Galvin's back in green and gold (that's him on the right.) Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
1. How much will Paul Galvin feature for Kerry?
In practically every piece of pre-championship analysis, you can expect to read about how the current Kerry panel are stronger than the side which won Sam in 2014. That much is undeniable when you have a forward of the undisputed class of Colm Cooper back in the fold, not to mention the returning Tommy Walsh.
And then there’s Paul Galvin, out of retirement and back in the thick of the things at the age of 35. There are few more divisive players in the modern game but one thing can’t be argued – at the peak of his powers he was a superb talent, as evidenced by three Allstar awards and the Footballer of the Year title.
The question now is: how do Kerry use him? Galvin is not the kind of player who will be happy making up the squad numbers, but does he still have the stamina for 70 minutes at the top level?
And when he does see game-time, where will it be? Once feared as a lethal wing-forward, Eamon Fitzmaurice was in the process of converting him to a half-back when he suddenly called it a day in 2014? Fionn Fitzgerald, Paul Murphy and Peter Crowley all earned their stripes last season and will be difficult to dislodge.
Can Kerry clinch a 38th All-Ireland this September? Cathal Noonan / INPHO
Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO
2. Can Dublin time their challenge to peak in August?
With no disrespect to the 10 other challengers in Leinster, Dublin’s overbearing strength leaves this year’s provincial championship looking very much like a foregone conclusion again. It will take a shock of seismic proportions to deny the Dubs a 10th title in 11 years.
The perennial question is – how can Dublin prepare themselves for the intensity of the business end of the championship when they are expected to cruise through the preliminaries without anyone asking them a serious question?
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Coming off the back of a third straight league title, Jim Gavin's Dubs look as strong as ever. Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
Last year Dublin won their three Leinster clashes by 11 points, 16 points and 16 points respectively before going on to meet and beat Monaghan by 17 points in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
So yes, it is possible for them to arrive in August at championship intensity and the naivety that cost them against Donegal should not colour that fact. If they can address that problem — and there’s every reason to believe they can — they are worthy pre-championship favourites.
3. Are this Mayo side really there for the taking?
Much like Dublin in Leinster, the Connacht championship has become Mayo’s own personal fiefdom with five titles in the last six years.
But now that James Horan has moved on, there is an inescapable sense that this squad dripping with provincial medals and a string of near All-Ireland misses has to prove itself all over again.
Aidan O'Shea will be hoping to put Mayo's long history of heartbreak to bed. Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
The fear must be that they are heading into a perfect storm: adjusting to new management in Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes, and potentially passing their peak as a group while Galway and Roscommon are two counties on the rise.
The path out of Connacht seems more treacherous than usual — especially if Cillian O’Connor is ruled out of their semi-final — but Mayo will have no problems if they can match the high standards of recent years.
4. Is this the year Conor McManus firmly establishes himself as elite?
Ulster champions in 2013, and beaten quarter-finalists in the last two years, there’s no denying that Monaghan are a county on the rise. A large part of that improvement is down to Conor McManus, an Allstar in 2013, and arguably the outstanding forward in the country this spring.
An ultra-competitive Ulster championship appears to be set up in Monaghan’s favour, and they will be expected to beat both Cavan and then Fermanagh or Antrim en route to the final.
If they are to build on that opportunity and still be live contenders in August, they will need their captain to stay injury-free and operate at his lethal best. If McManus does that, expect a second Allstar, a place in the Footballer of the Year conversation — and recognition alongside Gooch, Connolly, O’Connor, Murphy et al as one of the elite forwards in the country.
Only Dean Rock, Colm O'Neill and Michael Murphy scored more points than McManus (0-33) in Division 1 this spring. Cathal Noonan / INPHO
Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO
5. Was the league final a blessing in disguise for Brian Cuthbert’s Cork?
It may have been only the league but the unmerciful beating Cork suffered at the hands of Dublin late last month will surely cast a long shadow. Even at a distance, the top line figures look pretty grim for Brian Cuthbert’s men: an 11-point reverse in which they only managed three scores from play, and which would have been even worse but for Daniel Goulding’s late consolation.
Joe Brolly didn’t so much ask the question that evening as insist that he had the answer when he proclaimed “that’s the end of them for this year.”
It’s easy to see where he’s coming from — Cork made no secret of the adverse reaction to their league defeat against Dublin in 2014 and on the face of it, this looks to be just as significant.
Can Cork bounce back? Tommy Grealy / INPHO
Tommy Grealy / INPHO / INPHO
But it could be a blessing if it forces Cuthbert away from the overwhelmingly negative tactics that he employed in the league final. Their reliance on Colm O’Neill and Brian Hurley for scores was exposed, and beyond that, Cork looked to be flat out of ideas and invention.
