Not a Jack of all trades but definitely a master of one
EVER wondered how much detail goes into the preparation of the Mayo senior Gaelic football team? While we are all aware of the intense and high tempo training sessions, the strength and conditioning work on the field and in the gyms, and the emphasis and detail placed on nutrition in the pursuit of high performance, performance analysis is something that is not as commonly understood, writes Nigel Naughton.
However, with advancements in technology and the search for marginal gains, it has become even more prevalent at the highest levels of GAA.
Jack Murray is the senior performance analyst with Mayo GAA, and he spoke to The Connaught Telegraph about his role, a typical week, the attention to detail, advancements in performance analysis, the harmony of the whole backroom team, and more.
Nigel Naughton (NN): So Jack, what inspired your decision to go down the route of performance analysis?
Jack Murray (JM): I studied sport science in IT Carlow, and it was one of the aspects that most appealed to me. I really enjoyed reviewing a game, breaking down the key components, and trying to understand what a team or individual was trying to do. I’ve always enjoyed watching all types of sports, particularly the tactical side of things, and I found performance analysis was a nice blend of technology and coaching.
NN: What has been your journey to this stage in terms of study, education and previous exeprience in this industry?
JM: I started out working with the ladies GAA team in IT Carlow as part of a coaching module in college and ended up doing two years of it. From there I worked with the Castlebar Celtic women’s team in the National League, with a great coaching team in Adrian Carberry and Maz Sweeney, for two years. That was a really good experience, playing really good teams, adapting to a different sport, analysing opponents and seeing where we could really hurt them with our strengths. In December 2015, Stephen Rochford was coming in as Mayo manager and I made contact with Maurice Horan, who was heading up Stephen's analysis team. Maurice and Stephen gave me a chance and I’ve been involved with Mayo ever since.
NN: Can you describe your current role with the Mayo senior football team?
JM: The role has changed and developed over the years. Initially I started out breaking down game footage for the players and the management team, so they could review specific aspects of a game quickly without having to watch the full game. I’m now in a position where I have two guys working alongside me and this has allowed us to up our game and give the coaches all the support we can. We do everything from in-game statistics to recording training sessions with a drone. It’s pretty time-intensive but I love it.
NN: In terms of preparing for a championship game on a Sunday, what does a typical week leading up to the game look like?
JM: Depending on the stage of the championship, and the route you’ve taken, it can be very different. If you go through the qualifiers your week is jam-packed. Typically you would play on the Saturday and you would start reviewing the game that evening, as soon as you get on the bus. You might finish that at 2 a.m. so it is ready for players and management to watch back the following morning. Then you wait for the draw, usually Monday morning, to find out who you are playing next.
Monday morning is then spent sourcing footage on the opposition and uploading it so players and coaches can start their own analysis. From there you review those games, breaking them down and looking for trends or patterns of play. We normally have a midweek session where we will spend some time reviewing the last game and also looking towards the next game. We mainly focus on ourselves - what we can control and influence, and what we can improve from the last game.
There’s a bit of work during the week in arranging to get footage from TV trucks and finding out where you’re going to be positioned during the next game if it is away from home. Unlike rugby or soccer, GAA grounds don’t have specific areas for analysts, so you could end up in the middle of the crowd sitting beside the biggest fanatic you can find!
NN: Have you seen an increase in the detail now existent in an elite inter-county senior football team in terms of using analysis for preparation?
JM: Absolutely. I think a lot of that comes from having the information available to players. There is a real hunger in Mayo GAA, and indeed the GAA as a whole, to constantly improve in every aspect. We’ve seen that in the last 10 years with strength and conditioning, nutrition and psychology. Performance analysis is a newer development relative to those areas but it’s really taking off. The players want to be the absolute best player they can be, and analysis can help that.
NN: Are the players receptive to the feedback they are given through performance analysis, and do you feel that it has significant benefits for individual players?
JM: We’re really lucky in Mayo to have a group of guys that really engage with the analysis - the good, the bad and the ugly. I’ve been over to England to see how professional teams operate in the Premier League and the Championship and I couldn’t get over how little the players engaged with analysis and feedback. Our guys will often come to a coach looking for feedback on a particular moment of a game, before the coach has a chance to come to them, and really that’s what you want – a player-led feedback environment. Players need to have that autonomy to critically review their own performance and see where they can improve and develop, and then be willing to take that information and work on it. I don’t like the term but there’s no hiding place anymore – if your tackle technique is off we can pull up 10 examples at the push of a button to review those clips. You can sit down with a coach, go through what you need to work on based on hard evidence, and come away with a real plan of how you’re going to improve. It’s really powerful.
NN: Is the technology and detail used in analysis constantly developing and improving?
JM: Technology is constantly evolving. We’re using drones now in training to give us a better viewpoint of the session. Hopefully technology develops a waterproof one pretty quickly! The level of detail you can go to is endless. But the most important thing is how you use that technology and that information. It’s where I have an issue with the term ‘stats team’, which we are often referred to. Anybody can count the number of turnovers in a game, or keep count of the score. Our job is to give that number context relative to what is happening in any given moment.
For example, one of our players had three turnovers in the first 20 minutes but for two of those turnovers, if executed correctly the passes would have led to goal chances. So you can’t go after a guy for having the three turnovers; your focus should be on understanding his thought process at that moment in time and improving his decision making. So where the numbers might tell you he had a poor first 20 minutes, in reality he was in a great position and had done everything right up to that point. Technology and detail can only get you so far – you still must have a good coaching team that can use those tools to develop players.
NN: It must be enjoyable to work with the management and full coaching staff in bringing all the different aspects of high performance together to benefit the players and the team as a whole?
JM: It’s brilliant. I’m really privileged to be part of it. One of the unique things about the management team and support team is we are all from Mayo, every one of us. The talent and expertise that is in Mayo at the moment is fantastic and there are plenty more outside of the senior team, and outside of GAA. We all get on really well, we push each other and challenge each other, and everyone, at the end of the day, has one focus, which is to support the senior football team in any way we can.
You see the medical guys, the hours they put in to get guys fit and ready to perform. The work Conor Finn does with the strength and conditioning is frightening. It's the same with Evan Regan on nutrition. I could list off the whole support team if I’m honest, and everyone does that whilst maintaining a full-time job. The commitment levels are unbelievable but it’s all worth it.
NN: What aspects of the role give you the most satisfaction and enjoyment?
JM: Seeing people rewarded for their efforts. That can be on an individual basis – new guys coming in, working really hard to develop and learn, biding their time, and eventually earning a place on the team. That is really satisfying to see, and it’s great to play a small part in. It could also be the team as a whole. If we’ve all worked on a certain part of our game, struggled with it but stuck at it, and we get a score off that in a game. That is really enjoyable. On a personal level, being involved in the set-up is an honour. When we won the National League in Croke Park last Spring I was down on the pitch soaking it all in and I got a WhatsApp into the family group. My sister was in the Cusack Stand with my dad and he was so happy he got a bit emotional. He had been to Croke Park so many times and to finally win a trophy, and for me to be involved, meant an awful lot to him - that is really important to me.
People love this team, love this county, and football is everything to a lot of people. Being part of that is special.