You have to hand it to Stephen Rochford on some level, he’s not afraid to make decisions.
He’s the sort of manager who, in an All-Ireland semi-final, will take a risk because he thinks it’s best for the team. It doesn’t matter what has went before or even what logic sometimes dictates, he’ll make the call and he’ll live and die by it and that is admirable.
The Aidan O’Shea decision was a little crazy though. They threw their best player this season in out of the way at full back. Not only was he out of the way but he wasn’t exactly too useful marking Kieran Donaghy anyway.
'They robbed Peter and didn't even pay Paul with the money' – @ConanDoherty from Croke Parkhttps://t.co/fPrCF4Kvh6
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) August 20, 2017
So after the game, The GAA Hour’s Colm Parkinson spoke with Mayo manager Stephen Rochford and put to him a number of very important points.
Wooly got a one in one with Stephen Rochford in Croker, coming up on the show tomorrow
— The GAA Hour (@TheGAAHour) August 20, 2017
Why was O’Shea there?
Did they hand Keegan to Kerry by playing him at half forward and allowing him to be marked?
Why oh why do you always take Colm Boyle off?
Rochford was game for the debate and gave measured answers. The full interview is coming up on Monday’s GAA Hour. Here’s a snippet.
“We looked to put in a physical presence there and somebody who could deal with that and had some familiarity with it,” Rochford said.
“We don’t have a line of 6 foot 3 full backs that would have had other familiarity around playing there.
“It was something that we tried.
“Is a guy at 5 foot 8 or 5 foot 10 going to spoil a guy at 6 foot 5?”
