Mayo GAA assistant manager Stephen Rochford has said that star defender Lee Keegan will be given all the time required to decide whether or not to return to inter-county football in the 2023 season.
Speculation around the 33-year-old's future has been rife since Mayo's season came to an end with an All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Kerry in June, with the 2016 Footballer of the Year telling the Inside The Line podcast last month that he has a "lot of big questions" to answer before he met new manager Kevin McStay.
Rochford indicated that there would be no immediate pressure from their end with the Westport man not present as the panel got together in recent weeks for training ahead of the forthcoming campaign.
"Things haven’t changed from what has already been said and what Lee has said himself," said Rochford, who was speaking at AIB’s Goal Mile challenge launch.
"We’re more than happy to give Lee that space to allow the mind and body to recuperate. He had a bit of an injury playing through the inter-county and club championship, so we’re affording him that bit of down time.
"We’ll look to talk with Lee closer to Christmas or early in the new year in regards to his plans for 2023. I really hope that he is part of our squad for the year ahead. He has a lot to offer and as he’s shown in only the past year, he still has a lot to offer."
Rochford also said that they pitched hard to convince Oisín Mullin to turn down the allure of Australian Rules Football for a second time, but in the end the pull of the professional sport was too much.
The two-time Young Footballer of the Year had originally agreed to join Geelong in late 2021 before having a change of heart and remaining with Mayo. However, the Cats returned with an offer and he arrived in Melbourne last week after agreeing to a 'Category B' rookie deal.
Rochford stated that McStay’s management team made it very clear that they wanted Mullin to make another U-turn before ultimately wishing him well when he landed on his decision.
"Looking from afar, we probably would have all thought, in a Mayo context, that the Geelong chapter was done and dusted when Oisín signed for them and changed his mind for his own personal reasons. So it was a bit of a surprise in September, October time that we were made aware that Geelong had made further advances as the year went on.
"His decision wasn’t knee-jerk, he had spent the previous nine months considering that decision. Our role really was to ensure that Oisín made a decision that he could be quite comfortable with, that he was well informed with, that he was supported with.
"Whilst we made it very clear that we wanted Oisín to stay and that we saw him being a really important part of our plans for 2023, at the same time we wish him well with his adventures in Geelong. But at the same time, we remain hopeful that at some stage in the future we will see him back in Mayo.
"Although that might sound contradictory, it has as much to do with if things don’t work out for Oisín, he knows he’s more than welcome back in Mayo."
Rochford returns to Mayo in the number two position four years after stepping down from the manager's position alleging a lack of support from county board officials.
He was quickly snapped up by Donegal manager Declan Bonner and spent the next few seasons coaching the Tir Chonaill County with the highlight coming in his first year involved as they claimed the Ulster title.
Bonner departed the role after their heavy qualifier defeat to Armagh this summer, but Rochford said that stepping in to replace him, or the likes of the Monaghan job vacated by Séamus McEnaney, never crossed his mind.
He had considered applying for the Mayo job after James Horan’s departure, but ultimately ended up in McStay's backroom team after being blown away by his vision for the future of Mayo football.
"Going back probably about six it wasn’t something that was on the radar [a change of management in Mayo]. The view locally was that James was going to extend for another period of time.
Great news for Mayo supporters as Lee Keegan strongly hints that he'll be back for another campaign in the green and red. #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/BxQCoUEU1T
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) July 9, 2022
"It’s good to be back and really enjoying being out on the field with the lads.
"I wasn't attracted to a manager’s role outside of Mayo. I just think the commitment required for the job is phenomenal," he added.
"To put on top of that a car journey of three-plus hours, a six-hour round trip, with a young family and not enough flexibility for going and staying away for a period of time...I’d no desire to do it never mind the flexibility, no desire to do it with a young family.
"It was never a consideration, for another inter-county [team]. Obviously when the job came up in a Mayo context, I gave that some consideration. I spoke to one or two people and then came Kevin made an approach and his vision for what that would look like was very attractive.
"It afforded me the opportunity as assistant manager, along with the other selectors and coaches, to help shape, along with him and the players, the next few years for Mayo."
His time up in the Tir Chonaill County did give him time to work with the recently retired Michael Murphy, and Rochford said that the Glenswilly man was one of the greatest all-round forces he has ever encountered in a dressing room.
"I’m really fortunate to have played with and coached some top, top players. I played with Crossmolina, coached with Corofin, Mayo, Donegal.
"Somebody asked me was he the greatest player to work with. That’s a dangerous question because you could upset another 10 or 15 players. Was he one of the greatest? Absolutely, without doubt.
"A phenomenal footballer, a true leader, a pleasure to work with, a gentleman. Extremely warm, when I signed up with Donegal he was one of the first phone calls I got.
"All very respectful, challenging because he’s looking at how does this impact the team and ensuring that everyone was clear.
"As a leader, one of the top, top guys that I’ve come across. A pleasure and a privilege to have worked with him."
For now though, it’s full focus on what’s inside the Mayo dressing room and an ambition to remind people that they are still a force to be reckoned with.
"I always tend to be the optimist in this situation. Mayo over the last decade have been a really top competitor. We would say and we believe that we can maintain that level of competitiveness.
"That is certainly our objective and then maybe with one or two ideas and a fresh voice in certain circumstances and maybe a different level of insight that we can improve players. In some case, top players by 1 or 2% For some guys that are younger, we might have a change of position that might improve them by 10 or 15%.
"On the collective we’re more than happy with the squad that we have. We’re really looking forward to the year ahead."
