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Irish Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Joe Brolly weighs in on Mayo's latest heartbreak: 'The culture is all wrong'
Joe Brolly has had his say on Mayo's elimination from the All-Ireland days after the county suffered their latest Championship heartbreak. Mayo were knocked out of the All-Ireland after a loss to Donegal on the hooter having clawed back to level the game with 20 seconds to go, which would have seen the Green & Red go through. The fixing of the game for Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon ruffled some feathers in the Donegal camp with Jim McGuinness outraged at the travel time for his side. Speaking on his Free State podcast, Brolly landed a jibe at Mayo's supporters for their unwavering hope, saying "They're a funny lot you know, the culture is all wrong, they're fundamentally not serious. "People from Mayo suffer from an incurable genetic condition, MHOS, Mayo Hopeless Optimists Syndrome. "The thing about them is that they can beat anybody, unless it's a final, and they have beaten everybody. So when a wee farmer from Bohola is painting his sheep red and green on the eve of an All-Ireland final, filled with euphoria, certain in the knowledge that on Monday Mayo will be champions, and his sheep will bleat triumphantly as the Mayo bus and cavalcade pass by on the way to the victory celebration. "On the Monday he has already forgotten because of MHOS and he's already looking forward, filled with the thrill of being All-Ireland champions in 2026, Mayo for Sam 2026. "It's a great way to be I suppose, but they're not serious, you know what I mean, they're not serious." When compared with Scotland's World Cup sides of years gone by, Brolly said: "The difference is that Scotland are a plucky underdog, Mayo is a superpower of Gaelic football, and the problem is that the culture's wrong. "It was exemplified by Donegal's winning score. Ten seconds to go, Mayo get the equaliser, they work really hard, just frantic all-out effort to turn Donegal over. "Donegal were really just trying to hold possession for the last two-and-a-half minutes, Mayo turned them over and they come forward, and with ten seconds to go they kick the equaliser... so they knew that - they had to know - that 'as long as we don't concede a score we're through to the knockout phase.' "A kickout comes, Donegal win it, Mayo don't foul, it's passed on to Ciarán Moore, who's sort of a human horse who must've stampeded up the pitch 120 metres at least 20 times... and so Moore takes off up the side line, and they let him go, and he gets in and kicks the winning score and Mayo are gone. "And had that been Mayo taking that kickout, a Donegal man would most certainly have stopped him in his tracks as soon as the ball was won... Donegal work on these things whereas Mayo are just hopeful. "It was all to no avail as we knew it would be, because they're fundamentally not serious, they're not there to win, that's ultimately not why they're there." Undoubtedly it has been a tough pill for the Mayo side and supporters, but had they waited for the hooter they could have worked the equaliser as a buzzer beater. Did the tension of the moment ultimately get to the side under Stephen Rochford's temporary care?
Irish Daily Mirror
02-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Joe Brolly on the hilarious welcome he received at a Mayo pub
Joe Brolly has given a glimpse into the hilarious welcome he received at a Mayo pub over the weekend. The Derryman has moved to the West of Ireland, where he lives in the Knockmore area with his wife and radio host Laurita Blewitt. Brolly is on the coaching team for Knockmore GAA and has seemingly left a big impression on the local community. The former RTE pundit went to O'Tooles pub in Tourmakeady to watch his beloved Derry take on Galway on Sunday. And Brolly was greeted by a hilarious series of signs that stated his claim to many objects in the pub. Brolly was recently bemoaning the Mayo footballers for ruining a multiple bet he had put on with a friend across a number of GAA matches over the course of a weekend. The All-Ireland winner explained on his Free State Podcast: "I'm the GAA guy. He's the horses guy, I don't know anything about horses. But I'm the GAA guy. "We're really careful with it. Built up a lovely kitty. It's a lovely kitty. So we're sitting with it. "I said, look, I am telling you every fibre of my being is screaming to me that Limerick hurlers are going to beat Cork. "I said 'I know this in the way that a man knows when he's in love that Limerick are going to beat the Cork hurlers'. "They're stinging from last year. This is one of the greatest dynasties that's ever been, never mind in hurling or f***ing Gaelic football or anything else. A truly exceptional, frightening, demolition job of a team that can play it whatever way you want to. And I said, they're going to beat Cork. Great odds. "And I said, why don't we pad it out? We'll fire in a few more certs. He said, 'we'll build it up'. "We brought the whole package up to 11/1 with Down footballers to beat Clare and that was a good one "Down footballers to beat Clare, which we had surprisingly good odds on, I think because it was in Clare. "Tipp to beat Waterford in the hurling. Tipp always beat Waterford in the hurling. "And then the fourth vote. I said, like, come on 'there's absolutely no way that Cavan can beat Mayo in MacHale Park in Mayo'. I said it to him and he said, 'even I know that and I don't know anything about football, but you're right'. "Tick the box. Off he went, he's the wee online thing with the bookies. 11/1 for the package. "And there they came rolling in. There they came rolling in. Down slaughtered Clare, Tipp beat Waterford. He said, 'fair play to you Brolly'. He said, 'Limerick are already sort of 1-3 to no score up against Cork'. "And then the word runs through from McHale Park. Cavan are stuffing Mayo. "Martin Carney, the great Martin Carney, the inimitable Martin Carney, one of the great people of the GAA apparently, he was raging after the match because the Mayo super fans are all out in the pitch getting the autographs of the players after being beat by Cavan. Like, f*** me. "He says, 'those people out there, I wouldn't be surprised to see them climbing the Himalayas naked waving a Mayo flag'. "Oh, bloody Mayo. We put two-thirds of the kitty on. Substantial kitty. This was a good kitty. A very, very good kitty. "The only risky one was Limerick and Cork. People would say I mean, come on, Limerick. I was so certain. That was the foundation of the bet. "That was the foundation. I didn't even tune in to Midwest Radio for the Mayo game, so certain was I. "To be fair, I love the Cavan boys. And I've always had a great grá for the Cavan clubs and the Cavan people. I was truly delighted for them."
Irish Daily Mirror
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Barrister Joe Brolly would 'happily defend' Armagh players in Donegal row
Barrister Joe Brolly says he'd happily defend the Armagh players who waded into a Donegal opponent at the final whistle of last weeknd's Ulster Final. Donegal won the game, but after one of their players celebrated in front of the Armagh bench, an individual emerged and struck him. Social media footage also showed two more individuals coming from the same area to wade into the Donegal player. Brolly, speaking on his 'Free State' podcast to Dion Fanning said: 'He got really what he deserved, the kid. You know, he shouldn't be at it. 'I appreciate it's beyond the boundaries to go knocking the head off a man. 'You will go to the subs bench of a team that's just been beaten in an epic game and you will taunt them. 'Do you think if that happened in a big rugby game there would be any outcome other than that. I mean, it was way outside what was acceptable and I will happily defend the Armagh subs if it ever came to it.' Later Brolly said of the Donegal player: 'He's not a child. He knew what he was at and he shouldn't have been at it.' The full interview is available on 'the Free State' podcast.
