GAA:The 13 teams in the race for the 2010 Liam MacCarthy Cup
Manager: Dinny Cahill (first year). Titles: Ulster 48 (holders), All-Ireland 0. NHL position: 6th Division Two.
Dinny Cahill’s return to Antrim finds the county in reduced circumstances.
From being in the promotion shake-up last year, the county slid away this season, losing five out of seven. Cahill has trawled the county, using 32 players in the league, in a bid to unearth new talent.
Football’s growing profile has had an impact with Michael McGill and Brendan Herron decamping.
Michael Herron is due back from Australia but not in time for the Offaly match. Struggles ahead.
Last Year: Lost Leinster semi-final to
Dublin, lost qualifier (rd 2) to Limerick
Cork
Last Year: Lost All-Ireland
quarter-final to Waterford.
Last Year: Lost Munster SF to Tipperary
and qualifier round two to Galway.
Manager: David Fitzgerald (3rd year). Titles: Munster 7 (2007), All-Ireland 2 (1959). NHL position: 5th Division One.
A creditable league in the absence of the most experienced players and a clear route to the provincial final.
If Waterford caused agonies of frustration by not winning an All-Ireland at their peak, they have doggedly refused to slide into oblivion in the time since.
The crucial full-back position continues to remain problematic. Showed last year that they can still threaten most teams, but hard to see them as contenders even if capable of creating an upset.
Last Year: Munster champions,
lost All-Ireland final to Kilkenny.
Waterford
Last Year: Lost Leinster quarter-final to
Galway and qualifier (rd 3) to Limerick.
Limerick
Last Year: Leinster and
All-Ireland champions.
Last Year: Lost Leinster QF
to Dublin and qualifier to Laois.
Antrim
Last Year: Lost Munster first round to
Tipp, lost qualifier (Rd 3) to Galway.
Dublin
Manager: Brian Cody (11th year). Titles: Leinster 66 (holders), All-Ireland 32 (holders). NHL position: 4th Division One.
The first drive for five in 28 years. In the league, they were able to trial newcomers with John Mulhall impressive at wing forward and they have TJ Reid champing at the bit.
There may be changes with All Star centrefielder Michael Rice being used in the half forwards; Jackie Tyrrell’s centre back stint ended in a verdict of “not proven”. Does Noel Hickey slot back in at full back or does JJ Delaney stay there and forfeit wing back? Still undisputed front-runners.
Manager: Anthony Daly (2nd year). Titles: Leinster 23 (1961), All- Ireland 6 (1938). NHL position:
7th Division One.
After a mixed campaign of competitive displays but poor results, Dublin were happy to stay in Division One by ransacking Limerick.
Injury to David O’Callaghan just as his form was turning is unfortunate but there looks to be better options on the panel this year.
Ronan Fallon is slowly recovering after a lengthy injury absence and Shane Ryan’s touch is improving all the time.
Capable of competing with top teams but need to be able to beat the others.
Last Year: Christy
Ring Cup winners.
Manager: Liam Sheedy (3rd year). Titles: Munster 38 (holders), All-Ireland 25 (2001). NHL
position: 3rd Division One.
Last year brought pressure to improve and Tipperary responded. This time it’s even more intense with All-Ireland success the only ambition.
The team were efficient in the league but Liam Sheedy’s team need to keep the big gains of last September, particularly in the half forwards, and find a bit more. Brendan Maher and Michael Cahill provide options in the back nine and Brian O’Meara’s call-up is interesting.
Should win Munster and be in a position to go all the way.
Last Year: Lost Leinster quarter-final
to Wexford and qualifier (rd 1) to Cork
Manager: Justin McCarthy (2nd year). Titles: Munster 18 (1996), All-Ireland 7 (1973). NHL position:
7th Division One (relegated).
For all the tremors elsewhere Limerick become the first county to take a players’ dispute into the championship.
The dread prospects ahead were most graphically illustrated in the league against Dublin, as this was the only opposition with a must-win imperative that they faced in the campaign.
The year has been a write-off and more damagingly with next season beginning in Division Two, next year is unlikely to bring major progress.
Manager: Joe Dooley (3rd year). Titles: Leinster 9 (1995), All-Ireland
4 (1998). NHL position: 6th
Division One.
