Kobe McDonald makes statement Mayo debut: Five things we learned from the weekend’s GAA

There is no keeping a lid on it now, no putting the genie back in the bottle. The finger in the air, the outstretched tongue, the smile, the exuberance of it all. The brilliance of it all.

It is unfair to heap expectation on the shoulders of an 18-year-old Leaving Cert student, but there was something in the joyfulness of how Kobe McDonald treated his Mayo senior debut that says much of his character. For a county often weighed down by the pressure of the past, McDonald, rather than be straitjacketed by the talk of his emergence, played with an unbothered lightness and adventure.

He came off the bench in the 53rd minute against Monaghan in Clones and almost instantly sent over a nice point. But he was only getting started. In the 58th minute he collected the ball on the 45-metre line, two Monaghan men chasing him down from behind and a third closing in on his right. He could have popped it over – indeed, some coaches will argue he should have – but instead he carried the ball forward with real intent and arrowed home the most exquisite schoolyard finish from the 13-metre line to the far corner of the Monaghan net.

Just after the hour mark he boomed over a lovely two-pointer and moments later there was another point to take his debut tally to a remarkable 1-4. It wasn’t a cameo, it was a statement.

There was the cut of his dad in the tapestry of it all. Ciarán McDonald brought a special energy to the green and red jersey. Like father, like son, it seems.

Kobe has signed a contract to join AFL outfit St Kilda in Australia but Mayo manager Andy Moran is confident he will have the teenager available for the entirety of the 2026 campaign. Beyond that, nobody knows how the future will play out. The lament in Mayo already is that they are about to lose another star – McDonald off to Oz where Oisín Mullin is already making his mark.

But if timing is everything in life, the positive for Mayo fans is that it feels like McDonald’s arrival could hardly have come at a better time. Not only is Andy Moran prepared to embrace such young talent, but a couple of years ago McDonald’s introduction to the senior game would have coincided with an era when forwards had about as much space on the pitch as a bellboy in a hotel lift. Would he have been afforded the opportunities to score 1-4 had he made his bow three years ago? Unlikely. This new game is perfect for raw, talented players to showcase their wares.

As debuts go, it’s fair to say they’ll still be recounting this one in Mayo for years to come.

Kobe McDonald was due back in school this morning, a day after graduating as a senior intercounty footballer. – Gordon Manning

Third man in

Late in the first half in Thurles on Saturday night, Tipperary corner forward Darragh McCarthy was booked for pushing a Limerick player in the chest. It didn’t carry enough force to land the Limerick player on the ground, and in the normal course of events it wouldn’t have attracted a booking.

But McCarthy had arrived at the scene of a foul as the third man in. According to hurling’s rules as they stand, being the third man in is a sending off offence. In club championship games all over the country this rule is applied rigorously.

After the 30-player melee during the Cork-Tipperary game a fortnight ago every hurling referee is presumably on guard and Colm Lyons was quick to act on McCarthy’s intervention on Saturday, even if he treated it with a degree of clemency. Imagine the outrage if a player was sent off for a push in the chest – even if he was the third man in.

That rule is based on the simple principle that there is no melee if there is no third man. In football’s new rules, however, that infringement has been downgraded to a black card offence – unless the third man in is seen to be removing his team-mate from the original flare-up. In that case, there is no punishment.

Hurling is not inclined to take a lead from football, but in this case, it must. – Denis Walsh

First-rate second choice

For as long as Shaun Patton has been on the Donegal panel, there has never been a question over who fills the number one jersey, unshiftable between the sticks under four different managerial regimes. And that may well still be the case when he comes back from injury, although Jim McGuinness said after the win over Armagh that he’s going to be a while out of action yet.

It has been clear for a while though that even if they have to go with their second choice, Gavin Mulreany, for an extended period, Donegal will be fine. Jason McGee was Man of the Match on Sunday, with Finnbarr Roarty probably not too far behind in the shake-up. But Mulreany was foot-perfect throughout, making three excellent saves, including on Oisin Conaty’s 67th-minute penalty.

He was arrow-straight with his placekicking too, spearing over a couple of two-point frees, including a brilliant low one into the wind in the second half that went like a missile over the black spot. Armagh had just scored their first two-pointer of the game through Darragh McMullan to cut the margin to four, but Mulreany’s brilliant kick, low and piercing and true, put an abrupt stop to any momentum the home side might have hoped for.

“Patton will be sweating now,” teased McGee after the game. Whether that turns out to be true or not, it’s a live question in Donegal for the first time in eight years.

Ulster is already stacked with quality goalkeepers in the shape of Rory Beggan and Niall Morgan – yet it’s arguable that Donegal have two of the top five goalies in the province.

Not a bad start for the road ahead. – Malachy Clerkin

Nearly pitch perfect

The sun shone on Kilkenny on Sunday. Nowlan Park looked great in the bright springtime conditions. Needless to say, the weather couldn’t leave it at that and there was rain for a spell, but by and large it was a typical league afternoon in the most positive sense.

In recent times, the GAA’s league fixtures have been coiled so tight that there’s hardly room on the fixtures calendar to draw breath. Managers have not unreasonably protested that between injuries and players’ involvement in third-level competitions they need big panels just to keep going.

It was in the 1892 story, Silver Blaze, that Sherlock Holmes introduced the concept of the dog that didn’t bark – by which the absence of something can be as of much evidential value as its presence. In that case, it was surmised that the perpetrator must have been known to the dog.

For the GAA, the dog in question has been the weather. The country has doubled as Atlantis throughout the new year with downpours a regular feature, but the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) has only had to postpone one single fixture – Waterford v Longford when Fraher Field in Dungarvan was unplayable because of Storm Ingrid on January 24th.

With just two weeks off in a nine-week schedule, the CCCC has little to play with in terms of postponements, making the robustness of pitches vital, as well as borderline miraculous.

As Feargal McGill, the committee’s secretary explained:

“Ultimately, it’s a huge credit to counties for the investment they’ve made in pitches and drainage over the last 10 years. Groundsmen are able to operate at a different level nowadays too, and the way they share information and tips (from Croke Park and throughout the country) is very impressive.” – Seán Moran

Brennan to continue rolling the dice

We have reached the phase of the National Football League when teams take stock and consider what their priorities are for the remaining three games. On the face of it, you’d imagine Dublin’s priority would be to try survive in Division 1, but for Ger Brennan the juice of trying out players is still worth the squeeze, come what may.

Despite losing three of their opening four games, Brennan has indicated he will continue to experiment for the remainder of the campaign.

Dublin have used 32 players so far during the league and Brennan is not about to play it safe in the weeks ahead, with fixtures away to Roscommon, at home to Armagh and away to Galway.

“It’s something we’re comfortable with (since) the start of the campaign, that we’re going to try and find fellas, and try experienced fellas in different roles as well,” said Brennan.

“That’s the plan that we have and we’re going to stick to it. We’re happy to try out new things. It’s a risk-reward strategy in terms of staying in Division 1 but being better served come the championship.

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