I 'd just like to see what people think. I'd be particularly interested in the views of people like Snufalufagus who used to post here regularly.
He correctly predicted that Dublin would not retain Sam in 2012 and 2014. He maintained that back to backs are an impossibility in the current game. Would love to know whether he is prepared to revise that belief in light of what people are saying about this Dublin team now.
I will start the ball rolling by keeping the faith and predicting a two-in-a row.

avonali (Dublin) - Posts: 1974 - 27/04/2016 18:21:50    1850218

They are carrying excellent league form into the championship, just like last year, and they have a system to beat their old achilles heel, the blanket defence. Going into June with that momentum I believe they will do it. Every sam win needs some luck at some point, Mayo probably should have despatched us last year, but this team is good enough to prevail so I predict the 2 in a row. They are an exceptional group of players and I believe they deserve a bit of history doing a 4 and 2 in a row in the same year, league and champo.

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4700 - 27/04/2016 20:54:42    1850271

Yes/No/Maybe.

Dubsfan28 (Dublin) - Posts: 2509 - 27/04/2016 21:13:46    1850280

If the championship was based on a league system where the team that finishes top of that league are crowned champions then Dublin would now be going for 5 in a row. They have been the best team in Ireland for the last 5 years.

However, we have a flawed system and in that system one defeat, one slip and some other team will be champions. Dublin are the best team by a considerable distance. They have the best and most natural footballers and are the best team to watch in terms of their style. All that said, they are human like others and Kerry or Mayo could beat them as Donegal did two years ago. They must be careful.

bennybunny (Cork) - Posts: 3917 - 27/04/2016 21:36:51    1850284

You'd have to make the Dubs favourites, no doubt about that. Would it take Tyrone to get to the final for a different sort of challenge? Would it make a difference? Debatable. I'm not sure it would.

MedwayIrish (Wexford) - Posts: 2324 - 27/04/2016 21:39:10    1850287

back to backs are an impossibility in the current game


____________________

What is the current game to this Dublin team? They are rewriting the rules every time,so they will win this year all ireland and next year as well,that just a mathematical observation not cute hoorism.

WhyTheLongFace (Meath) - Posts: 876 - 27/04/2016 21:41:49    1850290

Still can't see it. As fine and consistent a team as Dublin are.

They're certainly in pole position but I just have a gut feeling they won't do it.

Hunger levels naturally decrease no matter how big a panel and competition for places there is.

Kerry did manage it in 2007 but a huge incentive in 2007 was the fact they were facing Cork in a final. That game took on a life of it's own in the build up. It was more than an All-Ireland final and the will to beat Cork was enough to get that great great team over the line. If they were playing anyone else that day, I'm not sure they might have pulled it off.

I still wonder how Dublin will fair if they come up against a Tyrone or Donegal that goes mass defense, plays with steel and fire and has the pace to take them on.

I still hope this group of Kerry players has enough to cause them a shock once we get towards Autumn.

If they do do it, then they are the best Dublin team of all time and also the team of the decade (for all the latter title is worth!)

TheHermit (Kerry) - Posts: 6354 - 27/04/2016 21:57:11    1850297

Of course it's possible ,just look at the likes of KK and what they have done not so long ago.
Competition for places is vital to have any chance and that is there currently. Can two or three other teams catch us on any given day ,of course they can and that's probably the only reason this team would not do a back to back.
They are well placed to do it and will fight tooth and nail to get there. Loss of ROC and Jack Mc could be problem at latter stages is my only concern.

Dubh_linn (Dublin) - Posts: 2312 - 28/04/2016 09:47:15    1850319

Of course it's possible ,just look at the likes of KK and what they have done not so long ago

What, taken part in the British championship rather than the AI like everyone else................ah you mean HURLING :)

I've done it now, John White will be doing his Freddy Krueger impression and chasing me through my dreams with a razor sharpened hurley shouting "handball is the second best game in the GAA"

Or maybe I've overdone it on the mushrooms.

MedwayIrish (Wexford) - Posts: 2324 - 28/04/2016 10:12:36    1850328

Think about it this way, who will stop them? Kerry certainly wont, I think on evidence from the league final their players are past their sell by date. Cork have been terrible in the league and then there's Connaught and Mayo. No one in their right mind would put money on Mayo overcoming their self doubt in Croke park. I think Dublin's main opposition will come from Ulster, so its two in a row is likely. If Tyrone can win Ulster they may gain confidence but then again Tyrone or Donegal are not on parr with Dublin.

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts: 1294 - 28/04/2016 10:19:23    1850330

Think about it this way, who will stop them? Kerry certainly wont, I think on evidence from the league final their players are past their sell by date. Cork have been terrible in the league and then there's Connaught and Mayo. No one in their right mind would put money on Mayo overcoming their self doubt in Croke park. I think Dublin's main opposition will come from Ulster, so its two in a row is likely. If Tyrone can win Ulster they may gain confidence but then again Tyrone or Donegal are not on parr with Dublin.

