All dolled up for proper festival of football

We’ve been waiting all year to see what all the hype was about, and now that we are on the eve of the inaugural Super 8s stage of the All-Ireland series, it’s hard not to get bloody excited about the prospect of seeing the best teams in the country go head to head. Slugging it out.

Seven Division One teams, along with Roscommon — who will be in the top flight next season. A fairly predictable line-up I suppose. Only elite teams need apply. Unashamed GAA exceptionalism and we should make no apologies for craving it at this stage of the competition.

We can talk all day about raising the standard of the game across the country (and we have done). It’s a conversation that desperately needs to continue.