Mortimer has only winning in mind

GAA National Football League: A year ago they met as possible headliners but on Saturday night Kerry and Mayo will face-off in a slightly less ceremonious opening to the Allianz Football League.

Kerry are still slowly recovering from their All-Ireland defeat last September, while Mayo are rebuilding under new manager Mickey Moran. It's a game either team could win, but neither one would care too much about losing.

Yet for Mayo, the journey to Tralee also marks the first major outing for Moran, who took over from John Maughan at the end of last summer. The Derry native is not the first outside appointment in Mayo as Kerry's Jack O'Shea also held the position in 1994, but he has been bringing a whole new influence to the team.

Joining him in the Mayo management is John Morrison, who had previously worked with Moran in both Derry and Donegal. The early rounds of the FBD League has allowed the two men to find their feet, and according to Mayo forward Conor Mortimer, the fresh faces and their approach have been broadly welcomed.

"It's always different when you come back to a new manager," said Mortimer. "I've had three different managers in the last four years or so, so it's been a little stop-start. But I do think it's good to keep things changing. And the atmosphere at training over the past few weeks has been very good. The early training has gone well.

"Mickey has brought a new outlook to the thing, a whole new regime, which any new manager always does. Everyone seems very happy so far, but obviously we haven't had a very big game yet. This Saturday is our first big test, so we'll know a lot more after that."

Mortimer has only been training with Mayo at the weekends as he's currently based in Dublin, studying the sports science degree at Dublin City University.

But he believes Moran has given a lot of thought into pulling together the current panel, holding a series of trial matches before Christmas.

"I think everybody in the county has got their chance in those trial games, and they picked out whatever they could. So I don't think anyone can say now that there's players not with us at the moment that should be. But in saying that people will always say there are players left off the panel that should be playing.

"But I also think the younger players that have come in have done well, and it does put some pressure on the players that have been there for a while now."

Moran's appointment as manager also cleared the way for David Brady to return to the panel, while Kevin O'Neill is also back in contention for a starting place after a long-term injury. Mortimer's brother, Trevor, is also based back in Mayo, now a qualified quarry manager with the family business, having spent the last couple of years studying in England.

Mayo were beaten by Kerry last year (1-16 to 0-15) and yet still made the semi-finals ahead of their old rivals, losing to Armagh. While that rivalry may have waned in the public, it's clear that Mortimer is thinking about one result only on Saturday.

"Of course we're looking to go to Kerry and win. You look to win every game in the league. We've done quite well in the league in the past couple of years playing against the top teams, like Kerry, Tyrone and Dublin. And we played Armagh in a semi-final. So hopefully we can make the semi-finals again.

"We still have unfulfilled ambitions, and that's something we've heard for the last few years, especially after we got to an All-Ireland final and didn't win it. But I personally don't think we weren't able to win it. We just didn't play. Back in 1996 or 1997 again they were two games that Mayo possibly should have won. But you just don't know what's going to happen this year."