Get the popcorn out - it's showtime in the championship

RTÉ News​

7 hours ago

Let's get ready to rumble!
In the era of Mr Trump, there is a natural inclination to steer away from hype and grandiose claims.
There is however a giddy anticipation of the weekend that lies ahead in the All-Ireland football championship.
Could it be the best weekend's football we've ever seen? It's of course a daft thing to say in ways but then again, the ingredients have rarely ever been better.
I work in Craigavon Hospital in Armagh, and I've never seen as many people keen to talk football. They're not just excited about their own team if they're in it, rather, it's all the games, all the possibilities that has them salivating in anticipation of what the weekend may bring.
Those ingredients?
With a possible argument to be had for Mayo, the eight top teams are all there. All eight have had the sheen knocked off them, and that means even for their most ardent supporters, there are doubts and wonderings and, crucially for their opponents, opportunity and hope.
Not one of the eight remaining are anywhere near a settled team. All are missing likely starters or hoping to welcome some back. On top of the injury issues, the undulating nature of the season means players are finding form and losing it all over again.
The variation in teams feels nuts for this stage in the championship but bears witness to the much talked of attritional nature of the modern campaign.
The clash of styles is now in every facet of the game: two-pointers versus goal getters; fly keepers versus stay-at-home conservatives; arc defence versus man-to-man; scoring spread versus main-man magic; through-the-hand running or stretch-the-game kicking.
And all of it still has to pass the Croke Park test.
How often do we hear that Croke Park plays different? For all bar Dublin, the various teams' new game experience in HQ is one or none.
Can the arc defence used by Armagh and Donegal for example hold up on Croker's expanses? Are two-pointers really more difficult there? If so, who between the two-point merchants in Galway and Meath will blink first?
Again, we can ponder much but let's be honest, we know very little.
The biggest factor of all that leads us to actually expect rather than hope for a stunning weekend's football is of course everything that has gone before.
The regularity of hugely entertaining games that have left the terraces buzzing cannot be a coincidence. The rules have landed with more success than even Jarlath Burns himself could have dreamed of when he gave Jim and his crew the grandiose aim of "creating the most exciting and enjoyable amateur game in the world".
The crowds are back and I'd imagine this weekend will see close to a record attendance for this stage of the championship. Just as the brilliance of the Munster hurling championship drives massive crowds and great atmospheres that only lifts the games even further, the big-ball game is now experiencing the same.
Having been living the puritan life of defensive football for over 10 years the whole thing is intoxicating. Absolutely there are issues to be ironed out, many actually, but, there is a time to moan and a time to enjoy, and this weekend is very much the latter.
As to predictions, it's a fool's errand this week. Valid cases can be made for all. But like my six-year old in a filling station when he's allowed to get a treat, sometimes you just have to make a call and no matter what it'll still be crap so here goes.
Monaghan v Donegal
WINNER: MONAGHAN
Donegal's six-day thing is very poor form from the GAA.
Monaghan's footballing dogs are learning a whole host of tricks and playing some of the best football in the country - and that has been one of the stories of the year. Caveat: all their wins have been against second-tier sides. They need a big-team scalp and for that they need Gary Mohan fit and to keep a closer eye on Shane O'Donnell than any team has managed to date. Doable? Maybe.
It'd be some irony for Donegal to get the rest they don't really want after all!
Tyrone v Dublin
WINNER: TYRONE.
Why? Hope springs eternal and I hear Mugsy is back in training and has the peroxide out! Dublin are a coming force. Their hunger and willingness to come back, especially among their older hands is mesmerizing. They are the one team who are getting stronger week on week before our eyes. Injuries are massive here.
How fit is Con? How fit is Brian Kennedy? Opposite types of footballer, equal importance to the outcome. Michael McKiernan's loss is a huge blow for Tyrone. Taking down the Dubs in Croker is one of the biggest challenges in the game. With the additional week's rest, that challenge has to be relished by the Red Hand.
Galway v Meath
WINNER: GALWAY
Galway Arrive battered and bruised but still standing. Over the past weeks we've seen them rise like Rocky as the ref almost counted them out against both Derry and Armagh. That has to have welded their spines solid. The nice footballers of Galway are quickly looking like a side who refuse to lose.
Meath have been a revelation but the big question here is did their two statement wins, over Dublin and Kerry, owe as much to their opponents being off it than to their excellence. I suspect it did. I expect Galway to show up. Tiredness could definitely be an issue for them but they survived all they have to fall here?
Kerry v Armagh
WINNER: AH, I GIVE UP
Even in all the above ones, my mind is running amok throwing counter arguments at everything I type. Every sentence I start to form for this one doesn't get to the fourth word until its truth is rubbished.
I just hope Paudie Clifford and Paul Geaney are fit and Soupy Campbell is good to tog out. I know when you beat Kerry they tend to be lovely about it to your face and very slighted behind it. They generally do vengeance pretty well down there. But who the hell knows?
If you ask me who my two favourites are for the All-Ireland I'd say Donegal and Armagh. Yet somehow, I've decided both of them lose this weekend! My head is hurting. The sooner the ball is thrown in the better, at least we can all be very wise come Monday!
Popcorn at the ready – it's showtime.