“Those four or five players have phenomenal, phenomenal, fitness levels.”
Mayo are in yet another All-Ireland semi-final, a truly astonishing achievement given the turnover of players in recent years.
In fact, only three players from the 2017 All-Ireland final, were starting for the Mayo side that lined out against Galway.
To keep this level of consistency, new players need to hit the ground running as soon as they are introduced to the senior county team, and that’s what they have been doing.
Speaking on the GAA Hour, Colm Parkinson discusses the unbelievable conditioning of some of these players.
“You see the likes of Lee Keegan, Paddy Durcan, Oisin Mullin, Matthew Ruane, particularly those four, and McGloughlin, you’re talking about fella’s that can make five or six 100m sprints, going from one 21 to the other 21.
“There doing that fix or six times a half, along with the other work that they’re expected to be doing. Those four or five players have phenomenal, phenomenal, fitness levels.”
Former Armagh star, Aaron Kernan was also on the show, and he believes that these levels of fitness, come from the consistent work of the managerial team.
“I think that’s where you really have to compliment Horn, and in fairness, the managers that have gone before him.
“Whenever this previous Mayo team were going well and getting to All-Ireland finals, as good as Paddy Durcan was, he was the impact sub for them.
“Mullin, McGloughlin, Ruane, these were all new players that have came in.”
“Lee Keegan is still doing it as well,” added Parkinson.
“Lee Keegan looked as lean and as good a shape as I seen him, in a long, long time.
“He looks like he’s back to himself, the pace that he was breaking up the wings, particularly in the second half, even when you thought he wasn’t going to get on the ball, he was putting the burners on and going up the field.
“All of those boys are conditioned to be top class inter-county players, and they just bring so much to the Mayo game, and they really carry on a huge amount of what we have seen from the 10 years previous.
“By them doing what they’re doing, when they don’t have as many top marquee forwards as maybe Dublin and Kerry would, they create so many opportunities, because they’re just so hard to mark.
“If you’re a defender on the opposition team, and you see them coming at the pace they’re coming at, it’s very hard for your brain to process.
“Do I stay with my own, do I go with him, where is the danger coming from here?
“To communicate that with those around you, particularly in Croke Park, it is very, very difficult.”
You can listen to the full discussion on the GAA Hour now!
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