Madness ... Chaos ... Giddiness ... Just some of the words Lee Keegan uses repeatedly to articulate what brings out the best in Mayo football.
And nobody knows it better. Widely lauded for his exceptional reading of the game as a player, Keegan has lost none of that as a pundit, his at times startling insight every bit as impressive as some of his manoeuvrers on the field.
Now, for the first time since his retirement in January of this year, at age 33, Keegan is reading into Mayo’s latest showdown against Dublin in Sunday’s All-Ireland quarter-final. It’s their first championship meeting since the 2021 semi-final, which Mayo won after extra-time, 0-17 to 0-14, bridging the nine-year gap since their last championship win over Dublin, in the 2012 semi-final.
They met 10 times during that 11-year period, Keegan featuring in them all, most of those games marked by the sort of madness, chaos and giddiness he’s talking about and reckons Mayo will want to bring to Croke Park on Sunday.
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“I think they are relishing it,” he says of Mayo’s quarter-final draw. “Even similar to the Galway one, I think they are the games they need, now that they have thrown off the safety net.
“That’s when Mayo play some of their best football sometimes. And the biggest thing is if the game descends into any sort of chaos as we know with the Dublin game, that’s where Mayo play their best football.
“Especially the way Mayo and Galway are at the moment, and they had been talked about as contenders, I think there’s a huge relief around the county and all of a sudden the hype train is gone up again with the draw that has added to the chaos we all associate Mayo with.
“[There’s] a lot to work on, but the sight of Dublin will bring the best out of Mayo, and we always associate Mayo with that bit of madness around the Dublin game.”
The first thing Mayo need to work on, his says, is their scoring rate, which going on recent games wouldn’t be enough to beat Dublin.
“No, no, definitely not. And even looking at the spread of scorers in the Louth game and Cork game, from up top, I think we had three starting forwards or four in both of those games that scored, and that’s a concern.
“But I think there’s chinks in Dublin’s defence where they can exploit. My worry is that Dublin set up with a good system and structure early on and keep away from that chaotic stuff that Mayo love against Dublin, I think that Mayo might struggle a little bit.
“I know they’re going to keep Aidan O’Shea up top, I think that’s a smart idea. The thing I like about Mayo is they have a bit of depth now and they can rely on James Carr coming off the bench, scoring, Cillian [O’Connor] came on the last day and scored so that’s a huge bonus.
“But I still don’t think we’re scoring enough to win these games and if they don’t get over that threshold on Sunday, and score more than 1-11, then I can’t see us winning the game.”
Keegan believes if Mayo get past Dublin anything is possible, although another All-Ireland final is still a long way off. During his 12 seasons with Mayo, he featured in seven of them, including one replay; 2012, 2013, the 2016 draw and replay, then 2017, 2020 and 2021.
There’s also some uncertainty about what Dublin team will show up: “I just don’t know where Dublin are at. It’s so hard to get a reading on them. For me, I think they’re a team that look a bit bored sometimes, and this is the game that they want and need to get them up and running.
“I do think the sight of a Mayo game is the ideal scenario for them. For me, at the moment, I still probably feel if they [Dublin] play to their capabilities, I still think they might just have enough, just about.”
Keegan brings it back to chaos again, something Mayo have sometimes relied upon to get past opposition. “I think they got it on Sunday [against Galway] in some aspects, in that third quarter. You know, two turnovers, that adds to the chaos for Mayo. Then when a team is chasing, Mayo pick you off for a score and before you know it, you’re in a spiral as the opposition. Because they don’t know what they’re going to do next. I think they need a degree of it.
“Again, if Dublin don’t allow that, how are Mayo going to create that chaos or bring that madness to the game.
“I think if they let the shackles off and get Con O’Callaghan on the ball as much as possible, that’s where they get most joy. And Mayo are aware of that, if they can stop that I think they have a great chance. But it’s trying to stop that.”
The giddiness around Mayo football isn’t always a good thing, only he thinks Mayo have the balance of it for now. “It’s funny, we’ve beaten Kerry and Galway and potentially could beat Dublin and we still haven’t won an All-Ireland.
“When you beat Galway, the giddiness is definitely there at the moment, but once the draw came out, I think a lot of the fans realised pretty fast the challenge ahead.”
What is at least certain is that Keegan has no regrets about his retirement: “Not at all, to be honest. And if Mayo do go on to get it, I would be happiest for a cohort of that group, because I trooped with them for 11, 12, 13 years, and I would never begrudge that.”
