Damien Comer says Galway are "back down to the bottom" in their quest for silverware after a disappointing end to 2023.
The Tribesmen begin their Allianz Football League campaign this Sunday against Mayo, just as they did 12 months ago when the neighbouring counties played out an entertaining draw at MacHale Park.
The pair met again in April's league final - which Mayo won by three points - and the Green and Red plunged another dagger into Galway hearts when they defeated Padraic Joyce's men in the All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final in June.
Three tough pills to swallow for Comer and Co, each one more bitter than the last. But the powerful forward - who endured fitness issues last summer - insists they're ready to scale the mountain again.
"From a personal level it was a very frustrating sort of a year," said Comer at the launch of the 2024 Allianz Football League.
"I felt good coming back after a bit of pre-season and then in the Mayo game [in the league], I was just trying to get back to fitness. Then I had a knee injury against Roscommon. I was lucky to get away with only being out for maybe six weeks with that and not doing my cruciate.
"To get back then and have niggling hamstring injuries after that, trying to get it right, playing certain games, missing other games - it was frustrating overall. I felt like I was moving OK when I was on the pitch but I was just struggling to stay on the pitch."
"When you come off the back of an All-Ireland final appearance the year before and then only make it to the preliminary [quarter-final] the following year, our expectations and our goals for the year as a group would have been higher, but every year you start at the bottom and you have to earn the right to get to the top."
There was added expectation on Galway after their run to that 2022 All-Ireland decider, which they lost to Kerry, but they lost their rhythm once the championship started to heat up.
There were other factors. Shane Walsh's transfer from his native Kilkerrin-Clonberne to Dublin club Kilmacud Crokes shone an intense spotlight on the talismanic 30-year-old that seemed to impact his form, though Comer is confident Walsh will hit the ground running this season, as he returns to his county a little earlier after Glen ended Crokes' All-Ireland club championship involvement at the semi-final stage.
"Shane knows how good he is and we know how good he is as well," he said.
"Like anyone, we want to get the best out of our players. He'll have disappointments, as I do and a lot of the lads will, a lot of regrets from last year, different things that didn't go our way.
"It's good to have him back, and it's good to have him back earlier as well.
"In fairness to Shane he lives in his own bubble sometimes. A lot of the stuff he mightn't have even seen. He probably knew that was the price when he was leaving for a top club in Dublin, that was always going to be the case.
"It's just because of the game he had in the [2022] All-Ireland final and his profile, there was always going to be something bigger made of it. There's many other players who have transitioned clubs through the years and some of the reasons were not even as good as his but because of the standard of player it's highlighted by the media an awful lot more."
"You're always trying to get off to a good start."
After hosting Mayo at Pearse Stadium on Sunday, Galway travel to Roscommon in what Comer describes as a "mini Connacht championshp".
"It's a good place to start, even for the support as well," he added.
"It's nice to get games in January and get back into the swing of things. It becomes nearly a routine for the next few months now.
"A good start [is important]. It's always a good battle, it's at home against our lovely neighbours [Mayo] who we're so used to playing - nice rivalry to have. It's one we're looking forward to, but like any year, no matter if it's Mayo, Roscommon, Monaghan, Dublin, whoever it is in the first game, you're always trying to get off to a good start."
Watch Kerry v Derry in the Allianz Football League on Saturday from 5pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch highlights on Allianz League Sunday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 9.30pm, follow a live blog every Sunday afternoon on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
