Galway’s biggest troubles are all in the mind, reckons veteran skipper David Collins

Galway captain David Collins isn’t afraid to say it — his team have suffered a collective mental hang-up in recent years.

Consider their last two championships for the most part comprise a game they stumbled to win (Laois, 2013), two in which they were outclassed (Clare 2013, Kilkenny 2014) and another brace when they lost significant leads (Kilkenny, Tipperary 2014) and they are perilously close to being recognised as flaky.

Don’t expect Collins to use that adjective but his assessment of Galway’s litany of disappointments points to a major shortcoming. “I think it is a mental thing. You can train as hard as you want and we are all fit and our first touch is excellent or whatever it is but it’s that aggression level. When you are on the field and you play the game as you see it. When you bring in too many tactics and trying to stop the other team playing, then I suppose you lose your own fluidity.