GAA: Eight observations from the opening round of the Gaelic football league

Conor Geaney in action against Kevin Flahive in the McGrath Cup final.

The split season has been a service for intercounty Gaelic football. Across the country there was palpable giddiness at its long-awaited return. A game that is often derided during the season is longed for after a drought.

That is not to say there isn’t a widespread interest in club GAA. The All-Ireland final between Glen and St Brigid’s received the stage and audience it deserves earlier this month, attracting an average viewership of 263,500. All of the diehard lifers who went from watching that game into Saturday night’s opening round of the Allianz League were treated to three successive spectacles.

It just means the climate is volatile. There is nothing as flammable as early season signs. The league’s new connection to championship only validates those emotions. One bad result can ignite an absurdly reactionary fuse. Two eagerly sought points does the opposite. The second question put to Kevin McStay on Sunday focused on overheard Pearse Stadium murmurs that this was Mayo’s year.

With typical acumen, he smiled and stepped around it. As good a tactic as any at this juncture. There are already all kinds of trends and themes but that doesn’t mean they’ll carry through the year. Suggestions of an oncoming style of play evolution are encouraging and 31 goals across the opening weekend is a good starting point. However, there were 32 goals in the opening round of 2023.

Here are eight observations from the opening round of the Gaelic football league.

Donegal’s engine room 

In the 2012 All-Stars, Donegal were awarded two spots in the half-back line, Frank McGlynn and Footballer of the Year Karl Lacey. Further up the field, Mark McHugh was named at half-forward. They were integral to the way Jim McGuinness played, a driving force in their potent transitional play.

Now he is building that machine once again. Sunday saw Donegal put on an attacking clinic in Ballybofey as they racked up 1-20 with a promising 75% conversion in difficult conditions. It was a well-spread total, with 11 different scorers and 1-11 coming from left-foot shots.

Their half-back axis did so much damage. Ryan McHugh has returned and finished with one point, two assists and four secondary assists. Caolan McGonagle also scored and had two assists, one secondary assist. Ciaran Moore led the way with four assists and two secondary assists. It was the young debutant’s driving run that led to Patrick McBrearty’s late goal.

Cork can’t let cracks become a crevasse 

It took less than three minutes for Donegal’s high press to trap Cork. Patrick Doyle went long from his kickout and eventually received possession back deep in his own half.

With a stiff wind at their backs, Donegal did not back off. After a brief exchange of passes, Doyle was forced down the sideline with few options nearby. The goalkeeper kicked blindly up the field and the play ended with a McBrearty tap-over free in front of the posts. He was turned over again five minutes later for overcarrying inside his own half.

Cork v Donegal.

Cork were caught in a similar situation in their previous fixture. Kerry carved out a first half goal chance with a similar press in the McGrath Cup final, but Cillian Burke opted to fist over instead. Once again, the options ahead of the ball were poor with one team-mate actually out over the sideline. Not enough bodies filtered back to work possession up the field.

Cork v Kerry.

In this era, once possession has been secured it has been simple to progress to the halfway line. Now that some outfits are threatening to deploy a high line, there is a pressing need for a go-to solution.

On the other side, Donegal’s approach was bold and there is every chance they will be exposed again as they were for a second-half goal by Chris Óg Jones. But the reward is worth the risk.

The next fad

It was only a matter of time before Conor McCarthy’s change from up front to wing-back and subsequent All-Star inspired a raft of copycats. On Saturday, Louth’s Craig Lennon was selected as BBC’s Man of the Match after their one-point defeat.

“I would have played as a forward all my life,” he explained post-match. “I’m just adapting to that wing-back role, trying to do what Ger wants me to do. I naturally like going forward. It’s not too bad coming from wing-back and picking up more space than you would as a wing-forward. I’m happy enough with it.” 

Lennon’s pace and power was awesome. It is clearly something Louth will look to draw on again. He also explained they’ve their own special source of motivation to avoid the drop in Division 2.

