Seán Cavanagh fears Dub monopoly

Recently-retired Tyrone star Seán Cavanagh has likened the chase to catch Dublin as being on “a hamster wheel”.

In the wake of the All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Jim Gavin’s side, Cavanagh remarked that he could see Dublin winning eight of the next 10 All-Ireland titles. It’s a view he maintains.

“Mayo had opportunities in the final just like they had in the previous year’s final but ultimately the consistency that Dublin have showed and the way that they keep winning tells me they are on a different level.

You have to admire the way they go about, the way they refuse to panic, trust the process and nail the opportunities to get over the line time and again.

And with every year that passes, their younger players are getting more experience and the older lads realise just how much competition there is to remain in the squad and that is a perfect way to be.

They have everything, the resources, the players, playing in Croke Park, and the way they beat us it certainly made it easier for me to walk away from the inter-county game.

“Dublin are ahead of us and ahead of everyone,” the Moy man continued. “There is a lot of catching up to be done by every other team in Ireland and I am glad that I am no longer on the hamster wheel trying to do that.

"I could not have given any more in the last couple of years trying to do that and that goes for the other Tyrone lads as well, who gave every ounce of energy they had.

"It is a little bit demoralising to know that you have given everything but you are still a fair bit off. Because of that you have to give credit to this great Dublin team.

"I did not believe that any team could dominate our sport the way they have and will possibly continue to do so over the next couple of years.”

Awarded the Gaelic Writers Association Football Personality of the Year award last night, Cavanagh is not certain if Mickey Harte needs a new management team although there are indications Gavin Devlin and Peter Donnelly could leave the set-up.”

“If you were asked that question before the Dublin game you would have said ‘no’ because we thought we were in a very good place and that we had enough to go and beat Dublin as well as possibly going on to win another All-Ireland.

"But because of the way we performed and the manner that we lost that day there are always going to be questions asked.

“Horse (Devlin) was there for about five years and before that Mickey had Fr McAleer and Paddy Tally, and then he had Tony Donnelly and Fergal McCann. So the backroom team has changed down through the years.

“There are a lot of good coaches in Tyrone if Mickey decides to give someone else a crack of the whip to freshen things up.”