“Mayo are warriors and are great warriors. But they never had, and still don’t have a forward line that can win an All-Ireland.”
Pat Spillane has said that Mayo will ‘never win an All-Ireland’ because their forward line is not good enough. The Kerry legend made the comments on Sunday after Galway knocked Mayo out of the Connacht Football Championship.
Galway won the match at McHale Park 1-14 to 0-16, and Spillane said the game highlighted the issues with Mayo’s forward line.
Mayo v Galway: Pat Spillane on why Mayo will ‘never’ win the All-Ireland.
“They talk about Einstein’s theory of insanity of doing the same thing over and over again and hoping it might be different,” Spillane said on RTÉ.
“The reason Mayo will never win an All-Ireland is that they don’t have the forward power. They score one point in twenty-something minutes, they kicked 11 wides. In the second half, they converted seven of their 17 chances.
“Mayo are great warriors and great players. But they never had and don’t have the forward line that can win an All-Ireland.
Mayo have not won the All-Ireland Football Championship since 1951. After Sunday’s loss, they exit the Connacht Championship, with Galway advancing to play Leitrim in the semi-finals.
Pat Spillane: Mayo’s forward line is not good enough to win the All-Ireland.
Spillane was more complimentary of Galway and said that Padraic Joyce’s team are now a ‘different animal’ than a year ago.
“Look you always have to credit Mayo they never give up and their warrior-like spirit that we’ve seen epitomised by them down through the years,” Spillane said.
“It was there in the last few minutes, five points down, game over, but they kept plugging away.
“At the start, I talked about a flaky Galway team. This time last year, Connacht final, five points up at half-time and they were hammered 2-8 to three points in the second half. No ruthlessness, mentally frail.
“But this year in the second half this was a different Galway animal and their attacking play was unbelievable. Pace, athleticism, good composure on the ball, and they never panicked. This was a team that believed they could win.”
You can watch Spillane speak about Mayo below.
'Mayo don't have a forward line that can win an All-Ireland'
Pat Spillane thinks it won't be Mayo's year – watch full highlights later on The Sunday Game from 9.30pm @RTE2 @RTEplayer #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/3sjrPXn0TG
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) April 24, 2022
