Division One
Darren McDonnell (Monaghan)
While Rory Beggan looks set to line out against Dublin tonight before heading off to chase an entirely different type of National Football League dream, McDonnell will likely be the Monaghan goalkeeper for the foreseeable future. He has huge shoes to fill – Beggan has started every league and championship game in goal for Monaghan since March 2013. The last time he didn’t was a Division Three game against Wicklow. This is a Division One against the best teams in the country. Gulp.
McDonnell has been the understudy to Beggan for a few years and has seen action in McKenna Cup games in the past. He was Vinny Corey’s choice in the pre-season this time around as well, and although he started badly against Donegal by getting caught up the pitch and gifting Oisín Gallen a handy goal, he has settled pretty well into the role. Will continue to rove, as Beggan did – and he’s no stranger to getting on the scoreboard from play. Replacing one of the pillars of Monaghan’s success is a huge task, all the same.
Division Two
Oisín O’Neill (Armagh)
Was in real danger of becoming the forgotten man of Armagh football after a long string of injuries left him on the outside looking in over the past few seasons. Heading into what will be his eighth season on the senior panel, Rian’s brother has only played five championship matches in total. A mockery of his potential worth to Kieran McGeeney’s side.
McKenna Cup aside, O’Neill’s last game in an orange jersey was in April 2022, an Ulster Championship defeat to Donegal. Since then, he’s fought through Achilles, knee and quad injuries. That McGeeney made him part of the training panel last summer despite there never being even the slimmest chance that he’d be ready for championship football shows the esteem they hold him in. Looking sharp and reborn in pre-season, the 26-year-old deserves an injury-free league at least.
Division Three
Jack Bryant (Offaly)
With All-Ireland-winning under-20 manager Declan Kelly now in charge, the expectation around Offaly is that this will be the year that the county senior team becomes populated with the stars of that historic 2021 triumph. None shone brighter in that campaign than Bryant, who was picked out as the competition’s Player of the Year but has had a stuttering start to life in the senior ranks.
A brilliant forward on his day, Bryant was on the fringes of the starting XV last year and came on against Louth in Croke Park when that rollercoaster Leinster semi-final was in the balance. But afterwards, he chose to go to the States rather than play in the Tailteann Cup. This campaign is his chance to really establish himself in an Offaly attack where he is expected to be joined by the likes of Cormac Egan and Cathal Flynn. This is their team now. Or ought to be, at any rate.
Division Four
Darren Gallagher (Longford)
Back-to-back O’Byrne cups might not be the sort of currency the bigger counties put much stock in, but Longford clearly wanted every bit of the pre-season competition. They beat Westmeath, Meath and Dublin along the way and, whatever about the relative strengths of the sides the opposition put out, Longford went about their own business their own way under Paddy Christie. And nobody did more than seasoned midfielder Darren Gallagher.
Along with Mickey Quinn, Gallagher is the spiritual leader of Christie’s side. Not only does he get through mountains of work roving up and down from midfield, he has become their go-to free-taker into the bargain. He’s been around long enough to know all about false dawns – last year’s O’Byrne Cup triumph was followed by relegation with a game to go in Division Three – so Gallagher won’t be getting ahead of himself. But if Longford are to come straight back up, he’ll be at the vanguard.
