SUNDAY 18 JUNE
Group 3
Roscommon v Kildare, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 1.45pm (LIVE ON RTÉ2)
Dublin v Sligo, Kingspan Breffni Park, 1.45pm (LIVE ON GAAGO)
Group 1
Mayo v Cork, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 2pm (LIVE ON GAA)
Kerry v Louth, O'Moore Park, 2pm
Group 2
Tyrone v Westmeath, Kingspan Breffni Park, 4pm
Galway v Armagh, Páirc Sean MacDiarmada, 4pm (LIVE ON RTÉ2)
ONLINE
Live blogs on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app. Highlights also available across the weekend.
RADIO
Live commentary and updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday Sport. Also live updates on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Spórt an Lae.
TV
Live coverage of Roscommon v Kildare (1.45pm) and Galway v Armagh (4pm) on the Sunday Game Live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 1.15pm. GAAGO will have a live double header, with Mayo v Cork (2pm) and Dublin v Sligo (4pm). Highlights of all the weekend's action on The Sunday Game, RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player, from 9.30pm.
WEATHER
Sunday: Showers will die out from most areas during Saturday night, leaving clear spells. Patches of mist and fog will form in light to moderate south to southeast winds. Mild again with lowest temperatures of 12 to 16 degrees. For more, go to met.ie.
GROUP 2: We meet again...
Group 2 brings us a repeat of last year's anarchic All-Ireland quarter-final, this time in the rather more petite surrounds of Páirc Sean MacDiarmada.
The GAA's refusal to accede to Armagh's request to move the game to Croke Park has been vindicated with the 9,000-strong venue in Carrick-on-Shannon still yet to sell out at the time of writing (Thursday). Another sobering demonstration of the general apathy that has attended to the inaugural 'Super (?) 16s'.
Indeed, it's been a difficult fortnight for Armagh on the lobbying front, with Rian O'Neill's suspension upheld by the CHC on Wednesday evening.
Having been moments away from a first Ulster crown in 15 years last month, Kieran McGeeney is once more under pressure to deliver a big championship victory.
In situ since 2015, it remains the case that last year's qualifier wins over Tyrone and Donegal - the latter a demoralised entity at the time, the former in the midst of one of their traditionally abject title defences - are the only landmark championship victories of his reign.
The vagaries of the system mean they will likely survive even with a defeat, though they could still finish top. Should Tyrone overcome Westmeath, they'll need to beat Galway by seven to top the westerners on score difference.
Galway's run to the All-Ireland final last year was accompanied by scepticism from the pundit class every step of the way. (The majority of the podcast community even insisted on tipping Roscommon in Salthill ahead of last year's Connacht final).
This year that same pundit class have now repented their sins and Galway have lately emerged as the default pick for the All-Ireland title, primarily on the basis that they appear to have blotted their copybook less than any of the other contenders.
The Mayo cohort, we note in passing, appear especially anxious to talk them up, partly to brace themselves for the worst and partly for the purposes of fostering hubris among their neighbours.
Enda McGinley dissented from the narrative somewhat on the RTÉ GAA podcast this week, noting that Galway had only laboured past a Tyrone side which was reduced to 14 for most of the game, and even 13 for a portion of it.
Closer examination of their performances indicates that Galway have been struck by the same malaise that has hit all four provincial champions in the group stage thus far. They just haven't paid for it in results terms.
"Armagh are fighting for this, but Galway may well be in a little comfort zone and unless they snap out of it, I wouldn't be at all surprised for an Armagh result," argued McGinley.
"While I rate Galway as the higher team in terms of All-Ireland chances, I'd be rating this as pretty close to 50:50."
Tyrone, whose form had relegated them to the status of a fringe All-Ireland contender, ended their four-game championship losing streak against Armagh a fortnight ago.
After a frustrating league campaign - in which they amassed a score difference of +56 but only won four of seven games - and a second half implosion against Louth in their Leinster opener, Westmeath have turned up in rude health for the group stage.
The 2022 Tailteann winners had the benefit of knowing they were bound for this stage from the get-go. They led power ranking darlings Galway at half-time and were still level early in the second half when Ray Connellon was shown red, after which the Connacht champions sped away to win by eight.
They still harbour an outside chance of reaching the prelims and based on performances thus far, the 2021 All-Ireland champions would be wise not to take them lightly.
Permutations - see more here
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Galway will top group by avoiding defeat against Armagh. They also hold a score difference advantage (+10) over the Ulster duo (both -1) if a three-way tie on four points arises.
