'Definitely no trepidation' within Mayo camp ahead of Kerry clash - Colm Boyle

AN All-Ireland final against the defending champions might put fear in many people, but Mayo selector Colm Boyle is taking it in his stride.

“Definitely no trepidation,” he said when the question was put to him regarding Sunday's decider against Kerry in Croke Park.

He was speaking at Mayo's pre-All-Ireland final media event just two days after they had defeated Louth in the semi-final, and by Boyler's own account, he didn't really have time to think about it at that stage.

“I think sometimes confidence comes from knowing the work that's done, number one, but personalities in the group as well,” said Boyle.

“Like, there's some brilliant, brilliant characters in the group. Some really, say, driven people. I've been on the outside really since I finished playing. And you kind of forget what really driven inter-county players look like.

“And obviously some of the younger guys would have added to that as well.

"But I think the likes of Jack Carney and Jack Coyne, the kind of boys in their mid-20s, the Enda Hessions, the Ryan O'Donoghues, those guys are really pushing the boat out, chasing inches everywhere. Confidence comes from that as well.

“I can only kind of reference back to my own playing days. I think hunger comes from wanting wanting to be the best you can be.

"And I think the boys are now at that stage of their career – some of the guys I mentioned there – where they know it's time now to push the boat out here.

"We kind of played at a level over the last couple of years where they haven't really gotten close to where they want to go. And it's time to push the boat on in terms of that.

“Have things been perfect this year? Absolutely not. It's been rocky at times. We've had good performances, we've had bad performances.

"We've won games where we played poorly and we've lost games we've played actually quite well and other games where we haven't played well at all. So there's been a general mixture.

“But I think if you look to any team's form this year, most teams have been generally around that. I don't think any team has been perfect at every stage of the championship.

“We'll obviously focus in on ourselves more and highlight ourselves more because we're Mayo. We're really invested in it. But I think in general, the boys you mentioned there, they're really trying to push the boat out.

"A couple of younger lads have come in and made a big difference as well in terms of new winners (coming) into the group, and then you have the experienced boys really adding in terms of their input as well, which is great.”

Going back, then, to trepidation and Croke Park and All-Ireland final day.

Boyler believes that has been a levelling-off among inter-county teams and, therefore, there's no reason why Mayo can't defeat Kerry on Sunday.

“Power rankings are the biggest waste of time in my opinion because how can you say a team in 10th is better than a team in fourth? On any given day, if they play each other, any of them can beat each other,” the assistant coach said.

Kerry would be ahead of Mayo in the power rankings but that doesn't mean the former will defeat the latter on Sunday afternoon.

Colm Boyle is doing his best within the Mayo set-up to ensure it's the Green and Red supporters who will be happiest this weekend.