NEVER A CHORE
Giving it another shot with Mayo is an easy decision, says Barrett
TO anyone of a Mayo persuasion, he was the unofficial Man of the Match in last year’s All-Ireland final. In the modern game, the turnover is king and here was a defender who had the quick hands of a pick-pocket and the nerve to match.
Six times Chris Barrett robbed a Dublin player of possession. Attached limpet-like to Paddy Andrews from the start, his direct opponent lasted just until half-time.
Forced turnovers on Con O’Callaghan and Dean Rock with the game hanging in the balance helped make him a first-time All Star yet he is his own hardest critic, pulling himself up for being pinged for a tackle on Diarmuid Connolly right at the death that saw Rock float over the winner.
Since then? Barrett has walked proudly in an Ireland jersey for the first time – ‘To have the jersey at home with the Irish crest and your name on the back of it, it’s something you’ll probably treasure forever,’ — even scoring a goal in the first leg of the International Rules Series last November before being flattened with a late hit by Joel Selwood that saw him carted off the field.
Knee surgery in December, after picking up an injury on tour, means that the Belmullet player is only now forcing himself back into the reckoning as Mayo steel themselves for another tilt at the Sam Maguire Cup, starting with the first big game of the summer against Galway on May 13 in Castlebar.
Speaking at the re-launch of painting and decorating store, Wigoders, the 31-year-old wasn’t tortured by a long winter of soul searching, contemplating whether he would return in 2018.
‘I don’t think it’s a major decision you have to make. It’s not as if you have to sit down at the start of the year and [ask] “Am I going to go again because we lost?” Personally anyway the draw is just the enjoyment and I’ve said it repeatedly, I think we are extremely lucky in Mayo that we have such a good group of players and we’ve had such success, we’ll say. Obviously we haven’t won the All-Ireland, but we’ve had success in the last few years where we’ve constantly got to the latter stages of the All-Ireland series.
‘It’s just the enjoyment of being able to run out at Croke Park in the summer time, of MacHale Park in the Connacht final. It’s not a tough decision to make to be honest, and I think most of the lads are the same. By the time January comes around, they are all raring to go again.
‘It’s still the same All-Ireland, but it’s a new year. We don’t find it difficult. I know a lot is made of it, “This Mayo team have a lot in the legs and how do they keep coming back?” But as I said, we are extremely lucky to be in a position to be able to challenge every year.’
Barrett has an easy-going, sunny disposition in conversation that backs up his words that he is proud of what Mayo have achieved this decade in terms of consistency. Nevertheless, it’s still hard to park last year’s final defeat – ‘emotionally it was tough at the time’ —– but he is not one to dwell on any emotional scars.
‘No, I don’t think so. I can only speak for myself; maybe there are players that have to do a little bit more than other people to try and get over it. But I don’t think it has a huge influence year to year.
‘You definitely have to learn from why you lost the matches and I think that’s the key thing we have taken from last year, as well as always trying to analyse why it went wrong rather than just saying “oh, Mayo bottled it again in the last 10 minutes” or something.
‘Some people just throw a blanket over it, but if you look into the nitty gritty of the game, there’s mistakes that happen that actually lead to it. We’ve gone into a process of just trying to pick them out rather than going through the psychology thing which is the easy to throw on it.
‘I was getting lots of plaudits but I was thinking in the back of my head that Dean Rock scored three points in that second half and I was marking him, so that’s what I had in my head. The last free as well for Diarmuid Connolly had a huge impact on the game as well. It was probably a 50-50 call, I have no misgivings for the referee for giving it, it’s tough to take that I was the one that gave away the free. I think we all have to learn, I made my mistakes in the match as well. It’s just about trying to learn from them.’
But everything is coloured by the result. If Mayo had won, BarDING
rett would have been a hero.
Asked if it’s a frightening prospect for the summer to witness Dublin win a fifth Allianz League in six seasons under Jim Gavin, he replies: ‘I don’t think it’s scary in a sense to be honest. I think it’s just a testament to their squad, and their management and their system. . There’s no way of dressing that up, they’re a serious side and obviously winning three out of the last four [All-Irelands].’
So are they beatable? ‘Oh 100 per cent beatable, yeah. We’ve been so close. I think we know deep down that we can beat them, we just haven’t in the last while and it’s trying to find those small little bits that can help you on the day. They’re going to improve so we have to improve that little bit more. But Galway is number one priority at this stage.’