Kerry the team to beat, reckons Down’s Hughes

ALL STAR Down forward Danny Hughes has questioned Cork’s ability to put back-to-back All-Ireland titles together and predicted that Kerry will ultimately reign supreme this year.

Experienced Hughes was part of the Down team that lost by 12 points to Cork in last weekend’s Round 4 qualifier tie at Croke Park. Despite the apparent impressive showing from Cork, Hughes stopped well short of backing the Rebels to retain their All-Ireland title.

In fact, he claimed the big win was partly down to Down’s dismal display and claimed that when it comes to the big prize in September, Munster champions Kerry are well placed to claim Sam Maguire.

“I would have to put my money on Kerry to be quite honest, I think they probably hurt a lot more than they let on when Cork won it last year,” said Hughes.

“I see it as very difficult for Cork to win it back to back. They seemed very, very hungry the other day. But I think it was a case of them playing well and us playing very, very poorly. Personally, I think Kerry are going to be very, very hard to beat. Psychologically too, with the Kerry-Cork thing that’s always there, it is a big factor.

“Until Cork beat Kerry (there will be question marks over them). If they beat Kerry they will win the All-Ireland.”

What’s definite is that Down won’t play any part in the business end of this year’s Championship despite pushing Cork to within a point in last year’s decider.

Hughes, 29, didn’t pull any punches in his analysis of Down’s season which he claimed lacked the same vital intensity and hunger that was present in their 2010 campaign.

He claimed they’re still capable of winning an All-Ireland with the current batch of players but accepted they have some massive gaps to fill in 2012 with Marty Clarke and Caolan Mooney both headed for Australia and Aussie Rules football.

Clarke has yet to confirm his plans but after jetting Down Under for fitness tests after their tame Ulster championship defeat to Armagh in May, Clarke has been strongly linked with a return to Collingwood where he spent three years.

“We are losing a big, big player, we are losing a massive player,” said Hughes of fellow All-Star attacker Clarke. “My personal opinion is that if he can get money for playing in Australia, well, who wouldn’t take it, in this current climate? It’s the lifestyle, the whole lot.

* Hughes was speaking at a promotion for the Ulster Bank GAA Force initiative, a competition for GAA clubs nationwide that will see one receive a €25,000 package to upgrade their facilities. The deadline for entries is August 19.