DONIE WON’T BUCK TREND JUST YET FOR THE MEDIA

DONIE BUCKLEY doesn’t do media interviews, never saw the value in them, so you won’t have heard the Mayo selector talk about his Kerry roots this week. His imprint will be all over today’s game though and at a coaching conference in early 2015 in Tyrone, he gave a rare insight into his philosophy. Speaking to a room of Ulster GAA coaches, Buckley said: “It’s a very simple game. There’s a lot of people that try to make it so scientific. It’s a simple game to get the ball from A to B and score.”

Mayo got back to those basics on Bank Holiday Monday after a summer playing within themselves and blew Roscommon away.

The hope is that they return to

Croke Park today armed with that same appetite for destruction which Buckley has bred into them.

He was involved with Kerry for the 2011 All-ireland final but left in mid-2012 before the Championship, citing his recovery from knee surgery. Privately, it was suggested his coaching role had been distilled and he made for the exit door.

Current boss Stephen Rochford (inset) said he’s glad to have the Kerry man in his inner circle.

Rochford said: “Obviously there’ll be some personal element at play when you come up against your own county. Donie’s still very much a Kerry man, in fairness to him. But he’s also too long in the tooth to get distracted by the emotion of it being a game against Kerry. “He sees this, no more than ourselves, as being an almighty, almighty challenge. But at the same time it’s a stepping stone to an All-ireland final. “He has a little bit of inside knowledge on Kerry, you could say. But the reality is he’s been with Mayo for the last five years now. There’ll be a bit of personal motivation there for him but it will be nothing that will either be discussed or be a focus point.”

Mayo couldn’t afford to have anyone on board who wasn’t 100 per cent committed to ending their All-ireland famine. The stakes are simply too high as they chase a final place and another opportunity to finally bring Sam home.