Fear of final failure can't impede Mayo charge - David Brady

There's a school of thought among Mayo supporters that a heavy final defeat would be a disaster for Andy Moran's fledgling team.

Cillian O'Connor of Mayo has been through final heartbreak. Photo by Paul Phelan/Sportsfile

If it had been said once or twice, we would have left it at that. But when the third Mayo person mentioned the dread of an All-Ireland final against Kerry the cock crowed.

None of these men know each other, it should be stressed, so the likelihood of one of them picking up the diseased opinion from each other was unlikely.

That being said, Mayo football is its own echo chamber and often subscribes to its own type of gloomy groupthink. It wouldn’t have been too difficult for any of them to contract the doom.

This fledgling side of Andy Moran’s will apply their social distancing from such chatter but it’s their greenness that fuel the superspreaders. Losing to Louth mightn’t be such a crushing blow in a season that has already overdelivered. Beat them and Mayo football could be put back again by a rampant Kerry side.

That’s based on a series of assumptions, of course, and Mayo isn’t known for its forecasting. It’s Kerry who are feared most because Dublin, for all the pain they have caused Mayo in finals, never did as much damage as 2004 and ’06.

Maybe it’s because David Brady is living outside the county, the company he keeps or the positive way he is built, but he is immune to such foreboding conversations.

“I believe this team are going to beat a very good Louth team and reach an All-Ireland final,” he declares. “And they’re going to have to lose one to win one.” 

Brady knows fear is a fixture for Mayo but he is for embracing it. That reaching the July 26 decider would be a major step in their development. “Look at this current Kerry team. They lost one before they won one. It would be one of the best foundations for the future for this young Mayo team and I mean it is as young as you get.

“It'll be a lot younger next year. The transition from what we have now to next year will even be starker and there's some good young players coming through from an 18, 19, 20-year-old’s perspective.

“The reality is that it's been a disaster of a year. What we have in front of us now is a cake we never expected to have. We have failed in a lot of areas again on and off the pitch, and we're still in an All-Ireland semi-final against a very good Louth team. But I honestly think we'll be getting to an All-Ireland final.” 

Brady says Mayo would enter the big day like no Mayo team has before. “It would be the only final in history that Mayo would ever get to and have no pressure. None whatsoever. Expectation, zero.” 

Ballina Stephenites celebrationswith Luke and David Brady & Ciaran Sweeney. Picture: John O'Grady.

Louth are the priority but if they are overcome, Brady insists there should be no hang-ups about Kerry and memories of 2004 and ‘06. “We’re starting to learn that it’s not just about one or two defeats but if you look at those teams they were on their last legs.

“The bravest move ever was John O'Mahony taking over for a second time (from 2008) when he had nothing and he knew he had nothing. But he was willing to build it.” 

It’s not Kerry that has left their brand on Mayo but Tyrone, insists the Castlebar man. “The county is still scarred from Tyrone in ’21. It’s not the same county – I wouldn’t be saying it too loud – and it’s not the same supporter base either.

“We can say we’re the same but that final defeat knocked back the players and the county a long step. Because of that, I definitely feel this team has to just be in a final and then use that experience.” 

Getting to a final alone after the consecutive championship defeats to Roscommon and Tyrone would be an achievement, Brady maintains.

“We have a once-in-a-lifetime player (Kobe McDonald), but I think Darragh Byrne is a better all-round player than Kobe. When I start to think about getting over Louth, I have to stop myself because wouldn't it be unbelievable for them to do it? It would change the outlook and aspects of a lot of counties to say, ‘Why can't we?’”