Duffy still keen to make Mayo impact under new regime

Mayo caused a stir last May when, shortly after announcing his retirement from rugby, Duffy was invited to train with the senior squad.

A former All-Ireland minor finalist with Mayo in 1999 when Alan Dillon was a colleague, the Ballina man had been away from the game for almost 14 years but readily accepted the challenge.

He had no game-time with Mayo and saw very little action with his Galway club, Salthill-Knocknacarra, fuelling speculation that he would choose not to continue next year.

But Duffy confirmed yesterday that he was still keen to play Gaelic football with Mayo and would be part of the squad in the short term at least.

The new joint Mayo managers Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes have retained the 2014 squad and have put together an extended training panel beyond that.

It is expected that this will be pared down over time but for now Duffy has tasted enough to want more.

"At the moment there is an opportunity for everyone who was on the squad last year to impress Pat Homes and Noel Connelly so I'm going to give it a go because, the way I view it, I will be long enough not playing football," he said.

"I'm only 33, I thought I would perhaps be playing rugby for another year and I feel good. I'm going to give it a go," he added.

"I could be off the panel by the end of January," he accepted. "But I would prefer to find out by giving it a go rather than wondering 'what if.'

"I love playing football. The set-up was great (in 2014), they are a great bunch of lads. I thought the coaching was great as well and I am hoping I can improve my own game."

Duffy, now working with Connacht rugby, said he couldn't calculate how close he was to seeing some action last summer.

"You would have to ask James Horan that. I'm not too sure. But my first touch on the ball I felt I was definitely improving as the summer went on.

" The way I saw it, if I could survive with those boys in training - they were so many good footballers there - if I was to get a run I would have confidence that I deserved it after holding my own against them.

"It was a short period from May until the end of August. I'd like to give it another crack. It's more a case of not having any regrets and I really enjoyed it," he added.

Duffy said that because of the way the Galway championship played out he "fell between two stools" and didn't see as much action as he would have liked.

TRAINING

"I didn't play much football but I did a lot of training. There were a lot of A v B matches. Some of the touches the guys had," he recalled.

"You could watch Cillian O'Connor saunter through a defence and calmly put a ball in the corner. He made that look so easy. It's a different type of fitness and that took a while to adjust to, different movement and that.

"I have had enough of a taste of it to know I'd like more," he said.

"Pat and Noel stated they were open-minded about the squad. I'm sure they have their own ideas but it would be great to get some kind of football to make an impression."

Duffy was part of the extended squad on duty for the All-Ireland semi-final replay defeat to Kerry in Limerick.

He could feature in an FBD Connacht league game at some stage in January. There was no shortage of belief last summer that he could make an impact beyond bringing a career as a professional sportsman into the mix.

Former Mayo player and selector Liam McHale saw his power and athleticism as a huge advantage, noting he was never a player who "kicked with the inside of his boot, never a fella who was going to score five points or break your ankles with dummies".

Donie Buckley will remain on as coach with Mayo while Ballaghdereen man Barry Solan has joined the backroom team as strength and conditioning coach from Kildare.

Meanwhile Jason Sherlock has been added to the Dublin management ticket.

The former Dublin player last played a championship match for the county in 2009 and will work with the Dublin forwards as a coach in 2015.

In Fermanagh the Derrylin O'Connells are proposing to next Monday night's convention that any frees in Gaelic football, awarded 45 metres or closer to the goals being attacked should be taken off the ground.

As it stands all frees can be taken from the hand but Derrylin want the art of kicking from the ground restored with a restriction on where frees from the hand can be taken from.

The rules changes in the early 1990s to allow frees and sidelines in Gaelic football to be taken from the hands in an effort to speed up the game.