8: Cork
CORK’S RECORD AGAINST Dublin in championship is abysmal. 16 meetings, only two wins. They’ve played each other three times since 2010, the last game came in 2019 when the five-in-a-row chasing team ran out 13-point winners in a highly entertaining affair.
Is that tie relevant now? As has been much discussed, just three Cork starters from then will line out on Saturday. Dublin have undergone some change too. Stephen Cluxton, Philly McMahon, Cian O’Sullivan, Michael Darragh-MacAuley and Paul Mannion are all no longer involved while David Byrne has been sidelined with an injury.
The Rebels started this year with comprehensive losses against Roscommon, Derry, Galway and Meath as well as a draw against Clare. Then their season was saved by a one-point win over Offaly. Had that controversial late back-pass gone differently it could well have been Cork in the Tailteann Cup last week.
Preserving their league status and a quarter-final spot is as much as they could have hoped for in 2022.
7: Clare
It is a remarkable record. Since beating Kildare in the Division 3 2016 decider, Clare have consistently been a Division 2 team. They bounced back from penalty shoot-out heartbreak against Limerick to beat Meath and Roscommon. As Man of the Match Keelan Sexton said after their recent victory, they know they deserve to be on the big stage.
“This is where we think we belong. We didn’t come up to make up numbers, we came up to win.”
Sports psychologist Cathal Sheridan was a new addition to manager Colm Collins’ backroom team for 2022, with the 35-times capped Munster rugby player coming in as a performance coach. As a player, Sheridan placed immense value on self-talk. Not just being ready but knowing it. He set small targets to reinforce that, like being in an analysis session before the studious Paul O’Connell.
Clare will be excited rather than daunted by the prospect of the Ulster champions in Croke Park. In saying that, they will have to address some significant weaknesses. Chiefly, their kick-out.
When these sides last faced each other in the league, Derry destroyed Clare’s restarts. Stephen Ryan was in goals that day. Tristan O’Callaghan but the set-piece was far from flawless. This is a longstanding issue, going back to last year when Kerry cracked Clare’s hand signals and took their kick-out apart.
These are tactical rather than mental problems. If Clare are beaten today, it will be because Derry are better than them. It won’t come down to Clare not believing they can beat Derry. Collins’ crop are convinced that they can.
6: Mayo
On one hand, it is absurd for the All-Ireland finalists for the last two years in a row to be ranked as low as sixth. On the other, Mayo’s form has been patchy and the draw was pitiless. Their likely route to the final goes through Kerry and Dublin.
Injuries have been a consistent issue ever since Tommy Conroy went down clutching his knee in Dangan. Galway were deserving victors in the Connacht championship opener. Monaghan left Castlebar enraged at the denial of a late game-defining penalty. Mayo’s last outing was their worst team performance in Croke Park in the past decade.
But they persevered. That is what this team does. Always preferring the hard road. Under-rated with big hurdles ahead? Mayo wouldn’t have it any other way.
5: Derry
Rory Gallagher’s outfit are an exceptionally well-coached team, arguably the best in the country right now.
“When teams are that well-coached, that tactically attuned, know the match-ups and all that, everything’s pre-meditated so the risks become heightened,” said Chrissy McKaigue after their Ulster final triumph.
“Sunday was a game where the stakes were so high that teams were unwilling to take so many risks and teams were so well set up.”
What Gallagher had at his disposal was a solid core, brilliant man-markers in McKaigue and Brendan Rodgers, a mobile middle third powered by the likes of Gareth McKinless and Conor Glass, and an effective shooter in Shane McGuigan. They are maximising their potential.
Bad news: In 2017, Dublin delivered the blanket defence’s death notice. They were patient and precise and showed, decisively, how to beat that system. No team has come close to the Sam Maguire Cup playing that way. It won’t be today, but at some point, Derry will need to make a change if they are to take the next step.
4: Galway
The Connacht semi-final in McHale Park was pivotal for this group, both players and management. At the top was one of their most cherished players and county icons, Pádraic Joyce. He had endured two immensely frustrating years. Meanwhile, the squad saw a huge turnover.
