A month into the championship and we’re beginning to see where some teams are at and where others are going. I’m still trying to get my head around the number of games left between the Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup. At least now we know who is playing against who.
In fairness we’ve had a good share of quality football so far. It’s easy to be critical about some of the games at this time of the year. Or give out about not being too excited about the provincial championship any more.
It always happens that the quality of hurling is better at this time of year, ahead of the football, the Munster and Leinster championship producing excellent games, with an excellent level of skill. Everyone is taking about Limerick against Clare, and by the time you digest that you’re into another round again.
But even at a quick whistle-stop tour over the games at the weekend, I was impressed again by some of the football on show. Good quality, played in a great spirit, some great scores kicked
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I do still think Dublin have plenty more in the tank. Still I was delighted to see Kildare put it up to them, and they’re certainly too good a team to have been playing in the Tailteann Cup.
Glenn Ryan was also making the old point again of the Dublin advantage of playing in Croke Park, starting off with their familiarity, always getting preference for the dressingroom, all of that. You can’t really blame Dublin for it, but it is something that needs to be looked at.
It might be an advantage in the Leinster Championship, maybe less so after that, but they should have to play by the rules like anyone else. It never bothered me playing in Croke Park, most players aspire to playing in Croke Park, and the more days there the better.
But if a Leinster championship is fixed for a smaller venue – and I know Newbridge is out of commission just now – it should be played at that venue, an exception shouldn’t be made for Dublin because of their size. It Man Utd or Liverpool are playing one of the smaller clubs in the FA Cup, and get a home draw, there is no exception.
Offaly miss out, but again they played some great football as well, and it’s certainly worth recognising the level of skill and scores in their game against Louth on Sunday, an outstanding game, two teams playing all out. That and the Monaghan-Tyrone game were probably the best championship games we’ve had so far, players from both teams completely emptying the tank.
The first of the two provincial finals this Sunday, in Munster and Connacht, will probably be both one-sided, with two of the main All-Ireland contenders involved. We won’t really know where they are at until after the round-robin games are done with. I’ve said before I’m impressed by Galway, although Sligo are playing on a crest of a wave at the moment, between the under-20s, winning back-to-back, and their Division Four league success.
Kerry did all they had to do against Tipperary, and I expect that’s all they’ll be looking to do again with Clare, because for them the real boxing doesn’t start until down the road.
But I’ve always been a big fan of Colm Collins throughout his 10 years with Clare. He gives a huge amount to Clare football, always under the huge shadow of Clare hurling, and he’s consistently getting the best out of his players, which is amazing given his longevity, preaching the same gospel for a long time. Firstly, he’s a very good coach, secondly he’s very unassuming, but the real plus is the buy-in he’s got from the players, the confidence he brings to them too.
There was some talk of putting the Munster final down in Ennis, and I’d have no issue with that, even if the counties down there have an arrangement. But I do think the provincial final deserves a provincial ground.
Of course all the sound money is on Kerry, and you’d expect them to win by north of eight points, something like that. That’s not saying any of the Clare players don’t believe they can win, because Collins will have that instilled in them. They gave Dublin a bellyful in Croke Park already this year, and his longevity is remarkable.
The same with what Mickey Harte is doing in Louth. Getting that team into a Leinster final, with his pick of players, deserves great credit. He’s got the same buy-in from his players.
Management is becoming an increasingly difficult job, and you can talk about Jim Gavin say, and he was a great manager, but if you were handing out management jobs in football these days, anyone would put their hand up for the Dublin job, Kerry, Mayo and Galway and maybe Tyrone too. The top teams, in other words, where you’ll always have real quality players and be in with a great chance.
It’s easy to play good poker when you’re producing decent cards. The top teams will always have the game-changing players, and some of those don’t need any coaching at all. I was lucky to play with or against some of those generational players, Maurice Fitzgerald and Séamus Moynihan, Pádraig Joyce in Galway, Peter Canavan in Tyrone.
When Dublin were winning everything, Gavin had five or six of those generational players on his team. One of the hardest parts of his game was handing out the jerseys. So, if you look at Collins in Clare, Harte in Louth, and Davy Burke in Roscommon too, they really are punching above their weight.
There are two All-Ireland Under-20 semi-finals down for decision on Saturday evening as well, Kerry against Sligo in Galway, and Down against Kildare in Parnell Park. To me that’s a competition that has been marginalised a bit, although I do prefer to be seeing it played at this time of year. It’s just a bit much to be asking supporters to travel to both games, two days on the bounce.
The bigger thing for me is that it should still be under-21. To me it’s still amazing to think David Clifford or Seánie O’Shea never played under-20 football with Kerry.
Same with the minor football. Anyone with any kind of common sense is saying the minor should come back up from under-17, like to me why under-20 should be back to under-21. In some ways both those competitions are also a victim of the condensed intercounty season. I don’t think that age group is working, and any former players I’ve spoken too agree, the minor is too young, they’re finishing too soon, and that should be changed back immediately. In the long run you’d keep more players in the game.
Still the championship is beginning to take some shape now, once we get over the number of games left between the Sam Maguire and Tailteann Cup.
