Offaly great Nigel Dunne believes Galway's response against Derry on Sunday will speak volumes about the level of resilience within the Tribe camp as they aim to finally end their long wait for the Sam Maguire.
They haven’t won an All-Ireland football title since 2001 but have lost finals to Kerry and Armagh under Pádraic Joyce’s watch.
Galway entered the 2025 championship arena as one of the favourites and despite completing a Connacht four in a row, a home loss to Dublin in their All-Ireland group opener has left them under pressure ahead of their visit to the Maiden city.
Dunne, who brought a 15-year inter-county career to an end earlier this month, feels a real test of character awaits them this weekend.
"It’s far from a gimme and the only point Derry got in the league was in Celtic Park against Galway," he said on the RTÉ GAA podcast.
"The last 12 minutes against Armagh (for Derry), it’s all about how Derry are going to frame it - 'look we finished really strongly, we created five or six goal chances, we’ve turned a corner, we’ve stopped the rot'.
"Even though they didn’t get the win, they finished strongly against a mean Armagh side.
"Galway’s confidence will probably be a little bit on the floor but in all truth they were slightly unlucky, that game could have gone either way.
"It’s how they react to it now because this is a Galway team that hasn’t gotten over the line for Sam Maguire so they don’t have that resilience to lie back on.
"You're talking about two teams with everything to fight for. This is going to be the game of the weekend as far as I can see because there’s such jeopardy, whoever loses that’s probably their year over."
For Dunne, there’s forever an uncertainty over the Galway line-up from week to week and he believes it may be having a detrimental effect.
"If all things are equal and both teams bring their best, Galway will win.
"From an outsider point of view looking at Galway, I find it incredibly infuriating that – and it’s nobody’s fault and we’re talking about extremely gifted players - (but) there’s always injury concerns over Shane Walsh, Damien Comer, Seán Kelly. You’re talking three of their best players, three of the best players in the game. There's always, are they fit or are they not?
"That seems to be the case for a few years now. If I was a Galway supporter you’d always be on edge with them and I’m often wondering does that noise filter through to the players.
"I think you need a fully fit Shane Walsh to win an All-Ireland but it’s always is Shane Walsh fit. They need to get him fit, they need to do whatever it is to get him to the source of these problems."
Watch Dublin v Armagh in the All-Ireland Football Championship on Sunday from 3.30pm 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. Highlights on The Sunday Game at 9.30pm
