Éamonn Fitzmaurice: Eight contenders, eight defining questions and no room for error

Éamonn Fitzmaurice assesses the strengths, weaknesses and key tactical battles facing each of the remaining Sam Maguire contenders

SEE YA SATURDAY: Kerry manager Jack O'Connor with his Tyrone counterpart Malachy O'Rourke after last year's All-Ireland SFC semi-final at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

For the final month, the football championship decamps to The Big House. We have been spoiled this year, and hopefully the entertainment continues apace. At this stage last year the excitement dropped off as the game changed with the best teams playing each other in Croke Park. 

Kickout retention and possession phases went up with tackles and turnovers decreasing. There was at least a six-point margin at the end of six of the seven games during the Croke Park series, meaning it lacked those nip and tuck games that have kept us on the edge of our seats throughout this summer. I was at both the Leinster final and the Dublin Donegal battle at headquarters and those telltale signs were thankfully absent.