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Armagh can still finish top by beating Galway, though will need Tyrone to slip up against Westmeath. Otherwise, they will need a score difference swing and have to win by six points against Galway to have any chance of top spot.
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Tyrone can only finish top if Armagh beat Galway. Will need to make up a -11 score differential deficit against the westerners in the process.
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Westmeath need to beat Tyrone to survive. Matters will simplify if Armagh avoid losing to Galway. Otherwise, it's down to their score difference (-9) against the Ulster teams.
GROUP 1:
Theoretically, Kerry could be eliminated this weekend, though in the eyes of most analysts, the prospect is as remote as it is unthinkable.
Having blitzed Clare in swaggering fashion in the Munster final, Jack O'Connor's side have looked uninspired and lethargic in the group phase.
They suffered a first championship defeat in Killarney in 28 years against Mayo before lumbering past Cork in their second game, causing them to drift in the reckoning.
The common refrain is that if anything was to occur to David Clifford, they'd barely be able to keep it kicked out against any of the remaining contenders. No doubt, this is overstated.
On the other hand, the historically minded have drawn comparisons with 2009 - back in Jacko's second stint - when Kerry dodged several bullets against middle ranked teams in the qualifiers before exploding into form in the quarter-final stage.
This weekend, they will likely have to do without noted impact sub, aka 'finisher', Killian Spillane, who is struggling for fitness.
Mickey Harte's history against Kerry is storied and often glorious, although he lost all three of his championship games against them in the 2010s.
After their Leinster final capitulation, Louth have stood up well in the All-Ireland series. Speaking to the media this week, wing-forward Conor Grimes was inclined to insist that they weren't "delusional" about their chances, though he was confident they could be competitive.
In the other game, Mayo are on course to top the group though they have a potentially tricky assignment against a gradually improving Cork side.
Kevin Walsh, whose role in the Rebels set-up is often adverted to, had a PhD in taking down Mayo from his eventful five-year stint in Galway.
Permutations - see more here
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Mayo need draw or win against Cork to take top spot
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Kerry can only finish top if Cork beat Mayo - with score difference set to be the determining factor
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Cork can finish top with a win if Kerry fail to beat Louth
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A Louth victory of any sort will secure their advancement, with Kerry most likely to be eliminated
GROUP 3: Points difference foot race
If form-lines hold up, Group 3 will present us with the novel scenario that (the many) critics of the present format had warned of at the outset. Namely, a team surviving the group phase after collecting one point from three games.
Should Kildare and Sligo both lose this weekend, then the team that loses by the smaller margin will progress to the preliminary quarter-final, where they'll likely be regarded as the jackpot ball by the second place teams.
For whichever of them makes it through in those circumstances, their 2023 season will resemble Ireland's Euro 2020 qualification tilt, with the casual followers in their midst perplexed as to how and why they're still togging out.
There's certainly no reason to regard Kildare-Roscommon as a foregone conclusion. The Lilywhites continued underperformance, despite strong underage pedigree and a decent clutch of raw attacking talent, remains one of the eternal mysteries.
RTÉ columnist Lee Keegan was especially trenchant in his critique of Kildare this week, arguing they needed to establish a coherent identity in order to develop some consistency.
Davy Burke, one of the best-performing and most quotable (much appreciated) managers of 2023, is natually well acquainted with his native Kildare, having guided them to an All-Ireland U20 title in 2018 - Jimmy Hyland and Paddy Woodgate are notable graduates from that crop.
Tony McEntee's Sligo are already deep into bonus territory for 2023, having secured promotion from the bottom tier and earned a highly creditable draw in their first group game. There may be some nagging regret at how the Hyde Park game got away from them in the final quarter.
On Game On this week, Niall Murphy reiterated his point that conditioning - far more so than skill - is what separates the elite from the lower tier sides. With Dublin looking for a score difference dividend, it could be hard for Sligo to extract any change in Cavan.
Permutations - see more here
- Dublin or Roscommon will win the group by bettering the other's result or margin of victory.
- Kildare or Sligo will progress by bettering the other's result or margin of defeat.
- A win for either Kildare or Sligo would deliver second spot in the group should the other side fail to win
- Two draws would send the Rossies through as top team and eliminate Sligo
Watch an All-Ireland Football Championship double-header, Roscommon v Kildare and Galway v Armagh, on Sunday from 1.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch highlights of the weekend's football and hurling championship action on The Saturday Game and The Sunday Game, 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
