Kerry still team to beat in race for Sam

Donegal may have won Sunday’s league final against Kerry at a canter, but the Kingdom remain favourites for Sam.

The result does show that Donegal are trending in the right direction, and they’re now very clearly on a mission to right the wrongs of last year and make sure they don’t come up short this time around. With Jim McGuinness at the helm, few would be surprised if they go all the way.

The chasing pack is composed of Galway, Armagh and possibly Mayo, with Meath, Cork and Roscommon best of the rest. Dublin, Louth and Tyrone will all harbour ambitions of making an impact, too, but an All-Ireland crown is well beyond all three at this stage.

That, in my assessment, is the lay of the land as we head towards the championship summer.

There’s no question that Donegal got the balance right last Sunday in Croke Park and their handsome winning margin of 13 points didn’t even reflect accurately the dominance they enjoyed. They did to Kerry what the Kingdom like to do to other teams by dominating their kickout in the opening half, which helped lay the platform for the success.

All of that being said, though, the league is the league and the championship will be a different ball game when it comes to the intensity teams are playing at. Much like last year’s ten-point win in the All-Ireland final wasn’t reflective of the gap between these two sides, 13 points last weekend should be taken with same pinch of salt.

Kerry have done this before, producing poor displays before regaining their form and winning an All-Ireland title.

In 2009, they stumbled their way through the qualifiers and should’ve been beaten by Sligo in Tralee before igniting against Dublin in Croke Park. Even last year, they gave a dire display against Meath in Tullamore where they were convincingly beaten but it only served to poke the bear; they then went and won comfortably against Armagh, Tyrone and Donegal in their knockout matches at Croke Park.

This time last year, Kerry won the league having endured a challenging campaign with injuries and unavailability forcing Jack O’Connor and Co to look deep into the talent pool to help fill the squad out. But 12 months on, that difficult couple of months is now delivering real rewards.

With injuries less of a problem this time around, they are benefitting from having a highly competitive panel that boasts a wealth of talent that matches anything O’Connor would have had in his hands during his previous two stints as Kerry boss.

O’Connor has returned for one thing and one thing only - to scratch the itch of back-to-back All-Irelands - and right now they are well placed to achieve that, despite Sunday’s result.

They have the perfect blend. The likes of Joe O’Connor and Mark O’Shea are powerful men who are good in the air around the middle, while the generational talent that is David Clifford is well supported in attack by the Geaneys and, of course, Seanie O’Shea who, in any other era, would be regarded as a generational talent himself.

And, with all of that being said, Kerry still have Paudie Clifford, Gavin White and Diarmuid O’Connor to come back into the mix. Paul Geaney is also just back and kicked a two-pointer off the bench on Sunday. With everyone available, and playing to their potential, it’s hard not to imagine Kerry in another All-Ireland final come July.

Donegal have also tried to find a few new bodies, with the likes of Shea Malone and Conor McCahill looking good at various stages over recent weeks, but it appears they will be reliant on the bulk, if not all, of last year’s frontliners to help steer them over the line this time around. Based on Sunday’s performance, they have all the tools required.

They have had encouraging signs in their slightly altered defensive approach, which came under such scrutiny after last year’s All-Ireland, with their man-to-man efforts looking quite effective over the course of the spring. Caolan McColgan was superb in marshalling David Clifford last weekend.

They’ve used Michael Murphy sparingly and were particularly effective at playing the conditions, not least in their meeting with Mayo in Letterkenny when they managed things so well into the teeth of a gale in the first half.

If they can replicate the intensity and efficiency on display last weekend, Donegal could easily go all the way.

As we’ve discussed in this column already this season, Galway, in this writer’s opinion, still possess the raw materials to land a blow or two this summer - and that could be enough to get them over the line for that elusive All-Ireland title.

It looks increasingly unlikely that Damien Comer will play a central role, while Shane Walsh has also struggled with his fitness over the spring, but beyond that there is still a core group good enough to go very deep into the championship. Their defensive abilities in teak-tough man markers like Johnny McGrath and Jack Glynn also give them an added edge at the back, while John Maher’s form since coming back from injury has been highly impressive.

The emergence of several players over the course of the spring - Oisin McDonagh and Ciaran Mulhern chief among them - reduces the reliance on the Comer-Walsh axis up front, but if both of those players, with Cillian McDaid, can get into a situation where they are capable of playing some role later in the year, then Galway could be set for a big summer.

Beyond the usual contenders, Meath look poised to mix it with the big boys again this year. While last year's run to the All-Ireland semi-finals was a surprise, this year they will be expected - and expecting themselves - to be able to become genuine challengers.

There’s something exciting and different about the way they have played under Robbie Brennan, and there’s also a swagger and a confidence about them when they do it, too. Highly impressive over the course of their Division Two campaign, the Royals will harbour justified aspirations of winning a Leinster title and again reaching the business end.

An All-Ireland title may be beyond them, but don't forget how comfortable they've looked at Croke Park over the course of the league, where they have played their 'home' matches with Pairc Tailteann in Navan being redeveloped.

From a Mayo point of view, they should not look beyond Connacht for now.

The league was encouraging for Andy Moran, but to be able to contend and cause the likes of a Kerry or Donegal real trouble in Croke Park later in the summer, they first have to show they are capable of knocking Galway off their perch out west.

First up in terms of a significant task will be a sticky match against a rejuvenated Roscommon, assuming Mayo navigate the trip to Ruislip successfully first and the Rossies do likewise in New York.

The confidence this Mayo side would take from getting the better of the Rossies and then Galway, before heading into the All-Ireland series, could well be the catalyst for a memorable summer.