Shadowboxing entertains but only championship offers enlightenment

It’s like the Leopardstown Gold Cup before the Cheltenham equivalent. WWE Elimination Chamber before Wrestlemania. The Baftas before the Oscars. Putting U2’s version of ‘All Along the Watchtower’ on Spotify before then listening to the Jimi Hendrix version.

Watching Mayo play Kerry in the National League is a similar experience to all of the above. It can be informative, it can be entertaining (maybe not U2), and when the real thing comes along, it will make for meaningful context.

But will Saturday’s game in Castlebar bear any relation to a potential collision in the championship, where Tom O’Sullivan, Paddy Durcan, Seán O’Shea and Diarmuid O’Connor (the Ballintubber one!) would all be involved? It’s hard to imagine.

What Saturday’s game was however, was an important part of the story arc for the two counties, and indeed the bigger picture for this new and revamped Gaelic football world. Taking the broader view first, at a time when the cracks are starting to appear in the new rules, the fare in MacHale Park still demonstrated that the new game, for all its faults, is much more entertaining than what went before it.

Over the weekend we had kickout controversy in Armagh, hooter controversy in Mullingar, three-man-up controversy in Tuam, all while the trading markets have deemed that black cards have lost value, and attacking goalkeepers are like a breakthrough drug, trading high but with an asterisk until they gain full regulatory approval from the relevant authorities and are proven not to have too many adverse side effects.

It's a disrupted, uncertain space, but it’s an environment in which a team like Mayo can put their faith in individual players to make things happen, and one where structure matters, but not to the point that it will overpower a distinct gap in individual performance levels.

There will still be nuance, and edges to be found. Questions about the hand signal communication used in the lead up to points from Jack Carney and Sam Callinan were understandably shut down quickly by Kevin McStay in the post-match briefing, but like all counties, Mayo are working on their systems.

Ultimately though, the new game has put more of a focus on players stamping their authority in key areas. Ryan O’Donoghue had his best game of the season up front, using every ounce of his wily understanding of the game as much as he did his outstanding ability with the boot, and it was at midfield were Mayo really laid the platform for the victory. The numbers in the second-half were nowhere near as good as those in the first, but for that opening 35 minutes, Mayo’s middle third were like Caesar’s lions, feasting on the Kerry prisoners that were thrown into the circus for the amusement of the Roman bourgeoisie.

The leader of the pride was Aidan O’Shea, but Jack Carney was no less ravenous, even if he didn’t reach up to the higher shelves to fill his belly with possession.

Then working back, there were the gladiators that volunteered as tribute to take on the most formidable warriors from the Kingdom, both with no small amount of success.

One debate before the game was whether marking David Clifford was the toughest gig in football, or a much easier one, since anything less than the concession of 2-4 or so from open play would be deemed a success. The GAA’s talisman certainly showed his undeniable quality at times, but Donnacha McHugh made sure that he had to dig deep to come up with his four points from play. Enda Hession took on Paudie and he too had more wins than losses, restricting the Kerry quarterback from controlling the game and loading too many rounds into the gun for his brother, Paul Geaney, Dylan Geaney and company.

There were entries on the other side of the ledger too. Brian Ó Beaglaoich’s explosive burst past Stephen Coen to take him in on goal will make for grim viewing for the veteran defender this week, and with the exception of Fergal Boland, the impact from the bench was minimal. With so many heavy hitters waiting in the wings for more playing time, only the Aghamore man will feel that he invested his minutes wisely and obtained a return.

Kerry will also feel that they’ve learned good and bad about some of their players, and done so in an environment that makes their assessments real and meaningful. All the more because while it looked to someone following on social media as if the wind was the reason for the turnaround, it was more about the evolution of the contest, how the two sides took the punches from the other and adapted, who thrived and who wilted. The presence of almost 10,000 supporters also served to keep the game honest, as there was nowhere for anyone to hide.

Mayo led at half-time because they were better, Kerry got back on terms because they did things differently and responded, and Mayo came up with the last four points because they too showed that ability to read the game and be what they needed to be.

This new structure gave O’Donoghue, Carney, O’Shea, Hession and McHugh the chance to excel, but it also gave the two counties a chance to absorb some lessons, to further hone their craft and to ultimately re-emerge at the end of the provincial championships, ready to set about more serious business.

For those who were tuned into WWE Elimination Chamber at the weekend, John Cena turned heel, perhaps the most dramatic turn since Hulk Hogan at Bash at the Beach 1996. It was dramatic, it was exciting, and it made for great viewing. But Wrestlemania is just around the corner. So it is for Mayo and Kerry.