They came into the year without big-game players. Seán Mulkerrin was ruled out for the season. U20 star midfielder James McLaughlin has had a frustrating run of injuries. Corofin’s Ian Burke withdrew after the 2020 Connacht final. Fiontán Ó Curraoin also departed. Peter Cooke went travelling earlier this year.
Squad players dropped off too. In their relegation decider of 2021 against Monaghan, lively forward Eamonn Brannigan cut a displeased figure when he was taken off before half-time, despite having scored. He played in all three wins over Mayo from 2016-2018, notching 0-4. Brannigan came on in the final ten minutes of last year’s Connacht final loss and is not involved in the panel this year.
Joyce trusted in the 20s he worked with previously, blooding the likes of Matthew Tierney, Patrick Kelly, Jack Glynn and Conor Flaherty.
Elsewhere, the addition of Cian O’Neill’s tactical acumen has been well-received. Former Dublin performance coach Bernard Dunne came on board. NUIG’s Sigerson conquest was charged by current Galway stars. Locally, the club championship has witnessed three different winners in three years.
At minor level, they reached All-Ireland finals in 2016, 2018 and 2019. They won the U20 Connacht championship in 2019, and in 2020 won an All-Ireland.
They are back in Division One and Connacht champions. On the up. What’s their ceiling? In Joyce’s first interview after taking the job, he made his ambitions clear.
“Our aim is to win another All-Ireland – simple as that. Anything less will be seen as an underachievement.”
3: Armagh
Coming into 2022, Kieran McGeeney’s championship record against top teams was ordinary. In 2019, they beat Monaghan. The only other wins over opposition who finished that year’s league above them were against Clare and Tipperary.
Then they dumped out the All-Ireland champions and followed it up with a win over Donegal. Combine an impressive league campaign that saw them come third, their tactical flexibility and the draw, and an All-Ireland final spot is within their grasp.
That is their potential and they should be judged by that. With a higher ranking, comes greater responsibility. Armagh is bouncing. For the first time in years, there is a genuine expectation around McGeeney’s outfit. Can they deliver?
2: Dublin
First and second are a toss-up. The shackles of a grim spring have well and truly been shaken off by Dublin. Dessie Farrell conducted gradual repairs in the past few months. Brian Howard’s deployment as a sweeping centre-back has been a success. Con O’Callaghan returned and remains a phenomenon. His tally stands at 2-13 from three games. For comparison, the only Dublin player better is their set-piece specialist, Dean Rock, on 1-17.
All the hallmarks of this side at their best were evident in their provincial run. Ruthless execution, relentless running, pace and power. Their squad is still one of the strongest in the country.
1: Kerry
After the Orange sea washed over Croke Park and McGeeney climbed the steps in 2002, Con Houlihan summed up the season: “Kerry were the most attractive team in the championship; Armagh were the most effective.”
Jack O’Connor was tasked with the difficult proposition of making the Kingdom both. In the David Clifford era, there will always be a greater expectation of Kerry. Any time he plays it is worth watching. At the same time, their last All-Ireland was eight long years ago.
The myth goes that Kerry failed to get over the line due to their lack of dog defenders. The fact is they conceded 2-11 after 70 minutes in the 2021 semi-final and 3-14 after extra-time. Mayo conceded 2-14 in the All-Ireland final against the same opposition.
The narrative is that their problem is in attack; Kerry’s is in defence. In reality, Kerry were conceding because of poor pressure out the field. O’Connor has introduced some subtle, but significant changes. Tadhg Morley is their new six. Diarmuid O’Connor, who was carrying an injury in last year’s semi-final, has gone to another level.
And all they needed was a few adjustments. While the loss was brutal and the winter harsh, Kerry were so close in 2021.
In the 600 days since Kerry lost to Cork in the 2020 Munster championship, they have lost just one game in normal time and suffered a one-point loss after extra time. It is a remarkable run of knocking on the door without being able to force it open. If not now, when?
