Ireland’s Jonny Sexton after his side’s victory in the Steinlager Series match between New Zealand and Ireland. The 37-year-old continues to perform at the highest level and former Mayo All-Ireland winning captain Sinead Stagg, who was on analysis duty with Midwest Radio’s Michael D. McAndrew, told listeners that some of the older brigade on the Mayo ladies team should not even think of retiring. PHOTO: SPORTSFILE

Mayo ladies - and the men - can learn from Johnny Sexton

ARMCHAIR VIEW

Perhaps there is a lot we can learn from Irish rugby legend Johnny Sexton, who, at the age of 37, played such a huge part of Ireland’s sensational win over the All Blacks on Saturday morning.

Sexton has entertained us with his skills and the mental strength and durability he has shown for Leicester and for Ireland over the years, and what an achievement to reach arguably the pinnacle of a glittering career at 37 years of age.

It says so much about the man himself and what he expects from himself and those around him. But above all else, it speaks volumes for the man’s dedication to his sport and he’s not finished yet with the World Rugby Cup beckoning before he places the rocking chair on the porch and reaches for the pipe.

I know it is not comparing like with like as Johnny is a pro in every sense of the word but so called amateur sports are not far behind the standard, the commitment and the dedication that is necessary if you are not just to reach the top, but remain there until you decide the time has come to step aside.

The context of that intro about Johnny Sexton is in the defeat of Mayo ladies on Saturday where his name came up during the post-match analysis on Midwest Radio after Mayo were overpowered by Kerry at Croke Park.

Croke Park, or any venue for that matter, can be a lonely place for a losing team despite being surrounded by colleagues, family and friends.

There is always that gnawing feeling in the pit of your stomach of failing to deliver or perform and the only thing worse than losing is failing to perform but I think it is fair to say the reason why Mayo ladies lost in Saturday’s semi-final is because they met a much better team.

The difficulty is coming to terms with failing to perform given what they had achieved up to that point but, on occasions, you just come up against a better team who are endowed with better qualities in key departments and I feel that is what happened to Mayo.

Mayo ladies had dispatched one of the favourites for the championship by beating Cork last week but the energy and desire they had in that game never materialised against Kerry.

Former Mayo All-Ireland winning captain Sinead Stagg, who was on analysis duty with Michael D. McAndrew, told listeners that some of the older brigade on the Mayo ladies team should not even think of retiring. And she is so right.

Manager Michael Moyles has worked hard in rebuilding Mayo ladies football. It was on its knees when he took over, and while he needs new blood coming in, he needs the experienced heads just as much.

"Take a look at what Johnny Sexton did for Ireland earlier today," Sinead told Michael D. as she watched the Mayo ladies team try to come to terms with a harrowing defeat and the pain that comes with losing when you are just one step away from a final.

"Johnny is 37 but some of the ladies, despite being over 30, have a lot more to offer and the future is bright for Mayo ladies football so I would be encouraging any of those who are thinking of stepping away to think again and think of what Johnny Sexton has done at his age," she said.

The same advice might well apply to a few of the Mayo senior men’s football team who may also be facing some big decisions over the coming months.

When do you retire? Who knows! That is something only the player or person themselves can answer but I think that it is something your body will help you decide on but it is not something that should be enforced.

It was a tough day for sure at the office for the Mayo ladies in Croke Park but the word power and strength kept coming up in the match commentary and analysis and it would seem the Kerry ladies had a lot of strength and power where and when it mattered most.

This was particularly so in their defence, and in that full-back line in particular, which had a huge impact on the game.

While you tend to associate cute and Kerry when they come in the one sentence, Sinead pointed to a number of instances in the game where Kerry’s cuteness was crucial in manufacturing scores.

However, as she also pointed out, goals win matches and Kerry hit four of them, the two early ones leaving Mayo chasing a game they never looked likely to catch up on despite Herculean efforts early in that second half.

She had expected Mayo to handle Kerry and even eke out a narrow win based on what she had seen, not just against Cork, but in games against Cavan and Armagh,

"Was it just a bridge too far?" prompted Michael D.

"Looking at Kerry I didn’t think it would not be a bridge too far. I thought with our experience we would be able to grind it out but were never reached the same tempo as we did against Cork. It just did not happen today but I can’t put my finger on the actual reasons," said Sinead.

She added: "A few of our key players were marked out of it and we did not pose the same scoring threat as Kerry.

"We can’t blame the referee because he had a good game overall.

“I just feel we lacked the same physicality as Kerry in some areas, particularly in trying to stop them running at us from their half-back line and midfield area."

As a former player she was gutted for the girls as they try to come to terms with such a defeat but she gave credit to the Kerry ladies who were told by their management team not to book any summer holidays until after the All-Ireland final.

But she stressed that it was important this core group of Mayo players, including those getting longer in the tooth with each passing year, stick together.

"It is important the core group stay together but also that we get more younger players in as the bench might have been used more as there were a lot of tired bodies out there but there are plenty of positives to keep this bunch of girls together and with more strength and conditioning, they will harden up more but there is just something missing at the moment which is hard to nail."

LIAM HOLDING THE CRC FORT

Meanwhile, on a busy weekend for sport, Liam Byrne, Community Radio Castlebar, was holding the fort at the station on Saturday afternoon with his Saturday Sports Show, which had some very interesting contributors and some lively discussion on a wide variety of sporting topics.

The show kicked off with some interesting comments from Castlebar’s Noel Hoban on horse racing in general, while he also marked the card for punters. The Castlebar Railway Station manager will keep you on the right track as he knows his horses so he might be worth tuning into on a regular basis.

The main thrust of the show was of course the challenge facing the Mayo County GAA Board in appointing a senior football manager to replace James Horan and there was a lively discussion.

Chloe Lynch from Woodfield near Kilkelly has built up a good following on her own website (htttps:// chloelynchgaajournalist.ie) and is a fairly enthusiastic Mayo GAA supporter, a regular contributor to the station and I can tell you she has very strong opinions on Mayo football and where it should be going in the future (maybe even a future manager).

Mind you, she didn’t take it from the wind as her mum Mairead is literally the power behind Paddy Power Bookmakers in Castlebar and we wish Chloe the best of luck in her sports journalism endeavours.

I had the pleasure of sharing the company of Chloe and Luke Dunne (a very talented musician I’m told and son of the legendary Castlebar taxi man, Ger Dunne) and no more than his dad, Luke is a big Mayo GAA fan and knows his football from top to bottom.

I have to say I was impressed by both these young contributors who spoke from their hearts and their heads on what can be an emotive topic given the huge support there is out there for Mayo football and the desire to bring home the Sam Maguire.

I’m not sure if we found the right manager to take charge of Mayo or came up with all the right answers but I have to say there was plenty for Mayo GAA chairman Seamus Tuohy and his committee to chew on if he cares to listen to the recording.

The main message from the programme was that the Mayo County Board must get this one right as the one thing Mayo can’t afford is to slip down the ladder given the high standards that have been maintained over the last 20 years in particular.

Horan has gone but he has left a solid foundation for his successor to build on.