Conroy adapts to life on sidelines but calls for solutions to 'overplaying'

Conroy suffered the season-ending injury 48 hours after lining out for Mayo in the League and while he has no regrets about the competitive load he took on earlier this year, he said the “optimum solution” for overburdened young players would be zero crossover of the Allianz League and third-level competitions.

“I wouldn’t say I have any regrets, but at the same time I definitely think there needs to be something done, especially in terms of lads my age playing Sigerson and on intercounty panels. In terms of scheduling, it needs to change because there is probably too much going on around that period,” Conroy insisted.

“At my age, all you want to do is play football, and it can be difficult to have that conversation and say you want to play X and you don’t want to play Y.” 

It is suggested on an almost annual basis that inter-county players attending third-level line out exclusively with their college team until such time as they exit the Fitzgibbon or Sigerson Cup, but the 22-year-old doesn’t see this as a runner given players could end up missing the first three rounds of the League.

“The optimum solution would be to play Sigerson and then play the National League. The National League starts at the end of January, so you are talking about doing [the Sigerson] before Christmas. It is definitely something we need to take a lot of time to look at.

“It is hard to find the golden solution but if you could put them on separately, have the Sigerson finish before the National League, it might be good.” 

Conroy, who is hopeful of returning to action sometime in October or November, admitted that the first six weeks post-injury were “very difficult” as the inside forward struggled with his new reality — being reduced to a mere spectating role for almost the entirety of 2022.

“The first National League game I went to after getting injured, I found it very difficult, but I have got to the stage where I obviously acknowledge I won’t be able to contribute on the field this year," he said.

“When you are down at training, you might meet a couple of lads out for two or three weeks and you can see it is even more frustrating for them. There might be a game on the horizon and they think they can get back for that, whereas I have come to the conclusion now that it is going to be six months before I am back to full fitness.” 

Advice was offered by current teammates Cillian O’Connor and Jason Doherty, both of whom recently returned from lengthy injury lay-offs, while former Mayo forward Andy Moran was another ACL victim to get in touch and provide some perspective.

“A lot of people think it is the be all and end all when you do your ACL, but Jason said it is a lot more straightforward than you think," said Conroy. "That reassured me a bit.” 

The aforementioned O’Connor played his first bit of football in the green and red in almost 10 months when sprung from the bench with a quarter of an hour remaining in the Allianz National League Division 1 Final defeat to Kerry. The combined absence of both O'Connor and Conroy during the League campaign had placed a heavy scoring burden on Ryan O’Donoghue - he accounted for one-third of Mayo’s 6-103 League total. But Conroy has backed O’Connor to be even better than he was before damaging his Achilles tendon last June.

“In terms of his smarts on the field, he is probably one of the smartest players in the game," said Conroy. "He is also one of the most skilled players in the game. I'd have a lot of confidence in him to get back to just as good as he was and better. “ 

The 2020 Young Footballer of the Year nominee will be inside in the Mayo dressing-room for Galway’s visit to Castlebar this Sunday, Conroy expressing total confidence in his teammates to turn out a performance much improved on their League final hammering.

“Sometimes you learn a lot more from playing games like that and not winning than you do from winning them. We will definitely take a lot of learnings from it. The performance will be better on Sunday, and I wouldn't be overly thinking a League final.”