Aptly, the first footballer featured in this year's Shooting Star series is a man who could quite literally be described as a shooting star. Shrule-Glencorrib and Mayo attacker Conor Mortimer has been one of the most outstanding attackers on view since the turn of the Millennium and is definitely a player to keep a close eye on in 2009. Especially if you're a defender Lethal. That's Conor Mortimer for you. Deadly accurate, lightning fast, inventive and brave. The diminutive Mayo forward has been terrorising defences the length and breadth of Ireland since 2001 and is, without doubt, one of those rare forwards who would walk onto any team. Even the likes of Kerry and Tyrone would find a place for the Shrule-Glencorrib ace somewhere in their attacking VI. With Mayo, he's played in two All-Ireland finals already and his burning ambition is to help his county to a first Sam Maguire success since 1951. Gerry Robinson caught up with the 2006 All Star and SFC Top Scorer to sound out his mood ahead of the battles that lie ahead. Your brothers Kenneth and Trevor have also been great servants to Mayo GAA down through the years. Coming from such a great GAA family, was gaelic football always a part of your life growing up? Yeah. From I was a kid, growing up, football was all I did. We played football all the time. As you see it, what are the most important attributes a forward needs to succeed at intercounty level today? What are the qualities that will give an aspiring young forward the best chance of making the grade? What advice would you offer to young lads trying to make a breakthrough? I would advise them to practise their shooting all the time. That's the real key - taking your scores when the chances arise. You also need speed and a lot of self-belief. I still go out on my own a couple of times a week when I get the time and practise my shooting. At the end of the day, a forward is there to take scores. After a game, can you remember all your points and misses? Can you replay the whole thing in your mind and remember every single chance - what you did and what you should have done etc.? Also, do you watch videos of your games and read all the match reports? You'll always run through it all in your head afterwards and you'll remember the good and the bad. I wouldn't be too fussed on watching videos of games, to be honest. I'd just watch whatever's on TV. I don't really bother reading the papers either. I'd read about other games to see how they went, but I don't see the point in reading about a game I played in. How critical would you be of yourself when you miss the target or choose the wrong option? Are you your own harshest critic? Some of the time. But I'd say sometimes I'm not as harsh on myself as I should be. I don't go too hard on myself. You have to keep your confidence up and it's important to maintain your self-belief, so knocking yourself won't help. Of course, you'd think about it and maybe dwell on things a bit but the best way to get over a miss is to score the next one. That's not always as easy as it sounds, but you have to put things behind you and move on. Any particular miss that sticks in your mind and haunts you? Probably the one in my first championship game. I missed a relatively-easy free in the last five minutes of the 2001 Connacht final. It was very important at the time and it was annoying, especially in my first game. What do you make of the new experimental disciplinary rules? It's claimed that they are designed to help forwards - do you agree? Yes, I think they're good for forwards. They're very good for us, in fact. I don't know if they'll hold onto them or not for the championship, but I wouldn't be against them. There's no pulling and dragging and I prefer it that way. If referees are strict in enforcing them, the rules should work. Do forwards get away with more fouls than backs? I think they do but mainly because forwards wouldn't be as good at tackling. We try to get the ball any way we can and often that would be seen as a foul. How much intimidation or mind games do defenders use to try to put you off your game? Are there many insults thrown around? Not anymore. It's all football now. If you're good enough, you learn. I had a couple of incidents in the past when I was preparing to take frees, but nothing major. Can you remember where you were in 1996 when the Mayo and Meath footballers had that big fight under the Hill? I was in the Canal End. Kenneth was playing corner back that day, so I was there. I was at the far end, but I was watching it alright. I got a good enough view and I saw everything that was going on. At the time, it was great. Sure I was only a young lad and it was great to see a bit of action on the pitch. Unfortunately, the result wasn't so good for Mayo that day. Do you think Mayo are harshly judged because of their poor record in All-Ireland finals? Surely it's a decent achievement to get there in the first place and Mayo have improved in the last ten or twelve years by reaching so many finals? We have improved, but people are right to criticise teams that get to All-Ireland finals and lose. There's no cup or anything at the end of it when you lose, and everybody is disappointed. We're not stupid - we know why people are disappointed - especially if we under-perform. It's not as if we're content to lose, ourselves. I don't dwell on it. I forget things pretty quickly. You have to move on; life is too short to be worrying about things you can't change. You have to get back on the horse, so to speak. It plays on your mind a little but a footballer will never go out to intentionally play poorly and some people don't seem to realise that. If you could transfer one player into the Mayo team, who would it be? I think either Padraig Joyce, Kieran Donaghy or Gooch Cooper would be a big addition. And if you could play for any other county, which one would you choose? Anybody would enjoy playing in Dublin, so I'd have to pick them. What are your goals for 2009? Obviously, the first one is to win the Connacht championship. From a personal point of view: to play well and perform to my ability and do well in life in general. It would be nice to win an All-Ireland but Connacht would do for starters. Do you think the recession poses a threat to gaelic football? Have any of the Mayo players been adversely affected or had their intercounty careers called into doubt after losing their jobs or anything like that? A recession obviously has a big effect on a lot of people when they are out of work and stuff. I haven't been home recently, but I don't think there are too many of the Mayo players affected just yet. I don't know for sure, but I think they're okay for the time being anyway. Tweet

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