There’s no substitute for Andy Moran

Of all the qualities that Andy Moran possesses - both graceful and frightful - the fact that he's insatiable is right at the very top.

You couldn't satisfy him. You couldn't appease him. You couldn't tell him to go away and be happy with his Connacht medals, his county titles or his Sigerson Cup. You couldn't tell him to forget about the All-Ireland. Finding men who play with the energy and enthusiasm of a restless teenager is rare in this sport, never mind men who have been doing it for over a decade. Andy Moran is on a hunt. He's always on a hunt. https://twitter.com/SportsJOE_GAA/status/759446119080427524 It's crazy to think that, last year, he wasn't making the Mayo team. It didn't last too long of course. He came back into the side and dominated and even another year on, it's like he's continuing to breathe fresh, youthful life into the whole thing. After 136 appearances. He's given them direction with his tireless running in the full forward line, he's steadied the ship with his wise head, and he's actually reinvigorated the whole side and all of their momentum with his boyish zest. After 136 appearances. Sit behind the goals at any of Mayo's games and just watch. Marvel. You wouldn't be able to blink without Moran changing direction. You couldn't shuffle in your seat without his hand switching and the finger pointing to another patch of grass. He circles around his markers almost frothing at the thought of leaving them dead on their feet. It'd nearly remind you of a sick lunatic, teasing his victims, savouring the suspense, before delivering the killer blow. Moran prowls the inside line with intent in his eyes and, in the flick of a switch, he explodes into life and chases manically after a round piece of leather as if he might never get another sniff of one. When a ball is kicked in his direction, Moran declares all-out war. He goes for it with everything he has in him. He goes for it as if it's a duty to his county. And he does it over and over again. Jesus, he's been doing it for over 13 years now. He's been doing it for 136 appearances. It's just a verve he has, a skip in his step, a want in his heart. Yes, he wants to deliver Mayo to a land they've been promised for 66 years but it's just a fundamental part of his make-up, that want to win. To win trophies, to win battles, to win ball out in front like it was the only thing that ever mattered. Last year, Stephen Rochford's decision to throw the Ballaghaderreen man back into the starting line-up genuinely reminded everyone of the force Mayo was and is when they were struggling back then like they stuttered again for a bit in 2017. This year, they've returned to the big time again and Andy Moran is the one tasked with taking that force onto another level and, in a massacre against Kerry in a soaking All-Ireland semi-final, he kicked 1-5 with pure conviction in the most cruel rout. The only team good enough to put Mayo out of the championship in the last five years is a team that would go on to win the All-Ireland. For a good half decade, they've consistently been the second best side in Ireland. Last year, we forgot that for a while and it took the return of Andy Moran at the edge of the square to ram that home. This year, we forgot that again and it took Andy Moran running riot at the edge of the square to reinforce it again because he's been nothing short of inspirational. Again. He's a target man - a proper one that relentlessly makes himself available and makes the pass into him easy. He's a hound - when Mayo don't have the ball watch him, just watch him dripping with saliva, biting his teeth. He's a player of skill and drive that reduces the game into gloriously simple segments of winning the ball and tapping it over. He's a leader. When everyone else has been panicking aimlessly, Moran has been dragging them all with him as he helped navigate Mayo's way back onto the tracks. He's ended elongated passages of play out of pure grumpy wisdom - stop this messing, just put the thing over the bloody bar. He's taken ball off team mates at the first sign of trouble, even when he's in a sticky spot himself, he demands it anyway. And he's been laying boys in for goal chances and handy scores dead in front of the posts with a guiding hand and untouchable nerve. He's not a player that relies on form and, because of that, Stephen Rochford and Mayo can rely on him. They can count on Andy Moran to bring unmatched passion to the pitch and to every single mini-battle that unfolds on it. They can depend on him to fight for inches, yards, and scores and they can sure as hell guarantee that come hell or high water, he'll be trampling over heads if it's what he has to do to get free and offer himself as a target. Because of Moran's sacrifices, Mayo's system effortlessly flows. Because of his hunger, the same county will never understand or accept when they're beaten. They'll never go away. Not on his watch. There's no substitute for that kind of unbreakable mentality. There's no substitute for that kind of fire and desire. There's no substitute for Andy Moran.