CONNACHT SFCAN INTERESTING point was made by Mayo goalkeeper David Clarke at yesterday's promotion for the Connacht football final against Galway on Sunday in Castlebar. How well can an amateur squad know each other?
Sure, there are the long coach trips to away games, but the iPod normally takes precedence. With careers or studies ensuring intercounty players' life are fairly hectic, they rarely have time to stand around after training.
Sometimes, it takes years to bond. Sometimes, it never comes. In the case of the new-look Mayo panel there was a natural teething process. John O'Mahony made a conscious decision this season to bring on the next generation. For Clarke, the main priority was to familiarise himself with full back Kieran Conroy.
"It takes a while. Kieran played the last few games in the league and Billy Joe (Padden) was there before that. I have known Billy Joe for a good number of years, I got to know Kieran only in the last number of months and that trip to Portugal was very helpful.
"You got to speak to people because when you are working you just go training and do your work and you could be working at night or early in the morning and don't have time to be sticking around chit-chatting. So the trip to Portugal was very beneficial because there were lads I wouldn't have known and got to know them and have a few pints with them."
So, it is an unknown mix that welcomes Galway to McHale Park. A rebuilding year, as christened by O'Mahony recently; a fusion of an All-Ireland winning under-21 team into a group that has twice suffered at the hands of Kerry with Sam Maguire in sight.
"You cannot keep looking back and killing yourself about what happened in the past," said Clarke. "Especially myself. I am disappointed with what happened last year against Derry I made an error and the game fell after that.
"That is in my own mind more so than 2006 (All-Ireland final), I got rid of thinking about 2006, I don't think about it anymore. I said we have a lot of new players, we are working together and we just want to see how we get on."
To many people outside of Connacht they are unfamiliar names. "Some of them were introduced last year through the qualifiers ...Tom Cunniffe. If you look through the team that is starting, Colm Boyle won an All-Ireland, Kieran Conroy is a young enough player.
"Colm Boyle made his debut, Kieran Conroy made his debut, Tom Parsons played last year against Derry. Mark Ronaldson came on the last day against Sligo to make his debut, as did Mickey Mullins.
"So there are a large number of players like that. Shane Nallen is another one on the panel. Aiden Campbell is on the panel, there are a large number of younger players.
"I don't think you can really say they are too young because the fact is a lot of teams that win All-Irelands definitely have 19 and 20 year olds. They are the people that have ambition and drive. Speed is a big thing in today's game and you have that in abundance when you are 19 to 21."
