Andy Moran has hailed Kobe McDonald as a 'hyper-talented boy' after including him in his Mayo football squad.

The teenage sensation has signed for AFL outfit St Kilda, but won't join them until well after the inter-county season has ended. In the meantime, Moran plans on blooding him along with the other rookies in his squad.

“He’s just a great kid. He’s around for the next nine months. It would have been silly for us not to ask him to come with us – he is a hyper-talented boy," the new Mayo manager said at yesterday’s launch of the FBD Insurance Connacht League.

“There’s no hiding a player like Kobe anymore because of social media and videos. I have this kind of fascination with people saying, ‘it’s too early and it’s this and it’s that’.

“We would have multiple U20 lads and 18, 19, 20-year-olds that I deem ready to play football at senior inter-county level and we’ll be looking to get them in over the next couple of months and push on and play for Mayo.

“There’s no reason why these fellas should be held back anymore, just let them play football.”

Moran, whose side opened their 2026 campaign with a 1-17 to 1-11 victory over Sligo last weekend, also welcomes the return of the pre-season competitions after they were shelved over player welfare concerns last year.

“Absolutely love them. I was a strong advocate (of retaining them) when they were cancelled last year, I didn’t see the point to it at all.

“From a management point of view, if we weren’t playing Sligo last Saturday, we’d be up the country playing a challenge match. I’ve never seen why that’s better than not playing a match in front of a crowd," he added.

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