Morrison: Mayo mindset has to change
The Armagh native, a selector when the county lost out in the 2006 decider, claimed the current crop of Mayo footballers have been affected by the negative attitude of GAA enthusiasts in the west.
“The real curse is the mindset of Mayo people,” said Morrison.
“I have heard Mayo people saying all year that their footballers are going well, they could win the All-Ireland, but never have I heard they are going to win it.
“Not alone have the Mayo players grown up listening to Mayo can’t win this and that, the word ‘final’ in particular seems to scare them.
“Back in 2006 we beat Kerry in the first round of the National League. It was the first time we had beaten Kerry in something like ten years. I felt maybe the mindset was turning. We beat Tyrone and Laois (the only two teams to beat us in the league) en route to the All-Ireland final. Still coming up to the final people were asking me ‘do you think we will win?’ It was the old mindset again.”
Morrison sent a text to Donie Buckley in the wake of the Tyrone victory advising him to monitor the players’ mental state in the run-in to Sunday’s game. He was speaking from experience having encountered “sweaty palms” on the morning of the 2006 All-Ireland final.
“I sent the text and I said: ‘I feel this team is ready, but check the mindset’. I sent it after the Tyrone game because they looked vulnerable in the opening 30 minutes. It is a grounded mindset they have to overturn.
“If I was James Horan, I would have tried to keep the Mayo players away from the press. I don’t mind them giving interviews, but I would stop them reading their own interviews, the interviews of Dublin players, turn off the radio and ask their parents not to talk about the game. It is the only way to protect them from that creeping in.”
Though hampered by a shoulder injury, Cillian O’Connor has been included in Mayo’s starting 15, but if Morrison was patrolling the sideline the Ballintubber corner-forward wouldn’t even be listed among the substitutes.
“He is not entirely fit and regardless of whether he starts or comes in, you are standing there with your fingers crossed.
“Jim Gavin will not stand up and direct his players to take Cillian O’Connor out of the game, but it is almost the unwritten code of the GAA — ‘if he’s injured take him out’.
“When Cillian is 50, if he is sent on less than a hundred per cent fit, he will end up with arthritis.
“If targeted and he is not fully fit, instead of waiting a week and missing the final, playing on Sunday could put him out for a whole year for the sake of 20 minutes to do something you are not even guaranteed he will do.”
The Dublin bench has been Jim Gavin’s trump card this summer, but Morrison maintains it would be to team’s detriment if either Kevin McManamon or Dean Rock were to start on Sunday.
“My argument is will McManamon and Rock provide the same value if started?
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