While the celebrations in Mayo will continue over the coming days, those in Kerry will be reflecting what went wrong during their All-Ireland defence.

It’s clear that Jack O’Connor’s side were not at their best in Sunday’s final. Not only did they kick a high number of wides, but they also struggled to deal with the intensity Mayo brought to the clash.

Perhaps we should have saw that coming. Kerry were heavy favourites for the final, but they had performed well in the previous couple of games. It was assumed that they would up their performance levels for the decider but that didn’t quite turn out to be the case.

Kerry star questioned for conduct before Mayo clash

Kerry seemed to lack intensity at points in yesterday’s game, but one of their players has been questioned for having too stern of an approach before throw-in.

Graham O’Sullivan was full dialled in during the pre-match festivities, although some were not impressed with his behaviour. He seemed to bring perhaps a bit too much bravado to the handshakes with the Mayo players.

Give Respect Get Respect in the Gaa

Graham O’Sullivan is a classy footballer but he did not treat his opponents with respect today and ultimately it backfired

Not shaking the hand of Mayo captain Jack Coyne was dissapointing pic.twitter.com/3xWGDwb0Us

— Niall Tierney (@nialltierney25) July 26, 2026

A bit of an odd move.

It was one that did not necessarily go down all that well with many GAA supporters.

Didn’t even realise he didn’t shake Jacks hand because I was distracted by the fact he decided to square up to every single player first for some reason https://t.co/41yiIZ1D20

— Aoibhy 🇵🇸 🇨🇩 (@feinmhuinin) July 27, 2026

Disrespectful & stupid, all in one act, very strange behaviour and not a good look. https://t.co/Rdl8aCB1Yq

— John Gillespie (@PRO_Galway_Ball) July 27, 2026

Recommended

Stupid carry on this https://t.co/FVPs5BYyDr

— Daniel Hussey (@DanielHussey2) July 27, 2026

Embarrassing https://t.co/P9DGMxGhKB

— James Foran (@jamesforan97) July 27, 2026

The eyeballing was embarrassing

— SINKER JOHN (@SinkerJohn) July 27, 2026

A good footballer but not good enough to be at that craic – just made a fool of himself in the end. I’m sure he’ll look back at that with embarrassment.

— Mark (@Hazelbrook8) July 27, 2026

It’s fair to say that it didn’t work out for him.

Mayo and Kerry will be hoping to return to All-Ireland final

Kerry will no doubt be back on this stage in the near future, but it’s fair to say they have lost some of the mystique that had existed around the team for much of this season.

While they have the best forward line in the country, their approach for much of 2026 did not seem to make the most of the resources at their disposal. Jack O’Connor’s decision to employ a very deliberate attacking approach looked to stifle the side’s creativity at times.

That is something they will look to address in 2027, although their return to the All-Ireland final is far from certain considering the unpredictable nature of the football championship in recent times.

Mayo seem well placed to compete for the Sam Maguire over the coming seasons. Not only do they have a young squad that should still improve, but Andy Moran seems to have cracked the best approach for the team to take under the current rules.

It had previously been thought that teams would not be able able to maintain a high pressing approach in the new iteration of Gaelic football. Mayo have now set out a template on how to do so.