1. What is the standout group?
With the provincial final outcomes still to be determined, the exact make-up of the Sam Maguire groups remains unclear. That uncertainty isn’t ideal, but for the teams involved with the logistics of travel and proper planning, advance notice was needed of what weekend their opening game was on, and if they were home or away.
With that backdrop, identifying the most cut-throat section isn’t easy but Group 2 seems likely to pan out as being intensely competition. On the presumption that Galway justify their heavy favouritism to win Sunday’s Connacht final, then the 2022 All-Ireland finalists will join the 2021 Sam Maguire winners Tyrone and the 2022 Tailteann Cup champions Westmeath. The last member of that quartet will either be last year’s Ulster champions Derry or an Armagh team that competed in Division 1 of the league this year.
2. Blockbusters on opening weekend
Both Kerry and Galway hold positions of odds-on favourites before Sunday’s provincial finals. The formbook points to Kerry collecting their 12th Munster title in 14 seasons against Clare, who last triumphed in 1992, while also suggesting Division 1 finalists Galway will hold off Division 4 winners Sligo.
But irrespective of the outcomes it is striking to note the home games that await the Connacht and Munster champions on 20-21 May, the opening weekend when this new All-Ireland format is ushered into view. The Connacht winners will entertain Tyrone and the Munster victors will host Mayo. A trip to Salthill for the Logan-Dooher crew or a trek to Killarney for Kevin McStay, would whet the appetite of football neutrals. Or if a major surprise is sprung on Sunday, what a prize for Sligo to welcome the 2021 All-Ireland champions to Markievicz Park, or for Clare to host in Ennis such a dominant player of the last decade in Mayo.
3. Venue in the Group 3 spotlight
Glenn Ryan was unflinching in his post-match assessment of Sunday’s Leinster semi-final, bringing the perceived range of advantages Dublin enjoy at Croke Park into sharp focus. The raw pain of defeat was obvious for the Kildare manager as they came up two points short. A shot at redemption may lurk just around the corner though.
Dublin will be heavily backed to be crowned Leinster champions once more on Sunday week, a position of uninterrupted supremacy they have enjoyed since 2011. If the scenario materalises of a win for Dessie Farrell’s men over Louth, the Round 2 fixture on the June Bank Holiday weekend will be particularly intriguing, a Group 3 encounter between Kildare and Dublin.
And the pressing issue that would crop up then, is where such a potential fixture would be played? Kildare are entitled to a home fixture but the doors are shut to their home grounds in Newbridge due to necessary redevelopment works. Five years after the ‘Newbridge or Nowhere’ fiasco, where else in the province would be nominated in that instance?
4. Is this group format going to work?
One of the criticisms of the All-Ireland football Super 8s was the dead rubbers as the group stages concluded. Only two sides advanced from those four-team groups, in this new All-Ireland football structure there will be three teams emerging to the knockout stages. Is that a positive in preserving the interest of counties for longer? Or is it unwieldy to have 16 teams whittled down to 12, with 24 games required to remove four from the equation?
There will be benefits to finishing in the first two positions in each group. The top team will have the weekend of 24-25 June off as the await a quarter-final on 1-2 July. The second-placed sides will have home advantage for the preliminary quarter-finals in late June. But there is a concern if these group stages are going to fizz with interest all through or drain away to a low-key finish.
5. Last day pairings
There are four pairings nailed on for the Round 3 matches, neutral venues the locations on the weekend of 17-18 June. All carry an element of intrigue. Mayo have won their last two championship outings against Cork, but found the Rebels troublesome to overcome by a point in both 2014 in Croke Park and 2017 in the Gaelic Grounds, the latter requiring extra-time to shade the issue. As a player, Westmeath boss Dessie Dolan can cast his mind back to 2008 when the county finished with 13 men and yet were only four points adrift of Tyrone in a qualifier in Omagh.
Davy Burke will take his Roscommon team into action against his native Kildare, the county where he enjoyed All-Ireland U20 success in 2018, club success with Sarsfields in 2019 and was in the frame previously for the Lilywhites senior position. And then there is the Ulster derby between Donegal and Monaghan, serial opponents in the province and in the top tier of the league.
