Defeats in past finals 'not discussed' by present squad of Mayo players - Jack Carney

by Aiden Henry

MAYO midfielder Jack Carney said that past defeats in finals are not discussed by the present squad of players and will not affect their preparation or motivation ahead of this year's final.

Speaking at Mayo GAA's pre-All-Ireland media night in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, Castlebar, the Kilmeena club man also touched on different aspects of the modern game and the county's preparation for Sunday's decider against Kerry.

“The team, led by Andy, adopts a 'process over outcome' mentality, focusing on constant improvement rather than being obsessed with history or final results,” said Jack.

“The players do not discuss the county's historical losses amongst themselves, and the negative narrative does not affect their preparation or motivation.”

On reaching the All-Ireland final after defeating Louth, Carney said it was an incredible feeling. “First and foremost, the game against Louth in Croke was an incredible atmosphere – probably one of the best I've ever played in. It was an amazing day, amazing weather, amazing atmosphere. Really happy to have obviously progressed to an All-Ireland final. Yeah, it was really, really incredible event in itself.”

Carney went on to say that while he has played at midfield and wing forward this season, both are very similar.

“To be honest, they're very similar in the inter-county game in that a kick-out can come out on top of you just as often at wing-forward as it would when you're in midfield. But I'm very used to playing midfield with my club. I really enjoy being involved in that contest around the middle, one v ones. Some days it goes your way and it's great and other days it doesn't and that's just the way football is.

“Anywhere around the middle area I'm really happy to get the jersey. Also, I suppose I like playing expressive football – kicking the ball, shooting the ball as much as I can. There is more space there.

“The crowd gives you far more energy as well. It (Croke Park) is an amazing place. You've always dreamed of playing there so you want to just give your best. I do love playing there, yeah, and the more I can play there the better.”

How big is the battle in the middle of the field now? “I think it's always a huge, huge battle. I suppose some of the time it can be a toss-up, could be a breaking ball here or there, and some days your luck is in and others it's not.

"But I suppose if you just continue to prep and try to do the right thing each time, you should eventually come out on a decent percentage of those kick-outs.

“I suppose that's all we can do over the few days – have a look at Kerry but mostly prep ourselves for that physicality and for the breaking ball because I suppose most of the ball gets to ground, it’s about who's reacting to it first and who's diving on it. You can prepare for so much but with this new game, you just never know what will happen.”

PARADOX

Growing up, did Jack expect to playing in Croke Park on All-Ireland final day? “I don't think any fella expects to be here,” he said.

“It feels like forever since I started playing with Mayo, but it also has gone by so, so quick. It's a paradox. You've put so much time, so many hours in every single year, but it also absolutely flew by. But it's only hopefully the midway or the beginning.

“I think Andy has really drilled into us since the very beginning that this is all about a process-driven culture. You cannot be obsessed by the outcome. If you were, most of your career would be a disappointment because you're not winning every year and that's just a fact.

“I'm really enjoying that culture and just trying to get better all the time at any part of your game. Just constantly trying to improve, and that's the exact same for this week.”

Mayo been impressive two-point shooters this year, and Jack said there is a combination of factors behind that.

“It's probably repetition out here on the training field, but it's mostly, I'd say, being trusted by team-mates and management that you're backed to take those shots. That regardless of how they go. You've earned the right to take them because you've practiced them.

“On occasions this year I've missed the first one, I've missed the second one. But I knew that the next effort, if it comes my way, I'm still trusted to take it. That makes you really free.

“There's no pressure on me really because I know that I'm trusted to take it and if it goes over, that's great, and if not, that's fine. I'm still trusted to take it, and I will still be trusted the next day to take it. I think that trust and earning the right to take it is probably the biggest thing.

“The is the same for all the players. It could be anyone. As long as that person has earned the right to take the shots and just put the hours in, we're absolutely happy with them taking them (two-point shots). We're absolutely fine with them missing, and we're absolutely trusted to take the next one.

“I think that takes so much pressure off a player. You're not thinking about that. You're fully trusted to take the next one. To be honest, that's all that matters. You don't really care about what the fans think if you're missing because you know who has put in the time and you know who's trusted to take that.”

What was the most pleasing game so far in this campaign?

“I suppose the Louth game was probably the most pleasing in many ways in that we were pretty decent offensively in the attack but also we were okay defensively as well, that we were pretty compact.

“There were times in the year that we were maybe too expressive going forward and we left ourselves vulnerable at the back.

"That's happened on many occasions, and also there's been times where we haven't come out with right side of, let's say, a kick-out battle or our offense hasn't clicked as well as it should have. I suppose the constant chase we're looking for and Andy's looking for is trying to get the balance between getting all of those areas right.

“The Louth game was a good example of that. We got a few of those areas pretty well. But we were also down on numbers in a good few other areas in the log game, so there are a lot of areas to improve on in that regard.

“It's never going to be a case where all those things click perfectly together but I suppose, as Andy keeps referencing, the fun is in the process of trying to get better all the time, so we'll do that over the next two weeks.

Are some of the youngers players asking Jack for advice at this stage of his career?

“Yeah,” he said, “and I'd ask them for advice. I think it's a very, very open group in that from the youngest to the oldest, everyone has something to offer.

“They might tell us to chill out a bit, don't think about it as much. Then you might ask an older lad, he might tell you maybe you need to focus on this area a little bit more.

“A culture like that, it's hard to get anywhere else in any other walk of life where everyone is so connected and we're all trying to learn things off each other. We'd all look to each other for little tips.”

* Check out the 28-page All-Ireland SFC final supplement in this week's issue of The Connaught Telegraph.