Aidan O’Shea not worried about running out of time for All-Ireland glory

But O’Shea has learned to compartmentalise his seasons, each treated as a separate entity

Fri, 18 Dec, 2020 - 06:00

John Fogarty

That rap on Aidan O’Shea’s door is Father Time and he doesn’t need to open it to know who it is.

For all the talk about this Mayo team being a work in progress, the captain can’t buy into that.

Thirty since June, tomorrow marks his fourth All-Ireland final, his fifth if you include the 2016 replay, and he is thus far empty-handed. So while there’s heat in the iron he intends striking.

But O’Shea has learned to compartmentalise his seasons, each treated as a separate entity. He insists he has never considered he is running out of time.

“I have not thought about it. I have been lucky to play in quite a few of them and a lot of people would have said that this opportunity would not have afforded itself again. I book in one year after another and I see us as having a chance every year to get where we are because of the quality of player in Mayo. The future is strong.

“In terms of Cillian (O’Connor), Leeroy (Keegan) and myself, we will be moving on shortly but you see the core group that is coming, the young lads who have come in are pretty strong characters. I think there is an opportunity there every year but you need to capitalise on them when they come around.”

What O’Shea did feel has slipped past him was the captaincy. Like Stephen Cluxton and Stevie McDonnell, he was appointed captain of his country before his county.

“I have been quoted as saying that I thought that opportunity had passed me by, especially with the core group being a little bit younger but to be asked was huge. When I was asked at the start of the year, no more than any other player, the plan was to go on and win an All-Ireland title so that would have been at the back of my mind.”

O’Shea suggests the evolution of this team under James Horan may not have happened as quickly but for the pandemic.

“Maybe if the Championship had ran with no break in between, we may not have seen that acceleration in growth. It has given them that opportunity to develop physically and get a better understanding of what is required and what we wanted to do.”

One game in five weeks leading up to tomorrow compared to six in seven prior to facing Dublin in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final, O’Shea knows Mayo are better prepared this time around.

Tipperary’s Alan Campbell with Aidan O'Shea of Mayo. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

“Last year was funny in terms of that we were under pressure, patching a lot of things up week on week with the qualifiers and Super 8s and we probably went into that championship game with very little work done. I think we are a little bit further along in terms of our development as a group.

“There has been a huge injection from last year to this year, there is a huge change in personnel, there is a lot of freshness, we have had eight/nine debutants this year in the Championship which is huge and it does feel totally different outfit that we have.”

Part of a full-forward line that has contributed 6-43 this Championship (almost 69% of Mayo’s total scores and O’Connor has scored 5-31, 5-11 from play), O’Shea knows the strength of his playing partners O’Connor and Tommy Conroy.

“As I told Tommy and Cillian after the game, it was 4-14 between us (v Tipperary) on Sunday,” he laughed. “Yeah, look the guys are going really well. They complement each other really well.

“Cillian, obviously that break he probably needed that for his own body. People outside our group wouldn’t realise what he has done to put himself on a football pitch to try and put himself on a football pitch over the last five or six years to continue to contribute.

"To see him being free and being able to get out there and express himself the way he likes and being able to train week-in, week-out you see the fruits of it on the football pitch and what a player he is. I’m just delighted for him in that regard.

“Tommy on the other side, he’s just your kind of modern day corner-forward, isn’t he? He’s got a bit of everything, he’s got both feet and once he gets it he wants to go at you. He’s a real eye for goal, he’s a really good player and a really good addition for us.” And if there are penalties O’Shea will “be putting my hand up to take one”.

And like Declan Hannon last Sunday, does he have a speech prepared?

“I have not even thought about it. The fact that there is no crowd I did not prepare one for the Connacht final. They told me it was up to myself whether I wanted to make one or not. I am sure if the opportunity affords itself I will be able to improvise.”