Larkin wary about the favourite's tag
Mayo manager Ray Larkin watches on as Eoghan Collins has a few words with a young fan at the team's 'Meet and Greet' session held last Sunday in advance of the Nicky Rackard Cup final. Picture: Mayo GAA
Twelve months since their heartbreak in HQ, the Mayo hurlers will look to go one step further and win the Nicky Rackard Cup when they take on Roscommon in Saturday’s all-Connacht decider.
The last June Bank Holiday saw Mayo beaten in the final by Donegal. The impact off the bench by the Ulster side had a huge impact, with two goals from Josh Cronolly McGee seeing hopes of a league and championship double dashed, with Mayo having won the Division 3A title earlier that year.
They are on course for it again, however. Mayo won the Division 3 title after beating Christy Ring finalists London, and the championship to date has been nearly flawless. Mayo beat the Rossies in the opening game despite being a man down for over 40 minutes, which was followed by wins over Louth, Armagh and Sligo to seal top spot in the round robin phase and a place in the final, with the draw against Fermanagh in the final round due, in part, to a much-changed lineup in Enniskillen.
This will be a fifth championship final for the Mayo senior hurlers in six years. They won the 2021 Nicky Rackard and were beaten in the 2020 and 2024 finals, while they also reached the 2022 Christy Ring Cup decider. That experience could be a significant factor over a Roscommon team appearing in their first Nicky Rackard final since defeat to Tyrone in 2022.
“Those players are used to playing in Croke Park, a lot of them would have played more times there than anywhere else. Experience-wise they'll be fine,” insisted Mayo manager Ray Larkin at the team’s press night last Friday evening.
“We were there last year against Donegal and it's a matter of getting our changes right, getting our matchups right. If we make a change off the bench, we make the right decision and hopefully that'll get us over the line,” added Larkin, who along with his management team will have some big calls just to pick the 26 for the final.
“Croke Park is such a big pitch. It's not a 15-man game anymore. I think what was good about the Fermanagh game was we got to see the lads, where they are, their fitness and their ability.
“When you're up at Croke Park, it's a different ball game altogether. We’re in a good place with no injuries and the lads are happy enough where they are and just to roll on.”
Larkin said he was impressed with a lot of what he had seen from his panel in their last outing against Fermanagh, explaining that when introducing regulars like David Kenny, Conor Murray, Liam Lavin and Cormac Phillips throughout the course of the match, that some of the “fringe players” actually played better.
“You had to be fair to a lot of them too, you had to rotate and be fair enough. They trained as hard as much as the Liam Lavins and David Kennys, and it's important that they get their worth out of it as well.”
This year’s National Hurling League was a fruitful one for Mayo. As well as beating Roscommon, they also beat Christy Ring teams in Wicklow and London, the latter in the Division 3A final. The only issue has been one of complacency, with Larkin alluding in particular to their game against Louth where for long periods they struggled. Mayo secured a second win against Roscommon in the group stage of championship but there are no guarantees and Ray Larkin used the example of the favourites tag that was bestowed upon the Mayo footballers prior to their recent defeat to Cavan.
“We got a good run in the league. We peaked at a good time against London and Wicklow, Christy Ring teams, and London are in the Christy Ring final. That's the standard we know we can play at.
“We’ve a tendency to take the eye off the ball sometimes in the game. You look at Louth, we just weren’t mentally in the right place for them, and then we got a good kick in off Sligo. We'll have to be our best to beat Roscommon and if we're not we'll get turned over.
“You look at the Cavan and Mayo game, I suppose Mayo were red hot favourites and Cavan turned them over. No matter what you do, it's just trying to get the lads’ heads right. If you're aren’t in the right place of mind, any team can turn you over. That's the hardest part of our job now this week, just to get them mentally right.
“Roscommon, they've nothing to lose. We are favourites to win it but how many times have favourites lost the game? It's important that we get the lads in the right frame of mind, get a good start and see what happens.
“We beat [Roscommon] well in the league, but it was a different team. We came off a heavy league campaign to come into playing Roscommon in the first (Nicky Rackard) game and had Joe Burke sent off early. We played well for fifteen or twenty minutes and then we kind of went to sleep a small bit. I think there wasn't much in it with 10 minutes to go and we pulled away by five or six points.
“If we can play like we played against Sligo, if we play that well, hopefully we’ll get over the line.”
Mayo are eager to right the wrongs of last year. The Nicky Rackard has been the number one target and they will be going all out to not just win it, but with it secure Christy Ring status for 2026.
“At end of the day, when we sat down at the start of the year, it's the Nicky Rackard we want to win. The league was a bonus.
“It would be disappointing if don't win it. All we can do is get them prepared mentally and get them prepared physically to go out on the day. When they cross that line, it’s up to them after that.”
