Old master or hot hand: Cillian O'Connor return gives Mayo free choice

If Mayo are awarded a free to beat Dublin this afternoon, or more to the point later this summer, who should take it?

Should it be the All-Ireland championship's all-time top scorer, who from 2011 to 2020 was arguably the most consistent freetaker in the game?

Or the man who so brilliantly filled the void in his absence, and who this championship has a 100% conversion rate from frees?

The win over Roscommon the weekend before last was Cillian O'Connor's first time to start back-to-back games for Mayo in almost two years. And for the first time in Kevin McStay's reign, the two-time All-Star is fit enough to be planned around.

Which raises the question: should he take over from Ryan O'Donoghue on the frees, even if he's coming on as a replacement rather than starting? O'Donoghue has been in terrific form for Mayo this year, and consistently excellent since breaking into the team in 2020. He has become the go-to man up top, and an over-relied upon one at that.

With O'Connor missing so much of the past three years through injury he has stepped up and established himself as a top quality free-taker too. So far in the 2024 Championship he has scored 1-21 from 21 frees and a penalty, remarkably converting every single opportunity he's been presented with.

O'Donoghue has taken on the mantle of Mayo marquee forward

McStay wouldn't even be considering who takes the frees, except O'Connor is one of the all-time great Mayo players and one of the most reliable freetakers of his generation

O'Connor has now started back-to-back matches for the first time in 25 Mayo games stretching back to the 2022 All-Ireland quarter-final, and aside from that championship campaign his last consecutive starts came just over three years ago.

Mayo have had to