That performance puts an asterisk beside all of the positives from earlier in the league but by the time they face Clare or Limerick on 14 June, Cork will have had seven weeks to reflect and reimagine their championship approach. All is not lost, yet.
5 key football questions that will be answered in this summer's championship
1. How much will Paul Galvin feature for Kerry?
In practically every piece of pre-championship analysis, you can expect to read about how the current Kerry panel are stronger than the side which won Sam in 2014. That much is undeniable when you have a forward of the undisputed class of Colm Cooper back in the fold, not to mention the returning Tommy Walsh.
And then there’s Paul Galvin, out of retirement and back in the thick of the things at the age of 35. There are few more divisive players in the modern game but one thing can’t be argued – at the peak of his powers he was a superb talent, as evidenced by three Allstar awards and the Footballer of the Year title.
The question now is: how do Kerry use him? Galvin is not the kind of player who will be happy making up the squad numbers, but does he still have the stamina for 70 minutes at the top level?
And when he does see game-time, where will it be? Once feared as a lethal wing-forward, Eamon Fitzmaurice was in the process of converting him to a half-back when he suddenly called it a day in 2014? Fionn Fitzgerald, Paul Murphy and Peter Crowley all earned their stripes last season and will be difficult to dislodge.
2. Can Dublin time their challenge to peak in August?
With no disrespect to the 10 other challengers in Leinster, Dublin’s overbearing strength leaves this year’s provincial championship looking very much like a foregone conclusion again. It will take a shock of seismic proportions to deny the Dubs a 10th title in 11 years.
The perennial question is – how can Dublin prepare themselves for the intensity of the business end of the championship when they are expected to cruise through the preliminaries without anyone asking them a serious question?
Last year Dublin won their three Leinster clashes by 11 points, 16 points and 16 points respectively before going on to meet and beat Monaghan by 17 points in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
So yes, it is possible for them to arrive in August at championship intensity and the naivety that cost them against Donegal should not colour that fact. If they can address that problem — and there’s every reason to believe they can — they are worthy pre-championship favourites.
3. Are this Mayo side really there for the taking?
Much like Dublin in Leinster, the Connacht championship has become Mayo’s own personal fiefdom with five titles in the last six years.
But now that James Horan has moved on, there is an inescapable sense that this squad dripping with provincial medals and a string of near All-Ireland misses has to prove itself all over again.
The fear must be that they are heading into a perfect storm: adjusting to new management in Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes, and potentially passing their peak as a group while Galway and Roscommon are two counties on the rise.
The path out of Connacht seems more treacherous than usual — especially if Cillian O’Connor is ruled out of their semi-final — but Mayo will have no problems if they can match the high standards of recent years.
4. Is this the year Conor McManus firmly establishes himself as elite?
Ulster champions in 2013, and beaten quarter-finalists in the last two years, there’s no denying that Monaghan are a county on the rise. A large part of that improvement is down to Conor McManus, an Allstar in 2013, and arguably the outstanding forward in the country this spring.
An ultra-competitive Ulster championship appears to be set up in Monaghan’s favour, and they will be expected to beat both Cavan and then Fermanagh or Antrim en route to the final.
If they are to build on that opportunity and still be live contenders in August, they will need their captain to stay injury-free and operate at his lethal best. If McManus does that, expect a second Allstar, a place in the Footballer of the Year conversation — and recognition alongside Gooch, Connolly, O’Connor, Murphy et al as one of the elite forwards in the country.
5. Was the league final a blessing in disguise for Brian Cuthbert’s Cork?
It may have been only the league but the unmerciful beating Cork suffered at the hands of Dublin late last month will surely cast a long shadow. Even at a distance, the top line figures look pretty grim for Brian Cuthbert’s men: an 11-point reverse in which they only managed three scores from play, and which would have been even worse but for Daniel Goulding’s late consolation.
Joe Brolly didn’t so much ask the question that evening as insist that he had the answer when he proclaimed “that’s the end of them for this year.”
It’s easy to see where he’s coming from — Cork made no secret of the adverse reaction to their league defeat against Dublin in 2014 and on the face of it, this looks to be just as significant.
But it could be a blessing if it forces Cuthbert away from the overwhelmingly negative tactics that he employed in the league final. Their reliance on Colm O’Neill and Brian Hurley for scores was exposed, and beyond that, Cork looked to be flat out of ideas and invention.
That performance puts an asterisk beside all of the positives from earlier in the league but by the time they face Clare or Limerick on 14 June, Cork will have had seven weeks to reflect and reimagine their championship approach. All is not lost, yet.
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All-Ireland Senior FC Conor McManus GAA 2015 Paul Galvin Talking Points Cork Dublin Mayo