“We were favourites to get relegated. We’d the worst odds coming into the weekend for a win. We just use that as motivation. We’ve been written off the last couple of years and we’ve learned a lot, come through some really tough battles in the last couple of years. We like being written off.” 

Team sheet regulation ought to be extended 

In 2023 the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) brought a new move into play. Teams had to submit 26 players at 9 a.m. on a Thursday. The GAA then released squad lists on Friday.

It was a simple means of promoting the game while providing leeway for any legitimate, late issues. The same regulation should be in place for the league. There is plenty of evidence supporters appreciate even a basic level of information and clubs get a kick out of seeing their members listed.

Diving not a new phenomenon 

On Saturday night, RTÉ co-commentator Eamonn Fitzmaurice made reference to “a good man to go down in contact and win frees.” 

Is it creeping into the game? Pat Spillane certainly thought so in 2016 when he slated Aidan O’Shea’s fall that led to a controversial penalty against Fermanagh. 

"We spoke about simulation over the last couple of weeks, it's creeping into the game of Gaelic football,” the Kerry legend declared. He went on to say the Mayo full-forward cheated and would wake up regretting his actions.

It is curious to compare this to Spillane’s recently released autobiography. In a superb book, he opens up on his own reputation for play acting.

“It always infuriated me when some had a hold of my jersey and stopped me from running,” he explained. 

“The linesman was often looking right at the player doing it – the ref himself would glimpse it – and do nothing, so I said, ‘Feck this, and I’d throw myself on the ground.” 

Spillane maintained he wasn’t pulled as often once he did that trick once. How did he feel when he woke up the next morning?

“I probably shouldn’t have done it in the first place, but I felt I had no alternative if the officials were turning a blind eye, and I have no regrets about doing so.” 

Time for Galway to make the most of what they have

It was 2019 when Galway finally got their hands on minor dual star Cillian McDaid. The Craughwell native spent a season with Carlton Blues in the AFL before joining the senior fold.

In 2018, current captain Sean Kelly made his debut. Their two stars up top, Damien Comer and Shane Walsh, were well established by then. As a spine it looked awesome.

Comer missed the entire 2019 league due to an ankle injury and by the time he returned against Mayo in the qualifiers, Kelly was coming off. It wasn’t until the following year’s Connacht final that all four of them played together for the first time, Comer only for the final quarter due to a hamstring issue.

McDaid picked up a knee injury on the first night of training in 2021 and his year was cruelly ended. In 2022 all four caught a break. In 2023 Cillian McDaid was rehabbing a groin problem and brought on from the bench against Roscommon. Shane Walsh was first off in the Connacht final having just overcome a flu. Comer didn’t start against Westmeath and didn’t play against Armagh.

The full-forward did not feature as they were knocked out of the championship by Mayo while captain Kelly was clearly hampered.

This week brought the news that McDaid will miss the entire league. Comer was ruled out before throw-in on Sunday. They will get stronger when key men come back but Mayo have no Diarmuid O’Connor, Matthew Ruane, Enda Hession, James Carr, Padraig O’Hora or Conor Loftus while Stephen Coen did not start. Galway’s priority must be to make the most of what they have.

Tyrone turn to their stalwart 

Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher’s second three-year term is expected to involve a significant injection of young talent but showing them the ropes will be Peter Harte, recently appointed as captain. The Roscommon victory last week was a remarkable 204th appearance for the two-time All Star.

Burke fronts up 

Galway, Kerry and Roscommon all struggled to take advantage of an extra man over the weekend. Two were black cards and in the latter case, Tyrone midfielder Conn Kilpatrick was shown a red card, but the away side couldn’t capitalise. Speaking to the Irish News, Roscommon boss Davy Burke gave an illuminating answer when asked why.

“Probably coaching, to be honest,” he said.

“We haven’t put a huge amount of time into it. It’s all scenario based. You try and work on black cards. You try and work on everything else. And we probably hadn’t worked on it.

“It’s helter-skelter, you’re trying to touch on everything for the 28th of January, just to have enough done at this stage to try and get points on the board. But don’t worry, we’ll get it sorted.”