A good year to date with Division One status retained and a couple of decent displays. Recent challenge games indicate the team is well-tuned.
The championship of two years ago showed the team’s potential and they can field a strong spine from David Kenny and Paul Cleary at the back, through Rory Hanniffy to Joe Brady and Joe Bergin. Brian Carroll and Shane Dooley, the star of the NHL campaign, offer scoring ability but they lack the power of the top teams.
Manager: Niall Rigney (2nd year). Titles: Leinster 3 (1949),
All-Ireland 1 (1915). NHL position:
3rd Division Two.
Consistent performance is the key for Laois. The fright given to Limerick last year was a relatively unsung achievement, unsurprisingly given what befell the winners, and the league campaign was steady.
Now Niall Rigney has directed a championship win although the amount of time taken to get to grips with Carlow won’t be available next week. Taking on Dublin will be a step up – if only for the environmental discrepancy of Divisions One and Two.
Laois
Clare
Manager: Denis Walsh (2nd year). Titles: Munster 50 (2006), All-Ireland 30 (2005). NHL position: Losing Division One finalist.
The league turned out to be a mixed blessing. Whereas the march to the final was a useful restorative exercise, the flaws exposed by Galway painted a less optimistic picture.
The injury to Michael Cussen looks to have cleared and that broadens Denis Walsh’s options, some relief given the lack of impact up front in the league final even with Cussen present. Injury worries about Tom Kenny and Eoin Cadogan are a concern.
They’ve been competitive against Tipp in worse situations but regardless of tomorrow an All-Ireland semi-final would represent a big achievement.
Galway
Wexford
Manager: Ger O’Loughlin (1st year). Titles: Munster 6 (1998), All-Ireland 3 (1997). NHL position: Runner-up in Division Two final.
An orderly progression out of Division Two looked very much on the cards until the surprise failure against Wexford.
Ger O’Loughlin has sifted through what’s available and introduced some of the All-Ireland-winning under-21s but it’s not a seamless process.
Adding to the difficulties is the spate of injuries that rules out Gerry O’Grady and James McInerney. As ever it will be hard for a team coming from the lower division to impact on the senior championship but the mood is better and some improvement can be registered.
Manager: John McIntyre (2nd year). Titles: Connacht 21 (1999, discontinued), All-Ireland 4 (1988). NHL position: Division One winners.
Yet again Galway head into the summer with expectation high. Two trophies already substantiates that but it’s five years since the county had a satisfactory championship – and that wasn’t built on.
There’s good pace and technical ability in the panel and, of course, the prodigious Joe Canning.
Questions remain: is centrefield robust enough? – when the hammer’s down will the rest of the attack deliver?
A Leinster final against Kilkenny would provide a great litmus test of the extent of undoubted improvement.
Manager: Kevin Ryan (2nd year). Titles: Leinster none, All-Ireland none. NHL position: 4th Division Two.
Kevin Ryan’s bluntly expressed disappointment at the performance in losing to Laois last week is evidence that Carlow aren’t glad just to be at the party, having stepped up from the Ring Cup.
A league campaign of solid improvement in Division Two included beating the eventual winners Wexford and pushing table-toppers Clare to the wire.
The six-point defeat by Laois, however, was replicated in the championship. Astute, battling and competitive, the team was undone by an inability to put up a decent total – 0-10 winning very few hurling matches.
Last Year: Lost Munster semi-final replay to
Waterford, lost All-Ireland semi-final to Tipp.
Offaly
Last Year:Lost Leinster final to Kilkenny,
lost All-Ireland quarter-final to Limerick.
Tipperary
Carlow
Kilkenny
Last Year: Lost Munster final to Tipp,
lost All-Ireland semi-final to Kilkenny.
Manager: Colm Bonnar (2nd year). Titles: Leinster 20 (2004), All-Ireland 6 (1996). NHL position: Division Two winners.
A happy ending to the league campaign with a feisty display in Thurles securing promotion against Clare. That achieved, they can now concentrate on giving Galway a rattle. Handicapped by spending two springs in Division Two, they have nothing to lose today.
Diarmuid Lyng leads from the front and Eoin Quigley is back but there’s a doubt about the ability to take scores against serious opposition. Paul Roche is a loss in the defence. Often produce one big display, will it be against Galway today?
