Decade of service hasn’t dimmed Coen’s passion
Stephen Coen and Kevin McStay speaking to the media in advance of Saturday's challenge match against Monaghan in aid of the Irish Motor Neuron Disease Association. Picture courtesy of Mayo GAA
A number of departures from the Mayo senior football squad means a raft of arrivals, but it will be more a case of the current players trying to earn the respect of the newcomers than the other way round.
That’s the view of Mayo vice-captain Stephen Coen, captain of the successful 2013 and 2016 All-Ireland minor and U21 winning sides, as he approaches a full decade with the senior team. Coen has had his share of successes and disappointments as much as any other Mayo player over that period but it has not dampened the enthusiasm that the Hollymount/Carramore man has of representing his county.
“I love it, I absolutely love it,” he told the media at a press briefing in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in advance of next Saturday’s charity match against Monaghan. “I suppose I'm representing my family, which is a massive value for me. They've been a huge support and I'd speak on behalf of all the lads when I'd say that. Their close support network is a huge driver for them. But the lads, I love playing with the lads and I love earning their respect.”
On new players coming in, Coen offered: “We often think they come in and they have to earn older players' respect. I actually think it's the opposite. You have to earn their respect because they need to realise why you've been here for so long. That's always a challenge and it's a great challenge to try and live up to and lead by example. You get such a buzz out of a fella applying himself to get better.
“When you see someone else doing that and you give them advice or receive advice and you see that synergy that comes between people, that's infectious. It’s just a great challenge.
“Every day you go out, you can't replicate that in normal life. The other side of your life, you can't really replicate that pressure. But at the end of the day, whether you win or lose, you go back to your normal life again. But it's just cool to be able to develop that in life. I just love the buzz of it.”
New rules will be in play for the 2025 season but as far fitness is concerned, for Stephen Coen nothing has changed.
“We're just trying to navigate through them and see how we can execute them as optimally as possible. We're enjoying our training sessions at the minute, working really hard with great coaches who prompt us and remind us of what the rules are. So yeah, just at the moment we're navigating through them and just enjoying the process of the pre-season.
“I suppose my pre-season is going to stay the same because I just need to get my body to its maximum and then I'll see how fit I am for them... putting yourself into exposed positions, one-on-ones, tackling.
“Even if you were playing in whatever style of play you play, you're going to have to be a good defender, good tackler, be able to move, get up and down the field, transition the ball. What it'll do, I think, is it'll help us expose our skills a bit more and expose our tackling ability. That's great because it means players are getting better and better all the time.”
2024 was a year of near misses for Mayo, with a defeat late on against Galway in the Connacht final and a draw against Dublin in the All-Ireland group stage before a penalty shootout loss to Derry, which ended their season. But Coen believes many of the younger players will learn much from 2024 and hopes the team carries those lessons into next year.
“The main takeaway is that we've got a lot of guys who’ve got to experience playing in big games, big moments, a lot of learnings, so I suppose every year is only as good the next year. It is what you do with your learnings and how you bring them forward, so we have plenty of them and we'll try them out now.”
While a number of players have stepped away from the Mayo squad this year but perhaps only temporarily, Rob Hennelly has officially hung up his boots after a 15-year career. Stephen Coen paid tribute to his former county teammate.
“Great guy, great teammate, cared a lot about the players in the group. Excellent goalkeeper, savage level of ability, never complained, always drove the team forward and played in big moments in big games. So, huge respect for him.
“He's a lot of stuff going on so it's just difficult for him to commit but yeah, what a man, great person and great teammate.”
Mayo football manager Kevin McStay revealed that Hennelly did train with the panel ahead of this coming 2025 campaign before a combination of work and his personal life meant it could not work for the former Breaffy goalkeeper.
“Robbie put in a huge effort in the pre-season to see could he make it work for him. He was in great shape, he put in huge effort and was pushing hard. But he has a very busy career, with a baby on the way, and I think the reality of what was ahead of him maybe dawned when we brought him out to Belmullet and he was four-and-a-half hours away from Dublin. And he just couldn’t make it work,” explained Kevin McStay.
“But I echo everything Stephen said. I had him for two years obviously. He was a huge character in the dressing room. I wish them nothing but good luck.”
