It's time for a bit of a mid-season appraisal of the football scene following the conclusion of the National League. Here are my top ten teams heading into the 2009 Championship:
1. Tyrone
We haven’t learned much – if anything – about the Red Hands over the last few months. But, based on their All-Ireland win last year, they remain in the top spot.
There can’t be much room left on the treatment table up in Healy Park such is the spate of injuries Mickey Harte has had to deal with over the winter. Brian Dooher, Brian McGuigan, Justin McMahon and Stephen O’Neill have all missed most – or all – of the league and they still managed to amass seven points without ever extending themselves.
They went from majestic under the lights in Croke Park against the Dubs, to truly awful in the mud against Galway five weeks later. We won’t read much into their schizophrenic campaign, other than to note that they performed against Derry when they really needed to.
They probably took a while to shake the All-Ireland celebrations out of their limbs, but they should be far better prepared and equipped to deal with Armagh on May 31.
2. Kerry
Kerry’s strength-in-depth is truly scary. They are blessed with the most abundant reserves of wealth in Gaelic football bar none. Sauntering to the NFL Division One title, Jack O’Connor used 34 players in eight games, and most would walk into the majority of inter-county teams in this year’s championship.
David Moran, Aidan O’Shea, Darragh O’Shea and Daniel Bohane all came off the bench against Derry on Sunday. Run. O’Connor is onto something special here. They are beaten to the top spot by Tyrone only because of question marks around their midfield and, perhaps, their full-back line, which has creaked at times in the past.
Up top, Colm Cooper is back in the form of his life, as his five-point haul in Croke Park confirmed, while Tommy Walsh will be back to his best again after the minor distractions offered by St Kilda over the winter.
3. Cork
Their stock has risen further than any other during the league. Conor Counihan, their manager, may be loath to give anything away, but he is fast developing a reputation as the top new manager in the country.
They made up for the one blot on their league copybook, the defeat to Monaghan in Scotstown, by giving Seamus McEnaney’s side a right hiding in the Division Two final on Sunday. They may only have won by five points but they looked infinitely fitter, hungrier and skilful than their Ulster rivals in Croke Park.
Many remarked on the size of the Cork team - which is packed with seven players of at least six feet in height – but they manage to play an attractive style of football that lends itself to unleashing a razor-sharp attack fronted by the sublime Daniel Goulding.
Counihan knew he had the makings of a very good team when Cork brought Kerry to a replay in the All-Ireland semi-final last year; now he has one of the best squads in the country. He used the campaign cleverly, understanding the need to find a balance between confidence-inspiring wins and uncovering players he will be able to trust if called upon later in the championship.
4. Galway
Ah, Galway. They should be sitting pretty just ahead of Cork only for the little matter of an implosion in their final two league games. Liam Sammon’s men, as is their wont, went from champs to chumps in 35 minutes against Mayo. Then Kerry put them in their box a week later and their league campaign was over, having had more praise heaped on them than was probably just.
Perhaps missing out on the league final may not have been a bad thing in hindsight. The hype that was starting to build up around them - and Michael Meehan in particular – was getting out of hand. They have four weeks to prepare quietly for the championship clash with London.
5. Derry
They’re a better team for Damian Cassidy, their sometimes brusque but always interesting manager. He didn’t invest much in the league and so Sunday’s defeat to Kerry will barely register as one. But they are still to shed their mantle as a ‘winter’ team and need to follow up on a successful league campaign with a run in the championship.
The league has been important in that Eoin Bradley appears to have finally emerged from the shadow of his brother, Paddy. The older of the Bradley brothers still needs more help to share the scoring burden, but Mark Lynch and Enda Lynn seem like the right men to help out in 2009.
6. Dublin
Some will argue that the Dubs don’t belong in such rarefied company; that they are all huff and haven’t a hope of ending their 14-year All-Ireland famine. Others will swear that 2009 will be the year of the Dubs. That is the terrible beauty of the job Pat Gilroy has taken on.
After the annihilation of Westmeath on the final day of the league, Gilroy was asked if the win would build false hopes ahead of the championship. Two weeks earlier he had fielded questions from a journalist who suggested that they were in a crisis after losing to Derry. He answered both with a wry grin. That is the lot of the Dublin football manager.
Gilroy has used the league to experiment and is still playing with a 38-card deck ahead of a couple of high-profile friendly matches. Denis Bastic has done a good impression of a full-back thus far, but Ross McConnell will attest to that the number three position is a different prospect in the championship. Alan Hubbard and Paddy Andrews appear to be adapting well in the new-look full-back line, while Paul Griffin and Barry Cahill are back to add some experience to the defence.
Kilmacud Crokes’ All-Ireland win was a massive boost and a rising tide should lift all Sky Blue boats. Rumours of discontent persist over Gilroy’s managerial style and Jason Sherlock’s position in the squad, but all that will matter little when Meath come into sight on June 7.
7. Monaghan
Monaghan’s tag as the best of the small counties is still intact despite a disappointing performance against Cork. They were bullied by the Rebels and, surprisingly, they rolled over when we have always associated them with putting it up to Kerry in Croke Park over the last three years.
But the Farney men impressed enough in the rest of their campaign to remain a major threat this year. They are light in attack and over-reliant on Paul Finlay and Tommy Freeman, but in Owen Lennon and Dick Clerkin they have a midfield comparable with that of any other in the county.
They went from majestic against Laois to miserable against Cork in the space of two weeks. Their true form is probably somewhere in between.
8. Armagh
A moderate league campaign and a spate of retirements to key players has left the air distinctly gloomy in the Orchard County. They were pummelled – 0-19 to 1-7 - by Cork down in Pairc Ui Chaoimh on the last day of the season when they still had promotion hopes.
All the analysis in the world can’t hide the fact that Peter McDonnell is facing into a championship campaign without three of the countie's greatest ever servants, Francie Bellew, Paddy McKeever and Paul McGrane. Nobody stepped up to the mark in the league and their dominance in Ulster could be about to come to an end this year.
9. Mayo
They have proved little other than they still have the ability to beat Galway when it counts. Alan Dillon has emerged as a top-class forward and Aidan O’Shea has made the jump from the minor ranks with ease. They won’t set the world on fire, but they still have the ability to take Galway down a peg or two.
10. Kildare
The Lilywhites sneak in ahead of Down and Tipperary on the back of a good league campaign. They were cruelly denied a place in the Division Two final, but look to have improved immensely under Kieran McGeeney, who is finally starting to exude the air of a top manager. Won’t get caught on the hop like they did against Wicklow last year.
On the rise: Cork, Tipperary, Sligo, Kildare, Down, London.
On the wane: Wexford, Fermanagh, Limerick, Wicklow, Offaly.
Steady as she goes: Tyrone, Kerry.
Going nowhere: Meath, Cavan, Laois.