Rob Finnerty: Galway's Love Island support for Fitzy, kick-out presses, and two-point patience
BEFORE ROB FINNERTY digs into the tactical overview of Galway’s season to date, there’s the matter of Seán Fitzgerald’s Love Island participation.
The Tribe full-back was confirmed as a participant on the British reality TV show last week, meaning he will miss the All-Ireland Series.
Finnerty says the panel are happy to support the 25-year-old’s ambitions, and will be tuning in to watch his progress.
“I didn’t know for certain until he told Pádraic (Joyce) and they announced it to the whole panel,” says Finnerty.
“I knew there was a chance of him going for a while before. I had a few conversations with him and he mentioned that it was on the cards.
“Everyone was happy enough for him. It’s a decision he’s made and we all wish him the best. We’ll be watching him and we’re excited to see how he gets on. Fair play to him. It’s something he wanted to do, so we’re all happy for him.
“When Fitzy was leaving, they (management) were all wishing him all the best. We’ve known Seán for years and he’s been a massive part of our panel. They really want what’s best for him as a person before a footballer. They support whatever decision he makes.”
Ready for your next batch of sexy singles? Sean, Ellie and Samraj are about to have a summer they’ll never forget! ❤️🔥 #LoveIsland pic.twitter.com/H5uuEd74fA
— Love Island (@LoveIsland) May 26, 2026
Reflecting on their Connacht final defeat to Roscommon, Finnerty reckons Galway were architects of their own downfall in many respects.
“The kick-out press and our own kick-outs just weren’t at the level. The stats tell you that. We shot ourselves a bit in the foot there.
“When you have way less primary possession than a team, you’re going to have way less of a chance of beating them. We were still so close to winning that game, even having lost so many kick-outs.
“They won a huge amount of theirs and they actually did serious damage off them as well. They didn’t just win them, they actually scored off them, which was disappointing.
“It was definitely our main focus after the Connacht final. We did them well the last day, but we’re well aware that there will be a new challenge in three weeks.
“You can’t just forget about them and say that’s kick-outs sorted, because as soon as you take your eye off them again, that’s when the problem arises. You just have to be so focused on every aspect going into these games.”
When reflecting on their failings to take more of the ball away from Roscommon, Finnerty dwells on their positioning for opposition kick-outs.
“Conor Carroll is a right-footed kicker and we let a lot off to his four pocket, which is his favourite kick. That was probably the most disappointing thing.
“We’d probably accept if he was getting the ball off to the two pocket because it’s his weaker kick.
“We just really weren’t on it on the day. The communication wasn’t there. The positioning wasn’t there. Even when we swapped up to man-to-man, it just wasn’t at the level it should have been at, which was disappointing.
“It’s still a work in progress, but it was a lot better the last day.”
On the attacking end, Finnerty feels Galway benefitted from better composure on the ball in their round 1 victory over Kildare.
“In that first half against Roscommon, we started off well and then we had a big breeze and we weren’t very patient with our attacking play.
“A lot of us drifted to the outside of the arc, which led to us taking each other’s space. Whereas in that Kildare game, we stayed a lot more patient with our attacking structure.
“We held pretty deep in the corners in the 13 and 15 pocket and that wasn’t necessarily always inside players. You can flush your midfield in, flush half-forwards and half-backs in, and get shooters outside the arc.”
Galway have been working on better recognition of in-game changes with sports psychologist Darragh Sheridan.
In last year’s draw with Derry, the Tribesmen were slow to amend their approach.
“Sometimes when you’re going out in the second half and you have a big breeze at your back, you do fall in love with the idea of we’re going to go out here and we’re going to kick a rake of twos,” says Finnerty.
“If you’re going out with that intention and you’re setting up your attack to do that, you become very easy to defend. It’s very easy to mark five or six lads around the arc when you’re never looking to pop a ball inside.
“We didn’t vary our play at all. We didn’t pop balls inside and we took a lot of what I’d call low-percentage two-point shots where you’re well outside the arc and there’s pressure on shots.
“It’s very hard sometimes in-game to notice these things. It’s only really when you’re looking back at it and you see the data and the video that you realise, Jesus, we kicked that game away on ourselves.
“You’re always trying to get a bit better and try to get to a level where we can say as players, ‘Oh right, this isn’t going right’, after 10 minutes, ‘We need to change this’, rather than waiting until half-time when we go in and our management tell us, ‘What were ye doing in the last 30 minutes?’
“Darragh’s been doing a bit of work around things like that, which is going to be positive for the group.”
Growing up, Finnerty feels that coming through with his club, Salthill-Knocknacarra, helped to develop his heads-up style of play.
“That would have been one of my biggest strengths growing up, that I would have played with some really, really good underage teams at club level.
“It was never the case where I was by far the best player. I had some really good other players around me. So that’s why I’ve always played with my head up and been able to pick out a pass and see what’s in front of me.
“Because naturally, I never was one of them that played for a weaker club side. I didn’t have to try and run through everyone.
“You see with some lads, as they come into senior football, they struggle sometimes in that sense. Because they would have played with weaker teams and maybe the right thing for them at the time would have been to not pass the ball or not make the right decision.”
- Rob Finnerty was speaking in association with RYPT, the official player management software partner to the GAA, for their ‘Two Point Program’. RYPT gives you one place to understand your athletes’ readiness, track their progress, spot injury risk early, and deliver a full sports performance programme — so you can make better decisions, faster, and spend more time coaching.
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