Mayo’s boys become men in Croke Park’s cauldron

There is a rawness to the Mayo panel that the experience and support of others can’t fully cancel out. Youth can be guided and cajoled, but it’s up to every individual in a dressing-room to make that step up to the big time on their own.

Mayo goalkeeper Jack Livingstone claims the ball ahead of teammate Enda Hession and Cork's Chris Óg Jones. Pic ©INPHO/James Crombie

You never can tell. They’ve caught everyone’s eye with their clubs and with their schools. You know they’re talented. They’ve made the transition from underage stars to senior options, but a coach has no way of knowing how someone takes to Croke Park.

It’s an undefinable. An unknowable. Some players grow an inch or two when the team bus pulls in under the stand. Others retreat inwards, already overcome by the very arrival into the maw of a beast that asks so much of everyone and doesn’t always give back.