New Mayo manager hopes Alan Brogan can inspire his ageing warriors

Mayo are so close to the edge of ending their GAA famine they are like one of those tipping point machines in arcades.

One little nudge and they will fall over the edge in the hysteria of an All-Ireland win. And new manager Stephen Rochford is hoping that he can keep the current group of players together long enough to make sure they get finally obtain the ultimate prize. Mayo have lost two All-Ireland finals, and been beaten in two other semi finals in the last four years, while the current group of players will be looking for a history-making sixth Connacht title in a row next summer. With so many near misses, the current Mayo boss feels that instead of weariness creeping into the squad, he believes the team should use a Dublin GAA hero as inspiration to push on for their first All-Ireland since 1951.

"I'm not concerned about the mileage. The modern footballer is conditioned and rested and has got the very best of support, be it strength and conditioning and medical, nutrition. "I think the longevity of the inter-county footballer, whilst knowing it is attritional, with that level of expertise guys can go. These guys, from what I can see, still have huge hunger. "Age isn't a barrier from my perspective. We saw the likes of Alan Brogan, a quality player that still can do it at 33, 34."

Alan Dillon is the only player so far to be rumoured to be close to quitting, but Rochford confirmed last night he expects to be missing Cillian O’Connor for the entire Allianz League due to injury. Mickey Conroy is recovering from an Achilles injury while Andy Moran is also carrying a knock. Rochford also admitted that he will be looking to challenge his players in their pre-season starting in the coming weeks.

“I wouldn’t be saying there’s no chance for guys, it’s really what the next seven or eight weeks will show. “We’re going to take it session by session but, believe you me, guys are going to be challenged over the next seven to eight weeks.”

When they instigated a coup to oust Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly, the players did so in search of higher standards. It looks like Rochford may deliver.