Former Dublin star accuses Mayo of 'running scared'

Former Dublin GAA star Philly McMahon has claimed Mayo are 'running scared' by displaying a reluctance to play the defending All-Ireland champions at Croke Park in their forthcoming All-Ireland SFC group match scheduled for 'a neutral ground'.

In his column in today's Irish Independent, the eight-times All-Ireland title winner wrote: "‘Mayo have communicated to the GAA’s Central Competition Controls Committee that they do not want to play their neutral All-Ireland SFC group game against Dublin in Croke Park.

"Apparently, the Mayo chairman informed delegates of a request submitted to the GAA at Wednesday night’s county board meeting.

I don’t know why this story tickles me, but it does. There was a debate around this on Twitter a few weeks back, after the make-up of the groups were known, that made me laugh.

"You had people, not just Mayo fans, riled to the point of performative fury about the venue for a match that hadn’t even been fixed yet.

"According to a report on RTÉ.ie, Croke Park indicated on Thursday that there had never been any intention to play Dublin/Mayo there.

"Last year, in the corresponding round-robin game – ie, the neutral venue one – Dublin played Sligo in Breffni Park. Mayo played Cork in Limerick. There was no match across the four groups in Croke Park.

"Here’s my question: whoever said or suggested Croke Park would host the Dublin/Mayo in the first place?

"Or were people just jumping to a conclusion?

"Are we that deep in online outrage culture now that we see a potential source of anger and give it the full steam-coming-out-the-ears act pre-emptively? What a time to be alive.

"So if the GAA say Croke Park was never a runner, what was the need for Mayo’s request? There are a few options to consider here.

Was it because they genuinely believed the GAA, bearing in mind the inevitable outrage and accusations of unfairness, would put the game in Croke Park? Really?

"The more interesting question here is whether Mayo acted on foot of a request from team management. It’s plausible.

"The Dublin/Mayo game is almost sure to have top spot in the group and a straight path to an All-Ireland quarter-final riding on it.

"Mayo’s season fell apart last year at the end of the Cork match when they doomed themselves to a preliminary quarter-final and three matches on consecutive weekends.

"Beating Dublin has a different prize this year. It’s not the usual all-duck-or-no-dinner dynamic.

"This particular game isn’t about the All-Ireland or even demonstrating the capacity to win one.

"So, if you’re Mayo, you look to tilt as many conditions as possible in your favour. Fine. But whatever about right and the wrong of the situation, is this the best course of action for Mayo?

"They don’t look, to me, a team very sure on their feet just now. Maybe going to Croke Park to play Dublin would have been the worst possible scenario.

"Personally, I always got the impression from the Mayo teams I played against that not only had they no issue playing us in Croke Park, but they preferred it.

That’s where the All-Ireland was going to be won. That was their ambition. You’re either up to it or you’re not.

"The issue now is clearly more about the opposition than it is about the venue. Would Mayo have made that request were they playing Kerry in their last match? No, almost certainly not.

"So I get all that. If I was from Mayo, I’d agree with this course of action. In fact, I’d demand it.

"It’s championship football. You do what you can to give yourself an extra one per cent or deprive the opposition of the same.

"But putting aside the identities of the counties involved, my competitive animal sees it as an opportunity missed.

"I know what I’d want – a crack at the best team in the most hostile environment and/or the biggest stage. Every single time.

"The only situation where I’d prefer to avoid those conditions is if I knew, in my heart of hearts, we just weren’t good enough. Is that where Mayo are? It’s a double-edged sword.

"Maybe Mayo will beat Dublin in Dr Hyde Park or Tullamore or wherever and it gives them a lift and a weekend off and puts a few cracks in Dublin’s confidence.

"Then, yes, you can say you were vindicated. Everyone – management, players, county board – take a bow.

"But maybe they don’t and the thing you were trying to avoid in Croke Park just happens somewhere else. Then what?

​How do you convince yourself now that you’re good enough to beat Dublin if you meet again, this time in Croke Park, which you’ll almost certainly have to if you’re going to be successful?

"There’s something else to consider here: optics.

"Could it be that the Mayo county board wanted everyone to know they were doing their bit?

"To avoid the wrath of their own for being passive about an emotive issue, and one around which they have a genuine entitlement – ie, a right to a neutral venue?

"The precise dynamics of county boards are not something with which I have great knowledge.

"But if you were trying to keep a game out of a venue, particularly when there wasn’t much chance of it being there in the first place, wouldn’t you just make the request on the QT and say nothing publicly, rather than drawing attention to the fact and leaving yourself open to the interpretation – rightly or wrongly – that you just don’t fancy it?

"That’s the biggest question all this raises, one we might not have been asking if they’d gone about the business more discreetly.

"What exactly is the extent of Mayo’s ambition this year?"