Kevin McStay urged Cillian O'Connor not to retire

News emerged recently that the championship’s all-time time leading scorer had decided to take a one-year break from county football.

O’Connor started just three of Mayo’s seven championship games last season and was used as an impact sub in their three crunch matches against Galway, Dublin and Derry.

“I'm not going to go into personal detail because obviously I have huge respect for Cillian, but what I would say is, guys take breaks every now and then,” McStay said when asked about the reason behind O’Connor’s decision.

“It's been happening with every county team in Ireland where people step away for work or for personal reasons.

“In Cillian's case, as you know he was a double minor and I think he did 14 years with Mayo [seniors], so that’s 16 years. And he's 32, now, that's half his life.

“So obviously I'm going to respect whatever his decision is and I will say that in discussions I had, and I don't mind saying this, I would have strongly encouraged him not to retire if that's the way he was feeling. To give himself the option.

“Who am I to say? I would never put an end to a guy's ambition to play for Mayo, any of them.” 

McStay also outlined his perspective on the new football rules which will come into effect next year.

“I suppose my opening position is I'm ‘pro’ them until I see otherwise,” he explained.

“I was lucky to be involved in the FRC games, what we call the Railway Cup games [as a Connacht selector], so I got to see them first hand.

“Look, it's going to be the same for everybody,” he added.

“Perhaps it’s a new game, but maybe it's not either. We'll know when the rubber hits the road in Croke Park at the end of January and all the teams will be the same.

“But our job in management and with the players is to identify where we can make gains with the new rules, but conscious always that there's an opponent the other side of the field.

“So we're looking forward to them, we're training hard, we're working on a few challenge games for January, but I think it's an exciting time for everybody.

“We're all pretty open-minded about them. And, of course, there's the end of the league ‘tweak’ so that's kind of a safety net for all of us if some things just don't work.

“But I think we'll all approach it the other way.

“They look positive, I think we're all agreed. they're well worth trying.” 

McStay also confirmed that Mayo captain Paddy Durcan is ‘progressing really well’ as he continues his rehabilitation from a cruciate ligament injury sustained last May.

“He's back on his feet and he has his own little goals and objectives that he wants to hit. but I think in an overall sense we're happy where he's at. He's a super athlete, he applies himself particularly well to what the rehab program is.

“So we're expecting to see him before the league is out.” 

Mayo are set to be without a number of key players for their opening Allianz League clash with Dublin on Saturday, January 25th at Croke Park.

Kevin McStay admitted that some players could also miss his team’s second round match against Galway but said that he wasn’t ‘overly concerned’ about any of their injuries.

Key forwards Aidan O’Shea (travelling) and Tommy Conroy (injured) are among those who look set to sit out the Dublin game.

Mayo will begin their preparations for the new season with a charity challenge match against Monaghan at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar on Saturday, January 4th in aid of Motor Neurone Mayo.

“It's a big part of what we do, this idea of giving back to the Mayo GAA charity partner that's mapped out each year for us. And also just giving back to the community in general.

“It's a big part of what the boys are about, what we're about as a group. We're very conscious of the support we have in Mayo and it's our small way of giving back a little bit.”