Ryan enjoying life under the new regime 

Ryan O’Donoghue was part of a cohort of new panellists, along with the likes of Oisin Mullin and Eoghan McLaughlin, that ushered in a new era for Mayo GAA back in 2020. Now, the Belmullet man is watching the next group come through.

Tom Lydon, Cathal Keaveney, Darragh Beirne, Niall Hurley, Adam Barrett and clubmate Seamus Howard are all part of Andy Moran’s new look Mayo side and O’Donoghue is loving what they’ve added so far.

“They're there on merit, they deserve their spot. They're there because they're good players. It's great to see Tom Lydon coming in and kicking two worldie two-pointers, Darragh Beirne and all these boys.

“These boys are pushing us all on, pushing on the older lads, Aido, Paddy [Durcan], Stevie [Coen], all them boys.

“We needed fresh faces and they're definitely adding to the squad,” stated O’Donoghue.

The injection of fresh, young talent sees the Belmullet man in more of a leadership role than ever before. Indeed, the Mayo manager appointed O’Donoghue as one of his vice-captains, alongside Darren McHale and captain Jack Coyne. The Erris man is happy to share his knowledge, like Cillian O’Connor did for him when first arrived in the panel.

“Yeah, look, it's a big proud moment for my family, my club, my friends, but to be honest with you it doesn't really change much what I do. I'm still doing the same thing, maybe the only different thing I'm doing today is taking the toss.

“We need a lot of leaders out there, it's not just us. As everyone knows in team sports, you need leaders right from one to number 36.

“Cillian done the same with me, and all of them boys when I came in in 2020.

“Them boys are well able to play. You see Hurley come in straight away today and outside the boot effort. They don't lack in confidence and that's what Andy wants from them. Back yourself and if it goes wide just practice again and go again. These boys have won a Connacht under-20 title last year, they're well able to shoot.

“They bring their shooting boots to training and they train hard, so anything that I can help them with and that Cillian has passed on to me, I can pass on to them and they'll pass on in future times. It's great to get playing with them.” 

The embracing of the new rules, specifically two-pointers, has clearly been evident. Under Kevin McStay’s management last season, Mayo appeared hesitant at times to go for shots outside the arc, but the team popped over six of them in the second-half last Sunday, all from play and four in the first ten minutes of the half. O’Donoghue is enjoying what is happening so far under the Ballaghaderreen native.

“There was a tough breeze in the first-half, and we knew that left-hand pocket in the second-half was going to be where the shots should be taken from, and thankfully we got our right people on the ball over in that pocket.

“It’s something that we've been working on. It’s a big part of the game now with the new rules, two-pointers, and thankfully today I think our conversion rate was pretty high.

“When it opens up and it gets to Croke Park, the faster you can move the ball into the danger men, the better. But maybe we've got a bit giddy there, especially with conditions going through the league, just kicking all the time. But he doesn't mind that we can pull it back as the weeks go on. But that's definitely what the best teams in the country are doing at the minute, is moving the ball fast, getting the ball up the pitch, and getting 1 v 1s, because it's 3 v 3 up top now with the new rules. We’re really enjoying it at the minute and looking forward to the league.” 

On working under Andy Moran, O’Donoghue added: “It's all football-based. Look, his energy, for the people that know him when he was playing for Mayo and was up in Monaghan, his energy is infectious, and it just feeds off the group.

“We're really, really enjoying it at the minute. Training is exciting, it's intense and I think it's shown the last [game], and definitely there in the second-half, the tempo we can get up to. Definitely our scoring efficiency has gone a bit up. We need to keep that up going into these weeks of the league now.”