Mayo squad return to training after short break
by Aiden Henry
After a week off, the Mayo senior Gaelyic football squad has returned to training this evening (Wednesday) following a well-earned break.
They now have over four weeks to prepare for their opening game in the group stages of the All-Ireland quarterfinals.
While many Mayo supporters might have expected the team to jet off to Portugal for a week's training, like Galway and Kerry did a short while back, The Connaught Telegraph has learned that this will not be the case and that they will be having a special four-day training camp at home, starting on the Thursday, April 27, leading up to the May bank holiday weekend.
Meanwhile, there is still a little confusion as to how the All-Ireland championship quarterfinal series will work following the completion of the provincial championships.
Who exactly will compete in the group phase?
In all, 16 teams in four groups of four will go forward to compete at this stage of the championship.
The groups will be comprised of the eight provincial finalists, the 2022 Tailteann Cup winners (Westmeath) and the seven next best-placed counties from the league. Should Westmeath qualify for the Leinster final, an additional top-ranked league side would make the cut.
Now, how will the groups be formed?
Teams will be drawn into seeded groups comprised of four teams each. Provincial final opponents cannot face each other. Seedings will take on the following shape: Seed 1 – provincial winner; Seed 2 – provincial runner-up; Seed 3 – the next four best-ranked league sides (which will include Mayo); seed 4 – Westmeath/next three best-ranked league sides.
Each team will play three group games – one at home, one away and one at a neutral venue. The following are the dates for these games: Round 1 - Seed 1 v Seed 3, Seed 2 v Seed 4 (May 20/21 and 27/28); Round 2 - Seed 3 v Seed 2, Seed 4 v Seed 1 (June 3/4); Round 3 - Seed 1 v Seed 2, Seed 3 v Seed 4 (June 17/18).
After that, 12 counties will advance to the All-Ireland SFC knockout stages. The four preliminary quarterfinals will consist of the second-placed teams being at home to third-placed teams, subject to avoiding of repeat provincial final pairing and, where possible, repeat pairings from round one.
At the quarterfinal stage, the four group winners will meet the preliminary quarterfinal victors, subject to the avoidance of repeat provincial final pairings and, where possible, repeat pairings from round one.
The preliminary quarterfinals will take place on June 24/25, while quarterfinal action will follow at neutral venues on the first weekend in July. The All-Ireland semi-finals will be played on July 15/16 before the decider throws in on July 30.
Who are Mayo likely to be playing in their first group game, which will be away from home?
It will be one of the four provincial winners, who are likely to be Kerry (Munster), Dublin (Leinster), Galway or Roscommon (Connacht) and Derry, Monaghan or Armagh (Ulster).
If Roscommon beat Galway next Sunday and go on to win the Connacht title, they can’t meet Mayo in the group stages. If that were to be the case, Mayo will play either the Munster, Leinster or Ulster provincial champions. However, if Galway win Connacht, Mayo will be travelling to either Killarney, Croke Park, Salthill or one of the Ulster counties for their first group game.
In round two, Mayo will be at home to one of the provincial runners-up, while their third game will be against one of the bottom seeds at a neutral venue.
The following is the league rankings from which the seven teams will be picked to make up the third and fourth seeds: Mayo, 2 Galway, 3 Roscommon, 4 Tyrone, 5 Kerry, 6 Monaghan, 7 Dublin, 8 Derry, 9 Armagh, 10 Donegal, 11 Louth, 12 Cork, 13 Kildare, 14 Meath, 15 Cavan, 16 Fermanagh, 17 Clare, 18 Limerick, 19 Down, 20 Westmeath, 21 Offaly, 22 Antrim, 23 Sligo, 24 Wicklow, 25 Longford, 26 Tipperary, 27 Laois, 28 Wexford, 29 Leitrim, 30 Carlow, 31 Waterford, 32 London.
The final make-up of the groups will become much clearer once the pairings for the different provincial championship finals are decided in the coming weeks.