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Home turf counts for nothing in storied Mayo-Galway rivalry

No doubt it will feel a bit bittersweet on Saturday evening watching Mayo from the stand in Castlebar.

Of course, I'm going to miss it. There's always going to be an element of thinking, 'God, could I have given it another year...?'

But I'm content with the decision to retire. I made the call on where I'm at currently, in terms of family and career. It's also important to be fair to the squad, making sure that they can move on and not be looking backwards.

First and foremost, I'm a Mayo supporter and I'm really intrigued to see how the regime fares at the weekend.

From a spectator point of view, there is no better way to start the league than at home against Galway.

It's such a historic rivalry. Of all the games you play, as a Mayo player, this is the one you're always eyeing up.

There's always a bit of giddiness playing against Galway. There's more than points at stake. You're fighting for bragging rights along the border.

It's a particularly interesting dynamic between the two teams after last year, given that Galway went so well in the championship.

The rivalry certainly changed over the course of my playing career. When I broke into the Mayo team in 2011, rivalry was probably the wrong word at that point - because it was all one-way traffic.

We were embarking on a five-in-a-row in Connacht and probably had their number for a time.

But as soon as they broke the mould under Kevin Walsh in the mid-2010s, we found it very, very difficult to beat them.

We really struggled against them for a few years, and actually couldn't beat them in league or championship between 2016 and 2018, even while we were still getting to the business end in Croke Park.

Then, James Horan came back in before 2019 and we gained the upper hand again for a

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