Pride the overriding emotion for Ryan

Ryan O’Donoghue wasn’t the only teary eyed Mayo person in Croke Park on Sunday. In fact, he was the rule, not the exception.

Memories of the lengths, quite literally, his parents had gone to, to give him every sporting opportunity, came flooding back when he spoke outside the victorious Mayo dressing-room about two hours after his man-of-the-match display which had helped his team become champions of Ireland.

“It’s been a long road, a long road since I was 11, 12 years of age, going up to the National Stadium in Dublin boxing with my mum and dad, running the roads, soccer, Sligo Rovers, Mayo minor, everything has been worth it today.

“It’s different being from Belmullet. We don't have the resources, we’re a lot further from everywhere else. What my mother and father and Shea (brother) and Courtney, my fiancée have done, this is as much for them as it is for me,” said O’Donoghue, one of just two Mayo players who also started the 2021 All-Ireland SFC Final defeat to Tyrone.

“It’s hard to put into words what I’m feeling at the minute but I suppose the two main things are pride and relief. I’m just so proud of where we have come from over the last couple of years, maybe since 2020 when I came into the panel, and the ’21 heartbreak. Since Andy has come in, we’ve done what we said we’d do, and I’m just so proud of the lads. We’re All-Ireland champions and no one can ever take that away from us.” 

O’Donoghue was unfortunate to miss a second-half penalty into the Davin End in that previous All-Ireland final appearance.

“I just wanted to go out there today and give everything I could for the lads and for myself. I was disappointed with 2021 but to be honest now, I couldn't care less about it.

“That [defeat] was tough. That was horrible. I took it on the chin and worked hard. There was a lot of dark days, myself and Courtney in the house, I was living in Oranmore at the time and that’s probably why I'm so proud of the lads today because yeah, that was horrible.

“I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I’m not sure if I was ever really over 2021 to be honest but I’m over it now!” 

Despite the potency of Mayo’s full-forward line throughout the course of this year’s championship, the Connacht side were massive underdogs heading into last Sunday’s final against Kerry. But the triumvirate of O’Donoghue, Darragh Beirne and Kobe McDonald yet again delivered, scoring 1-11 between them. Playing alongside the teenage twosome has been a breath of fresh air, admitted O’Donoghue.

“I’m only as good as the boys beside me and what them two bucks and Eoin McGreal are doing at 18, 19, I think Eoin is 20 now, is absolutely unbelievable. Playing with no fear, the dedication, the work that they're doing at that age, there’s not many people in the country that are doing it and we would not be here without them.

“Along with the 41 players who have got us ready for the last couple of weeks, and the weeks before that… honestly, we’ve had it harder in training than we had it out there today,” said the full-forward.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable, as a Mayo man first and foremost but then obviously as a Belmullet man, it’s such a tight-knit community. The support I've gotten since 2021 when obviously it didn't go my way.

“But I knew I'd be back. I knew I'd be back here and I'd get the opportunity. I didn't know how long, the last couple of years was maybe longer than I thought, but I knew I'd be back. And again, I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I've learned and worked hard so hard to get where I am today, sports psychologist, tactically, gym, everything, and that's what I'm so proud of. It's absolutely unbelievable.” 

Mayo’s win, coming on the back of a sobering Connacht SFC defeat to Roscommon, also saw them battle back from the brink of elimination against Meath and again on Sunday, they were seven points behind before the end of the opening quarter. But they refused to conform to the script.

“It’s all stemming down from Andy, the belief,” explained Ryan. “I don't know how many balls I dropped short today but I got one at the top of the arc and hit it outside of the boot, just backed myself. That's the belief and the never-say-die attitude that Andy and the lads have instilled in us. And if Andy didn't instill that in us, we wouldn’t be talking to you here today.”

He agreed that the foundation of Mayo’s win was built upon the high press deployed by the full-forward line.

“Aido (O’Shea) had mentioned to me beforehand, he knew that we were going to get the scores, but how many tackles could we get in in the first-half? In the first 10 minutes, first 12 minutes, how many tackles could we get in? Maybe it didn't come in the first 12, but in that last 12 minutes of the first-half… that's something the three of us inside were going after and look, that all comes from practice. We wouldn't be able to do it if the boys behind us weren't pressed up either.”