Moran and Brennan to ring in new Mayo

Andy Moran and Ger Brennan will lock horns as managers of their native counties today for the first time this afternoon when Dublin pitch up at Castlebar.

The pair were more centrally involved when the modern-day rivalry between both sides began to take hold in the early part of the last decade, though Brennan's retirement in 2013 meant the St Vincent’s man missed out on some of the all-time classics played out at Croke Park between the two rivals.

The 2017 Footballer of the Year Moran was always a key figure in a Mayo attack that sometimes creaked and groaned on the biggest days, while Brennan’s no-nonsense approach in anchoring the heart of the Dublin defence paved the way for the breakthrough All-Ireland under Pat Gilroy in 2011 as well as Jim Gavin’s first taste of Sam Maguire success two years later.

With both quickly building coaching reputations in their respective post-playing days and travelling to build up inter-county experience, the smart money was that both would ultimately return to native shores.

With the Kevin McStay project running out of steam and just embers left of the great Dublin side that swept all before them under Gavin and Dessie Farrell, the pair found themselves in arguably the position they always coveted. With a changing of the guard and Kerry moving ahead of the chasing pack, the pair don't have to worry about dampening down expectations.

Mayo have failed to get past the preliminary quarter-finals in the last two seasons with Galway taking hold of matters locally, while Dublin's stanglehold of Leinster was ended by Meath last year before Tyrone sent them packing with minimal fuss in the last eight.

The young managers - aged 42, Moran is two years Brennan's senior - are embarking on a new era for Mayo and Dublin football.

Moran’s bright league start as manager last Sunday was in sharp contrast to a first outing as a greenhorn under John Maaughan in 2003.

The 19-year-old didn’t even make it until half-time away to Down, taking the managerial instruction to run himself into the ground a bit too literally. Called ashore after 22 minutes, his replacement Ger Brady, who died from Motor Neurone Disease in 2024, nabbed the game’s only goal in a two-point win.

Maughan resisted the temptation to take Moran out of the line of fire, keeping him in for the next league outing against Cavan. That faith in youth has been passed on and forms Moran’s own outlook as a manager.

Mayo fans would love to see AFL-bound Kobe McDonald – "hyper-talented" as Moran described him earlier this year - feature in the league, while Eoin McGreal and Sean Morahan, who featured prominently in last year’s league but less so in the summer, were rewarded with starts against Galway.

So too did Darragh Beirne up front, who was one of the standout performers of the opening round, while Cian McHale did his chances no harm when raising a green flag after his introduction.

By the time Ger Brennan made his Dublin bow in 2007, Moran had already lost two-All-Ireland finals. He would lose four more before hanging up the boots, in stark contrasts to Brennan’s 100% winning record in finals, split evenly between club and county.

The teak-tough defender's strong consistency with St Vincent's level was recognised by Pillar Caffrey, at a time where the Marino-based club offered a more obvious path to silverware than county. All-Ireland club champions in 2007, the following year he dropped off the Dublin panel citing burnout as the focus remained with Vincent's.

He returned for that year’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Tyrone, an unused sub in a 12-point defeat. That disappointment was blown out the water 12 months later. A red card in the 2009 Leinster final meant he was among the supporters in Croke Park that witnessed a Kerry side run riot in the famous "startled earwigs" All-Ireland quarter-final, with manager and club-mate Pat Gilroy left to rue the absence of a trusted enforcer in the half-back line.

Two dismissals in the space of 11 months – his 2010 Leinster outing against Wexford cut short after two bookable offences – helped carve a reputation as a defender who straddled the edge.

"It is the red mist as they say and I kind of flip out and act irrationally," he later admitted, crediting the work of Caroline Currid in helping to curb his occasional ill-discipline.

Moran and Brennan would only cross paths twice in championship – 2012 and 2013 – though the Ballaghaderreen man missed the first of those jousts, a three-point All-Ireland semi-final victory, owing to an ACL injury.

Mayo couldn’t halt Donegal in the showpiece, though the player himself has downplayed his absence as a contributing factor to defeat. "I sometimes laugh when I hear that if Andy was there in 2012 we would have won it. Well, I played in five others and we didn't win it" – Moran remarked years later, while for Dublin, the season closed with equal introspection.

Their All-Ireland title defence fell at the penultimate stage and Brennan admitted to reporters that the 2011 exploits had taken their toll, noting a "hangover" all season that they just couldn't shake.

"You were still being presented in local clubs or social events or what have you, as All-Ireland winners, blah blah blah," said.

"Mentally it became quite tiring. As players we wanted to move on, we wanted to get going again, but up until we suffered defeat against Mayo ... for me anyway that was the nail in the coffin."

Jim Gavin’s league and championship double of 2013 was marked by the swashbuckling football that Donegal would famously home in on 12 months later.

The tone of Gavin’s tenure was set in the victorious league campaign, which included a gripping win over Mayo. While Brenard Brogan was the star of the show, plundering 1-10 of his team’s tally of 2-14, Brennan again fell foul of the match officials, dismissed after connecting with Mickey Conroy with a high tackle and then trying to kick the ball out from under the Mayo man. He then caught Donal Vaughan with an elbow to the chin.

Gavin said the initial challenge was "not acceptable" but defended Brennan's actions when he became embroiled with Vaughan.

"He just stood his ground. What else was he to do? Otherwise he would have suffered a blow."

Six months later the sides renewed rivalries on the biggest day of the football calendar, the only occasion Brennan and Moran were on the field of play together in the heat of championship battle.

After suffering at the hands of Colm Cooper in the semi-final and and getting the shepherd's hook at half-time, Brennan held onto his six jersey, getting his name the scoresheet and ending his final day in blue with a second Celtic Cross.

Moran delivered a captain’s performance, his 50th-minute goal drawing the sides level, but they couldn’t push on. Another opportunity missed.

It is noteworthy that both Moran and Brennan went on the road before accepting the role with their native counties, both managing against their fellow county men.

While Moran led Leitrim out of Division 4 and was part of a Monaghan backroom team that reached an All-Ireland quarter-final, Brennan’s stock went through the roof in two years with Louth, where many felt he could struggle to build on Mickey Harte’s impressive body of work.

A first Leinster title in 68 years for the Wee County dismantled that theory, yet similar to Moran’s assignment out west, he is tasked with leading a team who have slipped back in the last couple of years.

Brennan will look to address concerns at centre-back, a settled midfield and a scoring forward to ease the burden of responsibility on Con O’Callaghan – Fiachra Breathnach’s second-half cameo in defeat to Donegal suggests he could stake such a claim – yet a Leinster title and a march to the last four is well within their compass.

Assessing what Moran has brought to Mayo after an FBD campaign and league win over Galway may be premature in the extreme, but after some stagnant displays up front in 2025, their direct play against the Tribes and a willingness to shoot from distance will have supporters dreaming of a return to Croke Park at the business end of the season.

First up a home date with the Dubs and another opportunity to gauge what direction these two rivals are going in this year.

Watch Allianz League Sunday from 9.35pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1

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