Few teams captured the strangely unexpected openings of the Allianz Football League more than Mayo. After rolling over All-Ireland championship Kerry in Killarney, they then got rolled over in Castlebar by Tyrone, who themselves had been rolled over by Monaghan in the opening round.
So to round three, where Mayo host Monaghan (also on one win, one loss) and with that chance to established a little more consistency. For new Mayo captain Keith Higgins it's all part of the league process, although there is still a heightened sense of not letting slip the consistency that was developed under James Horan.
“We’ve certainly been very up and down,” says Higgins, “and I wouldn’t read too much into it just yet. The first game against Kerry was very open, then against Tyrone we came up against a very defensive system.
Tough team
“It’s the time of year you can’t get too worked up about it. Like after winning below in Killarney, you can’t get too far the other way either, when you lose. It would be worse if it was the summer, and you weren’t able to get around it then.
“Tyrone are always a tough team to play against, although we didn’t expect them to go that defensive. It worked for them on the day, and we can’t have any complaints. As Donie Vaughan said in an interview you learn more out of defeat than you do out of victory . . .”
Mayo's new management of Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly are still learning too, although Higgins clearly believes that the players themselves carry as much responsibility for building again on the Horan era.
“It’s like anything, when a new management comes in it takes a while for them to get used to things. And coming from having four years with James, we got used to the set up and his way of doing things. So it probably took everyone a few weeks to find their feet, but it is going well so far.
“And in fairness to James Horan, he put a very good set up in place. There was a good structure around him, the players bought into that really. The onus is on the players to set that standard again and hopefully we’ll be able to do that . . .”
At 29 – and still juggling with a bit of hurling, too – Higgins has lost none of his appetite for the game, and despite the now infamous tweet late last year, when he jokingly announced his retirement, he has every faith in Mayo’s prospects for 2015.
“At the time it was just a bit of craic,” he admits, with proof yet again of the power of Twitter. “The next thing the phone starting hopping and I said ‘I have to take this down’ but the lads didn’t let me for a while. So a couple of hours later I said enough is enough. So I just clarified things. Though no one will believe me now, when I really retire. Hopefully that won’t be for a while yet.”
More motivated
If anything, he says, he’s even more motivated for this year, given the way 2014 ended up, and that narrow All-Ireland semi-final replay defeat to Kerry.
“People ask that, does it get harder to come back, after getting so close. But I think it is the opposite way. If you were getting beaten in qualifier games, not getting to quarter-finals, it would be a bit more difficult. But getting so close, knowing you are not too far away, it probably gives you the ambition to come back in January . . .
“And I can’t say that Kerry going on to win the All-Ireland made any difference. I don’t think it mattered who won. Three weeks after losing to Kerry we were still very bitter, very sore and very disappointed at the way it finished up. So the overall outcome didn’t really matter. We didn’t win it.”
