Kevin McStay's first year in charge of Mayo yielded a Division 1 league title but ended with a heavy loss to their old tormentors in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
The conclusive manner of the exit to Dublin suggested that Mayo's All-Ireland prospects had receded, though Ryan O'Donoghue insists they're still not far away from the promised land.
"I don't think I'd be training and putting my life on hold, and making all these sacrifices if I didn't think we were one of the top teams in the country," O'Donoghue told RTÉ Sport this week.
"We've a lot to get better at. We did well during the league last year, but obviously the second half against Dublin was not good enough. We went in at half-time there or thereabouts other than the goal that sucker-punched us.
"Dublin went on to win the All-Ireland so we know we're not far off."
The match carried echoes of the 2019 All-Ireland semi-final, with Mayo right there at half-time before being poleaxed by a third-quarter blitz, effectively killing the game as a contest.
At half-time, O'Donoghue - who kicked five first-half points, three from play - described the feeling in the dressing room as one of "optimism".
"I thought we were the better team in the first half. We had more scoring opportunities and didn't take our goals. And then Dublin got the goal to go one point up. We were right in the game.
"I wouldn't say it was (Dublin) cranking up the gears. We just did not perform, we gave the ball away and let them through the middle. There were a lot of factors that decided it but obviously when you're in Croke Park and you hear the Hill turn up the volume, and you're trying to turn the tide, it's not nice. But it's up to us to make sure it doesn't happen again."
The 2019 semi-final was taken to have heralded a transitional period for Mayo, whereby the stalwarts of the 2010s slunk away, replaced by a newer crop. While this did occur to a degree, the team didn't much feel the effects of the overhaul on the pitch. Mayo, as is their wont, reached back-to-back All-Ireland finals in the Covid campaigns of 2020 and 2021.
"When James [Horan] came in in 2019, it was a transitional period as well. We got to back-to-back All-Ireland finals. It's all about adapting. Our squad has a lot of experience of good days, bad days and different days. We've a lot of experience coming through from U20s."
McStay was regarded as a shoo-in for the job after Horan's first stint concluded in 2014 only to be denied in contentious circumstances, subsequently guiding Roscommon to a Connacht title in 2017 and telling interviewers he was resigned to never getting the Mayo post.
But the ball bounced in his direction in late 2022. He drafted back in former manager Stephen Rochford and long-time coach Donie Buckley, with his old mucker Liam McHale joining the team - though the latter departed in the off-season.
McStay, a former All-Star forward, had long spoken of his belief that he could improve Mayo's attacking game and O'Donoghue says that has been a particular focus.
"All managers have different ways of approaching things, Kevin and Stephen have brought in a great optimism and way of playing expansive football," says O'Donoghue.
"I know the game has changed, pretty defensively, and we're trying to play as expansively as we can. Breaking down the blanket defences that play against us is one of the things we're really trying to work on."
In January, O'Donoghue may be in action on a couple of fronts. His University of Galway team are seeking to reclaim the Sigerson Cup title they won in 2022.
And the FBD, now run off in its entirety in the famous Dome in Bekan, gets underway this weekend. In the notoriously cluttered calendar, the pre-season competitions are routinely proposed for the chopping block. However, O'Donoghue takes a different view.
"My opinion on it would be that the pre-season competitions are so important for the guys and the girls on the fringes of inter-county panels to be able to put their hand up to their managers and say 'this is what I've to offer for the season ahead'.
"If players and managers can balance together and make sense of it all. You'd be able to play three games in a week as long as you're not training outside that. The people who are making the fixture list are doing the best they can."
In the Sigerson, O'Donoghue lines out alongside a Galway foe, most notably Seán Kelly, with whom he was involved in a contentious incident in the last-12 championship encounter in Salthill in June.
Prior to the second half throw-in, O'Donoghue and Kelly - the latter moving awkwardly all afternoon after picking up an ankle injury against Armagh - were caught in an off-the-ball tussle, with the cameras zooming in on the Mayo forward appearing to kick out in the direction of Kelly's ankle.
While nothing eventuated from the incident, discussion rumbled on for a few days. Kelly recently expressed the hope that people move on from it, adding "in fairness, I didn't get caught doing whatever I did" and O'Donoghue certainly isn't inclined to dwell on the game, which ended in a one-point win for Mayo.
"Ah, it was just one of those things," he said. "Sean's here [at the launch] today. What happens on the pitch stays on the pitch. That was dealt with back then. Everyone has moved on from that I think."
Had the pair spoken about it?
"As I said, that was dealt with at the time. Whatever happens on the pitch stays on the pitch. When you pass them white lines, anything can happen. That's in the past now."
Galway captain Kelly also spoke to RTÉ Sport, suggesting: "Looking back, I probably shouldn't have played. I've said that already. It was one of those which was just always catching me. I was able to jog and run but it was never fully right.
"But at the time, you want to play every game you can. You don't want to be missing out on these games. A sellout in Pearse Stadium against your arch-rivals. I will always try to play and put myself in a position to play. We didn't get over the line that day which made it even worse. It was tough.
"At the moment, I've just been doing rehab. I haven't been back running yet. Hopefully, that comes next week or the week after. Hopefully, I can get back on the pitch if my tests go well. I've done enough work on rehab, I want to be back on the pitch. So we'll see."
There have been single-point wins for each of the old rivals in the last two seasons, after a run of Green and Red victories from 2019-21.
"Mayo were a bit above us a good few years ago. Under Kevin, we did beat them in a few games. Obviously, with Padraic [Joyce] now, it could be 50:50. There's a good rivalry there because there's two teams trying to win it all and feel they can win it all. It's what you want."
Galway have been boosted by the news that Liam Silke, Kieran Molloy and Sean Mulkerrin are all back in training.
Silke, who won an All-Star at corner-back in 2022, opted out to go travelling last year while Molloy and Mulkerrin were easing their way back from long-term injuries.
"It's great to have them and it's a real boost for us," said Kelly. "It takes a while to get going again but it's a big boost because they're putting in a tough pre-season and have a real hunger for it so that drives us on too."
Doubts remain, however, over Kelly's Maigh Cuilinn clubmate Peter Cooke, who missed the 2022 season due to work commitments and has been abroad again recently.
"He was gone away working in New York for the last while so I'm not fully sure exactly what has happened. I'll have to meet him soon enough because I didn't get a chance to see him over Christmas. Hopefully, he's around, but, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure right now. I'll try to meet him now in the next couple of days and I'll hopefully see then what his plan is.
"He's a kind of a free bird, he does his own thing. It would be great to have him involved, but who knows right now."
