RTÉ GAA analyst Conor McManus has said that a Michael Murphy-like return to county colours for him could be announced in 2026 – but only if the news comes out on 1 April.
The latest addition to The Sunday Game team is a content man despite his decision to step away from Monaghan duties in January, even though he had to watch on as the Oriel County claimed the Division 2 crown and plenty of plaudits following last weekend's win over Roscommon at Croke Park.
That watching brief will take him to Ballybofey tomorrow as Derry try to cause a massive upset by turning over Donegal on their own patch in the Ulster SFC opener (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
A year is a long time in football - with the roles reversed from the same fixture last season when the Tir Chonaill side were doing the shocking at Celtic Park -and McManus has warned that pre-match predictions of a comfortable day’s work for Jim McGuinness’s side may be slightly premature.
"Derry would like to be coming into it in a richer vein of form," McManus told RTÉ Sport.
"They’ve a lot of injuries hanging over their head so they’d rather be coming into it in a better way.
"It’s not ideal to be missing the calibre of player they’re missing, the likes of Conor McCluskey, Gareth McKinless, question marks over Brendan Rogers, Odhran Lynch. A lot of holes to fill.
"That said, Derry in the National League weren’t as bad as the league table suggests, probably should have beaten Kerry, should have beaten Galway, they were five or six points up on Donegal with five minutes to go.
"It’s not as bad as it looks but they’re probably playing the form team in the country so it is hard to see past Donegal."
When it comes to other form teams garnering headlines, McManus’s native Monaghan have been catching the eye, especially given their second-half performance in the Division 2 final against Roscommon last week.
Many expected a period of transition to follow after McManus’s retirement, but new manager Gabriel Bannigan has the side moving freely, with their variation in attack and the faith put in defenders like Dylan Byrne ensuring an instant return to the top-flight and with it, an 11th season in 12 amongst the country’s best in the league.
McManus knows that the gap between the divisions are significant, but with the last two Sam Maguire winners coming from the second tier – Dublin and Armagh – he sees no reason why Monaghan shouldn't at least be in the All-Ireland conversation.
"All they can do is beat what’s in front of them and they’ve done that quite comfortably throughout the league," said McManus who will continue to line out for his club Clontibret.
"They went to Hyde Park (v Roscommon), they didn’t win but a bad day, a few injuries and it probably wasn’t a true reflection of Monaghan where, but since that they’ve been very impressive and have gone about their business.
"It’s obviously going to be a massive step up, the gulf in class between Division 1 and 2 was very big this year compared to some other years, but it’s a step up they’ll be looking forward to."
"They’d be in the conversation," he added of their All-Ireland credentials. "They’d be up there with a lot of the teams being talked about.
"On any given day, Monaghan can beat any of them so the big test will be when they play some of those better teams.
"That’s the question Monaghan have to answer and they’d be well aware of that."
Watch Donegal v Derry in the Ulster Football Championship on Sunday from 1.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates from around the country on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio
