Mayo should have the luxury of sitting in front of the TV this Sunday to see who prevails in the battle to face them in the All-Ireland final on September 18th.
Except they don’t.
The vast majority of Stephen Rochford’s panel are set to feature for their clubs in the Mayo Championship on Saturday and Sunday – with the third and final round of group matches in the senior and intermediate championships scheduled to go ahead this weekend.
Having qualified for their third All-Ireland final in five years with Sunday’s five-point win over Tipperary, there are mounting calls within the county to postpone these matches until after the final, against the winners of Dublin and Kerry.
The Mayo CCC are meeting to discuss the issue this evening, with many club players expecting their fixtures to be cancelled.
Mayo won't care their form in unconvincing. Not one bit, writes @Woolberto #TheToughestTopic @AIB_GAA https://t.co/fILtnlRcJ2
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 23, 2016
One of those club players is Ger Cafferkey of Ballina Stephenites, who are scheduled to face rivals and All-Ireland club finalists Castlebar Mitchels on Saturday evening.
Were it not for a hamstring injury suffered earlier in the year, Cafferkey would surely have been lining out in the full-back line against Tipperary last Sunday.
Instead, Cafferkey on Tuesday took to Twitter to argue for Ballina’s match, and all club fixtures, to be cancelled “to do the right thing for all of Mayo GAA”.
Cafferkey vouched for the loyalty to their clubs of all within the county set-up, but said that asking them to leave Stephen Rochford’s squad to play at the weekend will “break the preparation chain”.
“It also relinquishes an advantage we have that might be worth a point or two come the 18th of September,” he wrote. “Releasing players to clubs this week means that we will have to push recovery into next week, squeeze in tactical sessions and lose a week of intensive training.”
I don't think I've ever expressed an opinion on twitter before #mayogaa pic.twitter.com/BVXfyWin8S
— Gerard Cafferkey (@Caffatron) August 23, 2016
That “a lad looking for club success” would raise his head above the parapet on this issue shows the strength of feeling surrounding it.
However the cancellation of matches is sure to upset some club players and officials, as a similar call by Tipperary’s footballers did earlier this month.
The outcome of tonight’s meeting will be awaited with interest throughout the county… and in Kerry and Dublin.
On the latest GAA Hour we look back at Mayo-Tipperary and chat to Andy Moran about his incredible, never-ending career. Listen below or subscribe here on iTunes.
