‘We let standards slip after 2021 and I’m as much to blame as anyone’ - Tyrone keeper Niall Morgan on the journey back to the top as they prepare to face Mayo again

Allianz Football League Division One, round three

Tyrone v Mayo (Castlebar, 1.45pm, live on TG4)

THE curse of the 2021 All-Ireland final.

Tyrone suckered a gallant Mayo at the end of that pandemic-disturbed season yet instead of striding confidently forward, both teams have struggled for any sort of Championship traction since.

Of the 15 Championship games that Tyrone have contested since, they’ve won just six. They’ve only contested a single All-Ireland quarter-final since 2021 and were well beaten by Kerry on that occasion in 2023.

Life hasn’t been a whole pile better for Mayo in the meantime either. They’ve played 17 Championship games across the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons and won just nine. They also haven’t been beyond a quarter-final and, like Tyrone, haven’t won a provincial title since 2021.

The one piece of consolation for both counties is that they’ve managed to play Division One football each season since and they will meet again in that arena tomorrow.

Mayo have actually thrived in League terms, contesting the 2022 final and winning the 2023 instalment, though both sets of supporters will reflect upon harder Championship times when they convene in Castlebar on Sunday afternoon.

“I think if you look at the two teams, the changeover in personnel in the two teams would tell part of the tale,” said Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan, explaining the slumps.

“Like, Mayo’s team is nearly unrecognisable compared to then, it’s nearly a complete turnaround of players.

“Our team has seen massive changes as well. I was listening to (former joint manager) Feargal Logan on a podcast and he said he inherited an ageing team. I’m maybe included in that!

“But we have moved on again and we’re trying to blood a lot of new boys as well and, look, things probably just haven’t worked out in the last couple of years.

“We maybe tried to play too open at times and then too closed at others.

“It’s trying to find that balance that we did have in 2021 where we nearly knew, ‘Right, now is the time to batten down the hatches and make this really difficult’ and other times it was ‘Go and press really high and let’s express ourselves’. You’re constantly seeking to regain that form.”

Morgan, the Allstar goalkeeper of 2021, takes some of the blame for the fall off in Tyrone’s form.

“I think we all just started taking it for granted, that we’ve won the All-Ireland, so we have the right to go back and do it again,” he said.

“I know I’ve said it in the past that I felt some players maybe lost their hunger, and sometimes I’ve listened back to myself and thought, ‘People are going to listen to that and think that I’m blaming other people’ but I’m not.

“It’s a collective thing where we maybe just accepted that standards slipped a little bit in training.

“Myself, I’m horrible for time-keeping, being late for meetings, maybe wearing the wrong gear.

“And once standards start to slip, like, I know it’s a cliche about the one per cents but they do up add up to the two per cents, the five per cents and the 10 per cents and you can’t just switch it on at the weekend and think, ‘Oh sure we won an All-Ireland last year, it’ll be alright’.

“Or the following year it might be, ‘Ah sure we won the All-Ireland the year before, we just had a bad year last year’.

“That all starts to compound itself. The only thing we can really take out of the last couple of years is that we have stayed up in Division One - and then Dublin and Armagh show us that maybe we should have gone down!”

An Allstar again in 2024, Morgan still has a smile on his face at least and, turning 34 this year, is happy to state that he will keep coming back indefinitely.

“I won’t walk away, I won’t retire, somebody’s going to have to take the spot off me before I walk,” he declared.

He makes the point that the 2021 All-Ireland win was achieved off the back of a group of players that won an U21 All-Ireland six years earlier. Tyrone won the corresponding U20 championship again in 2024.

“So based on that it would leave me at 38, 39,” said Morgan, extrapolating when their next senior success might come, around 2030.

“Can I see myself still being fit to play at that stage? I’m not taking any year for granted at this stage, I’m just enjoying it while I’m there.”

It’s early days yet in 2025 but Mayo have identified tomorrow’s game as a must-win. They’re pointless after losses to Dublin and Galway. Tyrone picked up a win over Derry in round one, so their need isn’t quite as great.

“We’re still missing players like Petey (Harte), Darragh and Ruairi (Canavan), Joe (Oguz) and Cormac Quinn,” Morgan noted.

“You’ve got Paudie Hampsey still missing, Conor Meyler, they’re all big players for us. It’s trying to find who is willing to step up and take their places.”