Could Mayo be the best of chasing pack?

As the new Allianz Football League season comes around this weekend, one thing in particular is striking when assessing the current state of those harbouring hopes of lifting Sam Maguire later this year.

Continuity is conspicuous by its absence amongst many of the contenders, with three counties in Division One entering the new season with freshly installed managers (Dublin, Mayo and Roscommon) and others (Armagh and Monaghan) having to deal with a significant turnover in their playing panels.

It leaves three top flight counties – Kerry, Donegal and Galway – with the most settled set-ups heading into the new campaign and, in making an early assessment of where Sam might reside next winter, one of those three destinations seems like the safest bet at this juncture.

There's little point in looking too deeply into the pre-season fare over recent weeks as new faces get a run-out for several counties – Ger Brennan, the new Dublin manager, said he was looking at around 130 players when forming his new panel over recent months – but Kerry seem, on all markers, to be starting the new campaign a distance ahead of the pretenders to their throne.

Jack O'Connor would not come back again for another bite at things if he wasn't sure Kerry can retain the All-Ireland crown, and their key players remain in their prime. There will be no retirements, with Paul Geaney, at 35, eager as ever to return as he disclosed in interviews last week, while David Clifford remains head and shoulders above any other footballer in the country.

Kerry, however, will be conscious that although they completed a clean sweep last year of league, Munster and All-Ireland titles, the season could so easily have gone another direction. They were ravaged by injuries in the league in particular and, though they claimed the league crown, like Mayo, they only just squeezed into the final.

Similarly, their championship campaign threatened to implode after a lethargic defeat to Meath in the All-Ireland series, but they found their stride in Croke Park, defeating Armagh, Tyrone and Donegal by a combined 24 points in their knockout matches at HQ.

The league could be a challenge again this season, with a number of county panellists involved in the success of Ballymacelligott, An Ghaeltacht and Daingean Ui Chuis over the course of the winter. Those players will be due a break and more likely to view the Munster Championship as a reasonable return date.

Kerry's most likely challengers, at this stage, look to be Donegal and Galway.

It will have been a winter of reflection in the Hills after such a chastening experience in the All-Ireland final. Kerry's dominance was only really confirmed on the scoreboard by Joe O'Connor's late goal, helping seal a 1-26 to 0-19 win, but irrespective of the score, Donegal were off colour all the way through.

Having said that, take a look at the final again and look at all of the chances Donegal missed in that second period when, with a little more composure, they could easily have narrowed the deficit and had Kerry thinking a little deeper as they entered the home straight.

Galway will be chomping at the bit to have a proper crack at this year's championship, having fallen so surprisingly to Meath in last year's quarter-finals. An error strewn performance saw them come a cropper, yet it's still a game they probably should have won.

The new rules look almost tailor made for a Galway panel with a reasonable age profile and talented forwards, but Shane Walsh and Co. need to deliver soon if they are to claim that coveted Celtic Cross.

Of the chasing pack, Mayo could be primed to challenge.

It’s early days, of course, but it appears Andy Moran has brought a sense of freshness and enthusiasm back to the county team after an underwhelming season in 2025. You can be sure they'll be hell bent on breaking Galway's dominance in the Connacht Championship, especially after last year's agonising defeat in Castlebar.

Mayo look shorter on quality than some of the other Division 1 sides, but the momentum that could be generated by a decent start to the league, coupled with Moran's positive impact as manager, has the potential to take Mayo a long way. Provincial titles don't mean as much as they once did in terms of the All-Ireland picture but for Mayo, a Nestor Cup this year feels necessary and a potential springboard to better things down the line.

Dublin's stint under the tutelage of Ger Brennan, who worked his magic so brilliantly with Louth last season, will only be deemed a success if they win an All-Ireland. It may be a year or two too soon for the Dubs to go that far, but the freshness brought by Brennan could, like Mayo, help garner an upturn in fortunes.

Away from the main prize, year two of the new rules is about to set in and it will be fascinating to see how counties look to exploit the advantages presented by the new game having had a season's experience and, perhaps more importantly in this day and age, a winter to pore over all the data.

Two pointers have become such an important part of things now that sides with players capable of striking from range start at an immediate advantage. Rory Beggan has become an even more precious commodity for Monaghan in this day and age, with Rob Hennelly back in Mayo colours looking to make a similar impact.

The conclusion of the club championship over the weekend certainly whets the appetite ahead of the new inter-county season – more of the same would be great over the course of the coming months would be brilliant.

Let the games begin!