many hours in every single year, but it also absolutely flew by. But it's only hopefully the midway or the beginning.” 

It is certainly, in Jack’s eyes, the most enjoyable period of his inter-county career to date. Between Mayo’s new kids on the block and their pure enjoyment to veterans like Aidan O’Shea, Cillian O’Connor, Paddy Durcan and Stephen Coen, all involved have a different perspective and it can only be a good thing.

“[The younger lads] remind you just through action that football is really just about enjoying it really. There's so many ups and downs in any one season and any one campaign. There can be really low times and can be really high times, but if the goal is always to improve and to enjoy, then sure you'll always be happy, you'll be fine.

“That's probably the biggest learning I've had over the last couple of years. Historically, maybe I've dwelt on a defeat too much. But you can also maybe get too carried away with the win. But the way Andy has coached us is to constantly look to improve regardless of the result. The approach to the next game is the same and the analysis of the previous game is the same regardless of the result. We still need to improve. That's definitely the approach at the moment for the next two weeks. Nothing changes. We're fairly relaxed about it.

“I think it's a very, very open group in that from the youngest to the oldest, everyone has something to offer. They might tell us to chill out a bit, don't think about it as much. Then you might ask an older lad, he might tell you maybe you need to focus on this area a little bit more.

“A culture like that, it's hard to get anywhere else in any other walk of life, where everyone is so connected and we're all working off the same hymn sheet, and we're trying to learn things off each other. We'd all look to each other for little tips.”