I’m not a betting man, but if I was going to stick a tenner on the League I’d put it on my own county Tyrone to win Division 1.
Dublin have won three of the last four All-Ireland titles, they’re going for five in-a-row in the League and their recent O’Byrne Cup win, when they fielded a third team, shows that they are still ahead of the rest.
I’m not in any way questioning the Dubs because they have proven that they are the best team in the country. I am questioning their motivation to win another League title.
A lot of these players have been on the road for a few years and they already have four All-Ireland medals in their pockets. It’s a long inter-county season from February to September, or October as it was for them with the replay with Mayo last year, and the Championship will be their only focus.
I remember in 2002 and 2003, my first years with Tyrone, we won the League and we went hell for leather from the start of the year. We wanted to win every game we played.
In the past Dublin have won the League after finishing fourth following their seven game programme and that can’t happen in 2017.
But by the time 2006 or so came around, we had two All-Irelands won and our motivation was different. Older players who had been around for a few years were rested, some were rehabbing injuries, and mightn’t be taken out of cotton wool until the last round or two of the League.
At that stage Mickey Harte was looking at younger lads to see were there any of them ready to step up into the first team in the Championship. A League would have been nice to win, but it was all about Sam Maguire.
Dublin are in that position now and their boss Jim Gavin will be looking at a few of those players that won the O’Byrne Cup, resting a few of his stars and building towards the latter stages of the Championship.
With the League semi-finals gone from the calendar, just the top two in Division 1 will make the final this year so a quick start is vital. Dropped points early on will mean that you’re as good as out of the race.
In the past Dublin have won the League after finishing fourth following their seven game programme and that can’t happen in 2017.
That said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Dublin-Tyrone final.
Cavan and Roscommon look to the be the teams that will be battling relegation, Kerry and Mayo may not be massively motivated at this stage of the year because they’ll feel they have bigger fish to fry, Donegal are probably starting down the slope after some great years and Monaghan don’t look to have the strength in depth to take the silverware.
Winning a League can be a massive thing for a team and I know it was for us in ’02 and ’03. Under Art McCrory and Eugene McKenna we weren’t able to kick on in ’02, but the following year after Mickey came in as manager we won Tyrone’s first All-Ireland.
I suppose, the question Tyrone fans will want to see answered is does the team have that killer inside forward like Michael Murphy in Donegal or Bernard Brogan in Dublin to take them to the next level.
Winning the League, having finally gotten the monkey off our backs and won an Ulster title after a decent break last year, would be another major step for this team.
Mickey said in the past that you can’t win an All-Ireland from Division 2 and I agree with that statement. Tyrone are back in the top flight after gaining promotion last season and playing the best teams will show these players where they really stand.
Looking at Division 2, Galway and Cork appear the strongest teams, but Cork have a lot of rebuilding to do and losing last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final to Tipperary was a big knock-back to Galway after they won a Connacht title. I have been tipping them to get promoted the past few years and they keep letting me down.
I suppose, the question Tyrone fans will want to see answered is does the team have that killer inside forward like Michael Murphy in Donegal or Bernard Brogan in Dublin to take them to the next level?
Conor McAliskey is out for the year with an injury, which is a blow, and another thing the fans will want to see is a better return from scoreable frees; fine margins win games and if you’re missing these chances it really hurts a team.
Something that I’ll be interested in seeing over the next few weeks is how the introduction of the mark works out.
I’ve sat in enough team meetings and through enough video sessions to know that any goalkeeper who kicks a 50-50 ball down the middle is going to get given out to, so I don’t think it’s going to make a massive difference.
But maybe some teams might try to push up on the opposition’s kick-outs in the hope of forcing the keeper long so that they can contest the mark rather than sit off and let them have possession inside their own ’45’.
If this happens it might speed the game up a small bit, which we all want to see.
Live commentary of Mayo v Monaghan in the Allianz Football League (throw-in 7pm) on Saturday Sport Extra on RTE Radio 1. Reports and reaction on the day's league games on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 from 2pm. Highlights of the weekend's action on League Sunday on RTÉ Two television (7.30pm).
