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All-Ireland Football Champiopnship Winner: Kerry
Going on recent league form, Kerry look to have their defence set up right. Paddy Tally has come into the backroom team and done a good job.
Forward David Clifford’s in the form of his life. If you put him in any team he’d bring them up to a different level, so you’d have to look at them as favourites for the All-Ireland at this stage. It’s a long year – even with a more condensed season.
That’s the beauty of the Championship. We’ve still to see where they’ll play the final, but Kerry will have to get past Cork to get out of Munster. They should do it though, wherever the game is played.
All being well, they’re into the quarter-final and that’s always a dangerous round as you’re never quite sure who you’re going to face.
There’s a potential semi-final against Dublin if they get through that.
The Dubs will have looked at their poor League campaign and though they were without the likes of Con O’Callaghan and Paddy Small . If they get out of Leinster, they’ll have one big game, probably against Kerry, to focus on at the semi-final stage.
On their day, the Dubs can be as good as anyone.
I can see why Kerry are favourites now based on the League form, but there’s a lot of games ahead of and in Kerry we’d always be cautious and not get too carried away. We’ve seen in the last few years how Kerry have blown away teams in the League but then got turned over in the Championship.
I still think Kerry win be crowned All Ireland Champions though.
Provincial Winners
Leinster
I’ve made the case for Kerry for the All-Ireland above, so you can’t look past them winning Munster. Kildare and Dublin will battle it out in Leinster and while I fancy the Dubs, but I’ve no doubt they’ll be tested all the way.
Ulster
This is a minefield. Tyrone, Monaghan, Donegal, all have ambitions, but, from what I’ve seen of Armagh this year this is a Championship where they really have to go for it. I could see either Tyrone or Monaghan getting out of there too.
Connaught
It’s hard to know what Mayo or Galway were really putting into the League finals. Watching the Tribesmen the last day, they rested Shane Walsh, he only cam on near the finish and I think they had their eye on the Championship.
It was similar with Mayo, who seemed to change their team every game and they looked like a side who’d trained hard going into it, so it’s hard to know where they are at now.
It’ll be one or the other, and I’d slightly favour Mayo but I wouldn’t write off Galway.
GAA outright pick
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