RTÉ Sport has asked the people who know about what they think will happen on and off the football fields this summer.
Alan Dillon (former All Star Mayo footballer)
- All-Ireland champions: Mayo
- Super 8s: Mayo, Dublin, Kerry, Tyrone, Galway, Monaghan, Meath and Donegal
- Footballer of the Year: Paul Mannion (Dublin)
- Young Footballer of the Year: David Clifford (Kerry)
- Surprise Packages: Armagh - I think they have progressed the last few seasons and this is probably Kieran McGeeney’s last year so I’d expect to see them going for broke.
- Talking point: Defensive structures have moved on and the game has evolved around a more open style of play. We’ll see teams start to move towards a lot more attacking play.
Martin McHugh (1992 Donegal All-Ireland winner)
- All-Ireland champions: Dublin
- Super 8s: Kerry, Galway, Mayo, Dublin, Tyrone, Donegal, Monaghan and Meath
- Footballer of the Year: Dean Rock - I think he’s the most underrated footballer on this Dublin team and he’s more important to them than Stephen Cluxton.
- Young Footballer of the Year: David Clifford again, but if Darragh Canavan plays for Tyrone don’t rule him out. He’s special and his football brain is unreal.
- Surprise Packages: Tyrone - I think they’re the team most likely to win an All-Ireland other than Dublin. They’ve improved since last year and no one is talking much about them.
- Talking point: The provincial championships are finished and people will really realise that this year. Just look at the number of provincial football games that RTÉ are showing; the interest isn’t there. I’ve been saying it for years - eight groups of four based on the League. Hurling showed the way and football should follow.
Rena Buckley (18 time All-Ireland winner with Cork women’s football and camogie)
- All-Ireland champions: Dublin
- Super 8s: Dublin, Mayo, Kerry, Galway, Tyrone, Donegal, Monaghan and Kildare, but Meath, Cavan and even Tipperary will be fighting hard for those last two spots.
- Footballer of the Year: I think Aidan O’Shea is arguably the Footballer of the Year so far and I think Mayo will have a good run so I’ll stick with him.
- Young Footballer of the Year: Sean O’Shea. He came in quietly last year and David Clifford took the limelight, but he’s really come into his home this year.
- Surprise Packages: I hope Donegal can give the whole thing a crack. They looked very comfortable in most of their Division 2 games, Paddy McBrearty is on the way back and they have a lot of experience - 2012 isn’t that long ago.
- Talking point: We had a great League and everyone was talking about how evenly matched the divisions were. Now we’re moving on to provincial championships where there’ll be a lot of one-sided results. I know in Munster Kerry are a good bit above everyone else - the Munster championship takes up a lot of time, but really how interesting is it for players or fans? I think we’ll hear a lot more talk this summer about a two-tier championship.
Michael Lyster (former The Sunday Game presenter)
- All-Ireland champions: It’s Dublin’s to lose - if you look about, can you see anyone to stop them?
- Super 8s: Dublin, Kerry, Galway, Mayo, Meath, Tyrone, Donegal and Cork
- Footballer of the Year: That’s a tough one to predict, but if I was putting an each-way bet on I’d go for Rory O’Carroll now that he’s back with Dublin.
- Young Footballer of the Year: David Clifford
- Surprise Packages: If Cork do make the Super 8s it will be a big surprise for a lot of people. They have shown nothing the past few years, but I think a county like Cork has to be among the top eight.
- Talking point: Now that we are in the second year of the Super 8s we have to ask ourselves where the provincial championships are going. We’ll look back at the end of the year and see that the provincial championships had very little relevance on the final outcome.
Colm Cooper (four-time All-Ireland winner with Kerry)
- All-Ireland champions: Dublin - I’d love to see someone coming out of the pack, but I can’t see it happening. Certainly, it’s a year or two too soon for this Kerry team.
- Super 8s: Dublin, Tyrone, Mayo, Kerry, Galway, Monaghan, Donegal and Meath.
- Footballer of the Year: Ciarán Kilkenny (Dublin)
- Young Footballer of the Year: David Clifford
- Surprise Packages: Donegal - if they get Paddy McBrearty back fit we could well see them in an All-Ireland semi-final.
- Talking point: Maybe people are looking for something out of left-field here, but to my mind the only talking point can be Dublin and the drive for five. It has never been done before - can they make that bit of history?
Barry Cahill (Dublin All-Ireland winner 2011)
- All-Ireland champions: Dublin. Last year they were five or six points a better team than everyone else. They might have come back to the chasing pack a bit and the pack might have moved forward, but they’re still three or four points ahead.
- Super 8s: Dublin, Kerry, Tyrone, Mayo, Donegal, Galway, Meath and Monaghan
- Footballer of the Year: Paul Mannion
- Young Footballer of the Year: Sean O’Shea. David Clifford is the obvious one, but I’ll go for O’Shea after the spring he had with Kerry and UCC.
- Surprise Packages: Meath; It may not be a huge surprise if they make a Leinster final and the Super 8s after that, but it’s still so long since they were in an All-Ireland quarter-final.
- Talking point: In a one-off game the team best equipped to beat Dublin this year is Kerry, but I think Dublin would be able to pick their defence apart. They need to work on their defensive system from goalkeeper to left wing-back and their defence will be a major talking point this summer.
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