This year AIB is celebrating the GOAL Mile at Christmas by calling on the people of Ireland to Step Up Together to re-establish the tradition of partaking with their friends and families or to create new ones. Mayo senior football assistant manager, Stephen Rochford will be taking part in a GOAL Mile this Christmas.
By Cian O’Connell
On the eve of the 2023 inter-county GAA season, Stephen Rochford is delighted to be back operating with Mayo.
Kevin McStay has assembled a capable backroom team with Rochford relishing the opportunity to be involved with the green and red once again.
“It is great,” Rochford says. “I suppose going back probably about six months it wasn't something that was typically on the radar.
“The view locally was that maybe James [Horan] was going to extend for another period of time. It is good to be back, I'm really enjoying being out on the field with the lads.”
The coaching element is critical for Rochford. “Yeah, I don't have to deal with a lot more of the admin stuff,” he responds.
“That is certainly of benefit. My sort of journey over the last couple of years has been very much around that coaching area. It is probably where - if you were asking me 15 nearly 20 years ago when I got into a bit of coaching at club level at first - it would have been to be coaching, typically.
“So it is really positive to be back focused in that space, working even closer again with really top coaches in Damien Mulligan, Donie Buckley, and Liam McHale, creating that sort of sweet spot and balance to what everybody can bring to the player front.”
Mayo manager Kevin McStay and assistant manager Stephen Rochford.
With several new managerial appointments made was there any chance of Rochford taking charge of another county?
“I wasn't attracted to a manager’s role outside of Mayo,” Rochford says. “I just think the commitment required for the job is phenomenal.
“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 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.
“No, outside the county. Mayo, yes, flirted with the idea for a little while but just found that the balance for me is in that coaching and assistant manager’s role.”
Rochford also confirmed that the Mayo management plan to speak to Lee Keegan in the coming weeks ahead of the Allianz Football League which commences at the end of January.
Lee Keegan won a Mayo SFC title with Westport in October.
“We are more than happy to give Lee that space to allow the mind and body to recuperate,” Rochford says.
“He had a bit of an injury playing through the county and club championship. So we are affording him that bit of downtime, but we will look to talk to Lee closer to Christmas or early in the New Year as regards what are his plans for 2023.
“I really hope that he is part of our squad for the year ahead. He has a lot to offer, as he has shown in the past year - he still has a lot to offer.”
Oisín Mullin’s departure to Geelong is a significant blow for Mayo. “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,” Rochford says.
“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 kneejerk, 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. While we made it very clear that we wanted Oisín to stay and that we saw him being a really important part of our plan 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.”
