Maurice Brosnan: Analysis work at elite-level GAA is extraordinary, teetering on a line between exhaustive and unsustainable

A cursory review of Kerry’s 2025 campaign would have set the template for what it takes to compete with the All-Ireland champions. Primarily: keep them to 23 points or less

Clare clearly put considerable thought into their plan for Kerry, including having Ronan Lannigan mark Paul Geaney. Lannigan kept the Kerry captain scoreless. Pic: Paul Phelan/Sportsfile

One of the prevailing fears, both within and outside the Football Review Committee when they were redesigning the shape of the game, was what it would do to the underdogs. In the new game, was it still possible for them to compete?

So much of the change that had occurred in Gaelic football over the previous century was driven from this very position. This is the engine of most innovation in sport: the starting position is an acceptance that they can’t compete on conventional terms.