RTÉ GAA analyst Liam Sheedy believes Galway have shown enough over the league season to suggest that they could be a serious contender for All-Ireland SHC honours this year.
Since their last appearance in the final in 2018, where they lost to a Limerick side winning their first of five Liam MacCarthy titles in six years, the Tribe County have been up and down – being denied three times in semi-finals by the Treaty County and also twice failing to get out of Leinster.
Eventual champions Tipperary ended their hopes at the quarter-final stage last season with Micheál Donoghue's side looking well off the top teams but, for Sheedy, the gap has closed significantly.
That was rubber-stamped by their comeback against Limerick on Saturday evening when a 10-point half-time deficit was nearly turned into victory.
"You thought they were in trouble at 1-16 to nine points at half-time at the Gaelic Grounds, they were staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat," Sheedy told RTÉ Radio 1’s Inside Sport.
"(They) made three changes and tagged on 22 points in that second half. They got to 31 points and were very close to getting the ball over the line for a goal in the last minute.
"So, from an improvement perspective, 2025 to 2026, you'd have to give Galway and Micheál Donoghue all the plaudits of what we've seen to date.
"Now, again, it always needs to be cautioned because it is league form and championship is just different, but Galway certainly are the team that have probably made the greatest strides from 2025 to 2026 in my eyes."
For Sheedy, crucial depth is starting to emerge out west, a key ingredient of any championship charge.
"He (Donoghue) brought on Darren Neary, he got three points," he said.
"He brought on Colm Molloy, he got two points. He brought on Brian Concannon, he got a point.
"And he still has Daithí Burke and Rory Burke and Gavin Lee to come back from injury. To really be a challenger in this championship you have to have an element of depth in your squad and I think you also need a mix of youth and experience.
"I think right now Micheál is blending a nice mix and he's got a really good depth to his panel based on what we've seen through the stages of the league this year."
The two-time All-Ireland winning manager with Tipperary also cautioned that the acid tests are yet to come, with an expectancy now falling on Galway – especially when it comes to the Leinster championship.
"I suppose the key thing is to bring your league form into championship and not be derailed by the fact that it is a little bit more intense. But these Galway players look like there's a bit about them."
