Ryan McMenamin believes Tyrone are capable of ending their eight-year wait for Sam Maguire this September, but fears a Mayo ambush could stop them in their tracks.
Mickey Harte's Red Hands could be on a collision course with the beaten Connacht semi-finalists should Stephen Rochford's men overcome Westmeath in their qualifier showdown at the end of the month.
Mayo were chasing a sixth provincial title on the bounce before Galway sent them packing on a 1-12 to 0-12 scoreline, but McMenamin sees similarities between the Green and Red and the Tyrone class of 2008, who went on to become All-Ireland champions.
We need your consent to load this SoundCloud contentWe use SoundCloud to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
“Tyrone can go all the way," the Dromore St Dympna's man told RTÉ 2fm's Game On.
"They can go far. But at the end of the day once it gets to August, it’s a different story because if you go on a run in the qualifiers you can get momentum, and you can catch a team on the hop.
"You’d like to think they could (win the All-Ireland), but there’s one team I’d be wary of: Mayo.
“I’ve watched them. They remind me of what happened us in '08. They’re sticking to the system. Slowly but surely you can see the confidence coming back into the team. They’re probably one team I would be wary of."
Tyrone were turned over by Down in the Ulster quarter-final eight years ago but dusted themselves down to charge through the qualifiers and eventually beat Kerry in Croke Park to win the All-Ireland.
Until Sunday's defeat of Donegal, they hadn't tasted success since beating Monaghan in the Ulster decider in 2010. McMenamin hopes it can be the catalyst for the class of 2016 to drive on.
“It’s a long time coming for Tyrone. The game wasn’t a good spectacle but the result was fantastic. It was nice for us to get one over Donegal.
“I remember when we were starting out, the team that we wanted to beat was Armagh. They’d beaten us two years in the championship and then once we’d beaten them in 2001, it probably gave the whole team belief.
“Hopefully it’s going to give these boys great belief now going forward. It was always hanging over Tyrone that Donegal always had the measure of them. It was great to get over the line. When you’ve six years without a trophy, you do get hungry."
McMenamin also reserved special praise for Mickey Harte, now in his 14th season at the helm, as he reflected on the powerful team spirit in the Red Hands' camp.
“I’ve never met a man who wants to win as much in my life," he said. "If I was playing three-a-side in the back yard Mickey would want to win.
"He’s open to reinvention and he’s open to taking ideas from other sports, other teams. When he asks you to do something, you’ll do it and you’ll ask no questions.
"Whatever team he has, he always has a fantastic bond with his players."
