James Horan knew by half-time that Mayo would beat Kerry

The former Mayo manager said it would be "absolute madness if there was any more significant rule changes introduced after the year we've just had"

GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, Croke Park, Dublin 26/7/2026

James Horan knew by half-time of Sunday's All-Ireland final that Mayo would beat Kerry. The former Mayo manager texted Paul Rouse, the host of the Irish Examiner's Gaelic Football Show, telling him 'Kerry look like they don't have the legs'.

"I know it's mad, I thought the game was done even though Mayo we were a point down at half-time," Horan said on this week's edition of the podcast.

"You knew what they were going to bring in the second half and I just thought Mayo were going this way and Kerry's tempo was going the other."

Horan said the paucity of support Kerry players received on the ball was "damning" and likely a result of their lack of game time this year. 

"Say you're doing a short kick out, the receiver gets the ball, immediately one of his teammates goes deep, goes behind him in case he has to play the ball back - on multiple occasions that didn't happen," said Horan.

"Didn't see that level of support from the Kerry team, which might tie into what Jack (O'Connor) has been saying all along. The amount of game time some of those Kerry players have had this season isn't enough to have you prepared for an All-Ireland final."

Horan said the "way circumstances went with Kerry's preparation" gave Mayo the impetus to "crank it right up to full scale" for their press.

"I saw a picture of that today," said Horan, "there's four Mayo white jerseys around and apparently there's a Kerry guy on the ground in there that you can't see. It's an amazing photo.

"The Mayo inside line are scorers but they are monsters on top of that. Their work rate and their effort and set the whole tone right through everything, spearheaded by Ryan O'Donoghue.

"Throughout the game you could see how they were working in sync on the press, how they were moving players on to each other and the comms and everything that was in it. That just sent shockwaves through Kerry."

Keith Evans of Kerry is surrounded by Mayo players, left to right, Sam Callinan, Matthew Ruane, Rory Brickenden, and Conor Loftus. Pic: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

Horan said he would "rebel at the idea" of further rule changes to Gaelic football, including the implementation of a backcourt rule similar to basketball.

"The story of the year, the story of Gaelic football this year, and who achieved what, and who won provincial titles, and managers being sent off, and chaos, and madness, and unbelievable comebacks, and different counties showing promise, and all capped off then with the icing on top," Horan said.

"It was crazy what the two-pointers have done. Teams have only started to integrate or understand the benefits of the new rules. And I think there’s a whole other evolution. Everyone knows about Mayo's press.

"There's loads of other things that I think can be pushed and will be rewarded if you really go after it. 

"I would think it'd be absolute madness if there was any more significant rule changes introduced after the year we've just had. I genuinely think it'd be mad. I wouldn't support any changes.

"Monitor and build up the bank of data to see what the trends are, and maybe, over two, three years, but for now, no."