“I need that bit of a rush, that bit of pressure, I want that expectation on me”

The youngsters in the Mayo squad appear to have re-invigorated him, his new business venture has him excited.

A Tuesday morning on Zoom and Cillian O'Connor is in flying form, calling journalists by name and meeting each question, even my silly ones, with a considered and detailed response. You'd almost forget that Mayo were relegated only two days previous but wasn't it a strange sort of relegation, and this is a different kind of year anyway. "Obviously it's disappointing," he says at the AIB launch of the All-Ireland senior football championship, "when it was where there for us yesterday and we had a home game to finish to job. Just the nature of the season, it's a quick turn-around so there's definitely no point dwelling on it. A quick review and all eyes on Leitrim now. "There's not time to be down about it really, I think we have to deal with the fall out of the League, I don't know, after the Championship..." O'Connor himself missed the Tyrone clash due to a knock picked up the previous weekend, but all is good for Leitrim. "It was just a little bang on the quad and I was hoping to play against Tyrone. I had a bit of a run around on Saturday the day before just to clear it and it just wasn't 100 per cent right. "So then you have to toss it up, do I play or do I put myself forward to play and take a risk of aggravating something or do I rest and recover? I just went with the medical team and that was the call so it was a bit disappointing. "You're only back one game and you're missing the next one so it was annoying. Touch wood, it's nothing serious. "I'd say if it was an old season you would have chanced it on Sunday and even if it flares up into a three or four week injury I'd probably be okay for the next one or whatever. 'I'll take a week off training and I'll have time to recover.' "But I was thinking if I'm not training Tuesday/Thursday this week I'm going to be out of the picture and some young lad will play well. So I needed to be 100 per cent for this week." Those youngsters, Oisin Mullin, Tommy Conroy and the likes, have given the whole Mayo squad a lift. "It's been the strongest turnover or changes of new blood in a few years," says 28-year-old O'Connor. "It's been brilliant. It's great when you see fresh, new faces stepping up. It's the same with every team, they step in for a game or they come on as a sub and they show real potential and suddenly they clean someone in an 'A' versus 'B'. "You know in the dressing-room or in training then that something is happening here. That guy is not just an impact sub or one for the future, he's one for now. I think players are the first ones to know when that starts happening..." https://twitter.com/GAA__JOE/status/1320448731024674817 "Then you've got the dynamic of the older players coming back and wondering am I being rested now or have I lost my place? That healthy competition is brilliant and it's good craic as well for the squad. "I think I've benefitted from chatting to the younger guys because maybe when you're analysing games or you might be thinking about opposition or tactics, you've a conversation with one of the young lads who is just high on life to be involved. He's just so gunning for the weekend and it's just, a conversation like that can simplify things. Just to go out and enjoy this weekend, these guys aren't over-thinking things. So it's great to use their energy as well to push things on..." As for the business venture, O'Connor teamed up with former Sligo player Pat Hughes and Old Belvedere rugby player David Butler to set up the accounting and finance recruitment firm 'Spot Recruitment' last year and while these past few months has obviously been a challenge, he's meeting it all head on. "It's been a challenge for everybody, I mean in every walk of life. It's been a change, it's been something we were looking at for a while. In a way it's been a welcome distraction too because it does take a lot of your focus, when you're not training or in the gym, you can throw yourself into something. "It's definitely been something you've got to be all in when you're at meetings or when you're at work or when you're trying to figure stuff out or increase our online presence, whatever it is. So in a way I probably think it's been a good thing to make sure that off time is fully away from football..." It's Championship season now though and O'Connor is delighted to be back out there, pushing himself to the limit, living for the adrenaline of it. "If there's something that the last few weeks and months have kind of shown us is that we probably take the buzz for granted at times because there's always another game, at least you feel that way. Then when it's pulled away from you, you do have a bit of a withdrawal symptoms. "I need that bit of rush, that bit of pressure, I want that expectation on me. So it's helped us I think to appreciate that, you mention adrenaline, there's not many people who'll get that this weekend and we're one of the lucky few so above all else before winning and losing comes into it, we get to put on a jersey, know that there's hundred of thousands around the world listening or watching, waiting and expecting, and you get to be one of the guys in the arena. "That's a buzz yeah." [caption id="attachment_218986" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Pictured is Ballintubber and Mayo Footballer Cillian O’Connor at AIB’s launch of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Now in their sixth season sponsoring the football county championship and their 30th year sponsoring the club championships, AIB are proud to support some of #TheToughest games there are. In addition to the launch, AIB will soon be releasing their new TV Ad, a fast-paced and upbeat celebration of the 2020 GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. [/caption]