Roscommon legend Karol Mannion was our guest on Talking Points this week, and while we discussed the glory of Jamie Clarke, the McGeeney Factor and whether Monaghan have a chance against the Dubs, the main talking point from the show was obviously Roscommon and Mayo's dramatic draw in Croke Park.
Mannion, who as well as winning a Connacht title with Roscommon in 2010, also has a club All-Ireland medal to his name. He was man of the match when his club St Brigid's beat Ballymun Kickham on St Patrick's Day 2013. The management team of the Brigid's team was Kevin McStay and Liam McHale, now the Roscommon inter-county management team who have guided the Rossies to another Connacht title and were very close to beating Mayo in the championship for the first time since 2001.
McStay and McHale are of course legends in their home county of Mayo, and Mannion talked about how much a massive occasion like Sunday's would mean to both men and how much it would have taken out of them.
If you see Kevin after games, he looks like he's actually played. He gets so emotionally into a game. He looked drained.
It also would have been a massive emotional drag from Kevin yesterday because of the Mayo factor. I don't think he has spoken too much about it in the media, but it actually is a big deal for him personally.
When Kevin was with us, he always spoke about his attachment to the colours. Brigid's is green and red. He always mentioned his attachment to Mayo and those colours, when he spoke to us about how much the red and green of Brigid's meant to him as well.
He battled for years with Mayo. His brother-in-law battled for years as well, Liam (McHale), and Kevin would love to see Mayo win an All-Ireland, and I am sure yesterday, while he won't admit it, it was a big emotional moment for him.
You can watch the full episode of this week's Talking Points here:
