Mayo's Paddy Durcan happy with new recruits

It’s going to be a confusing few days for Mayo’s Paddy Durcan who lines up against his student housemate, Tyrone defender Michael McKernan on Sunday before going to war alongside him in the colours of University of Ulster Jordanstown in Wednesday’s Sigerson Cup tie against NUI Galway.

However, such a schedule of games spares him from the gruelling rigours of early season training.

“It’s good to get you fit at this time of year and from a player’s point of view you want to play games,” beams the Castlebar man.

After four years at DCU studying Business, Durcan now finds himself in a house full of Ulster footballers including McKernan, Donegal’s Eoghan Ban Gallagher, and Derry’s Gareth McKinless and Terence O’Brien.

His studies have switched to sports psychology. As a Mayo footballer, he gets the practical experience to go with the theory.

“I’d be keen on a lot of sports,” he says.

“The All Blacks are a high environment group, the NFL I’d be watching but you can learn a lot from watching other sports. I’d be a big sports enthusiast and read different books, ‘Legacy’ about the All Blacks and stuff like that.”

He continues:

Any sports, if you’re following the Irish rugby team or Premiership soccer clubs, you’re just interested to see what that environment is like.

"There are different facets you can take from any sporting environment and apply it to your own and how you can improve yourself and just from a general genuine keen interest in watching other sports to see how they work.”

And from a team of New Zealanders to one who was born in The Land of the Long White Cloud, James Horan is back in his second spell as Mayo manager. He is all new to Durcan who came into the panel the year after Horan’s first term ended.

“I have enjoyed it so far. He is willing to give new fellas a chance and they’ve done really well to date.

“Are we the finished article so far? Definitely not, but we’re going to keep working at it and get ourselves better,” he states.

“There’s a freshness about it and four young lads coming in for their debuts which is good to see. Brian Reape got a goal, Conor Diskin, Fionn McDonagh, James McCormack and other lads are pushing hard in training and will get chances, which is good coming into Championship.”

For all their evolution, come the summer you suspect that Horan may be turning to the majority of his battle-hardened core. They will still have that magnificent level of support behind them.

“The main thing playing with Mayo, from a support point of view, I wouldn’t be able to do it justice talking about it because people are football-mad in Mayo. They want to see you do well and you get immense pride playing with that,” marvels Durcan.

“Even the other night on an horrendous night (the league opening win over Roscommon) they were there in their thousands. They’ll be in Omagh and they were in Carrick-on-Shannon and Tuam for FBD League games.

“You’re definitely aware of what you’re playing for and you want to do well and for yourself, your family and stuff like that.

There is an expectation, you have to deliver for those fans, and they deserve it. You want to work hard and do well for them.

Put it down to all those lectures, but he frames the last number of seasons and close misses with Sam Maguire differently to most.

“It’s the nature of sport at the top level. Some days you’re going to win certain challenges and other days you’re going to fall the other side of it.

"It’s a privilege to get the opportunity to play in big games and if that’s pressure, well that’s a lot more pressurised things like that going on in life.”