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts:1085 - 28/04/2016 10:19:23 18

Ah, I'd give us a chance. We had a far worse league in 2014 and that worked out good enough in the end

Superglue (Kerry) - Posts: 1283 - 28/04/2016 10:29:02    1850336

Ah, I'd give us a chance. We had a far worse league in 2014 and that worked out good enough in the end

Superglue (Kerry) - Posts:1011 - 28/04/2016 10:29:02 1850336

Where was Johnny Buckley on Sunday? He completely ran rings around us in last years semi, yes and then you have James O'Donoghue aswell to come back. But all in all, the miles are there and old legs don't win all Irelands.

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts: 1294 - 28/04/2016 10:37:05    1850342

I think it is probably time that the Dubs did two in a row, they have been at the top now for long enough that they should have enough experience to come back and do it again. I doubted they would two years ago because I felt it was still too soon for them to follow up a win with another but I think the conditions are right this year.

Naysayer (Antrim) - Posts: 2071 - 28/04/2016 10:57:55    1850345

IMO if this group of players are going to do back to back titles, then this is the year to do it. The only danger I see is, with no serious threat in Leinster they could be caught cold in a quarter final. Will depend on the draw but if they have to face the likes of Tyrone or Donegal at that stage it could be tricky. You can never fully write off Kerry, but after last weekend, they would appear to have a mountain to climb. No better county for pulling a rabbit out of the hat but I just can't see it happening for them. Mayo, Tyrone, Donegal in no particular order are the only other counties capable of beating them. IMO Mayo have the best chance but what would I know, they always seem to find a way to lose games they should win at some stage.

moylagh (Meath) - Posts: 484 - 28/04/2016 11:22:06    1850356

Ah, I'd give us a chance. We had a far worse league in 2014 and that worked out good enough in the end

Superglue (Kerry) - Posts:1011 - 28/04/2016 10:29:02 1850336

Where was Johnny Buckley on Sunday? He completely ran rings around us in last years semi, yes and then you have James O'Donoghue aswell to come back. But all in all, the miles are there and old legs don't win all Irelands.

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts:1086 - 28/04/2016 10:37:05 1850

Maher and 2 Geaneys also to come back. It's still April. Kerry have more room to improve their fitness than Dublin (not that Dublin won't). August/Sept are for peaking. Where the older legs are at we'll have to wait and see. It won't be from the lack of effort if EF has to make calls there.
Tomas O'Se retiring was the end of us 2 years ago. Paul Murphy puts on the no.5 jersey and is MOTM in the final.
I'd expect that type of response from the panel this year as several places are clearly up for grabs.

Superglue (Kerry) - Posts: 1283 - 28/04/2016 11:25:17    1850357

Think about it this way, who will stop them? Kerry certainly wont, I think on evidence from the league final their players are past their sell by date. Cork have been terrible in the league and then there's Connaught and Mayo. No one in their right mind would put money on Mayo overcoming their self doubt in Croke park. I think Dublin's main opposition will come from Ulster, so its two in a row is likely. If Tyrone can win Ulster they may gain confidence but then again Tyrone or Donegal are not on parr with Dublin.

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts:1086 - 28/04/2016 10:19:23

Tyrone haven't beaten non-Ulster opposition in Croke Park since what, 2009? They seem to be everyone's dark horses on the back of one spirited performance against Kerry last year.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts: 2208 - 28/04/2016 11:30:45    1850361

I think neutrals are pinning their hopes on the fact that only 1 team has retained Sam since 1990 and that Dublin failed in 2012 and 2014.

I think it is a red herring because barring the freak game vs Donegal they would now be overwhelming favourites for 4 in a row as opposed to 2 in a row.

Make no mistake If just 1 of those glorious goal chances were taken in the first 20 minutes vs Donegal that game would have gone the same way that Sundays did. As a Kerry fan I'm glad they didn't get that critical goal

KYTitletown (Kerry) - Posts: 816 - 28/04/2016 11:59:36    1850379

Tyrone haven't beaten non-Ulster opposition in Croke Park since what, 2009? They seem to be everyone's dark horses on the back of one spirited performance against Kerry last year.

Gleebo (Mayo) - Posts:696 - 28/04/2016 11:30:45 1850361

Yes Gleebo our performance against non ulster sides in Croke Park hasn't been great apart from beating Meath in the qualifiers there, think that was in 2013. We haven't beat Donegal in the last 4 - 5 meetings and have been relegated from division one last year. So the dark horse tag is interesting to say the least, must be associated with the inclusion this year of individuals from the all Ireland winning U21 side of last year. We coasted Division 2 but that's not worth much when faced in the summer against the stronger sides. Tyrone if they win Ulster will be more dangerous than last year.

cacsmckilly (Tyrone) - Posts: 1294 - 28/04/2016 12:09:08    1850382

Dublin are in pole position as the best team in the country to win back to back titles.

What separates them from the rest is that there are no obvious areas of weakness to expose anymore, unlike 2014 where their lack of a proper defence was cruelly exposed. They have great strength on the bench & top class management.

And yet, as we have seen countless times down through the years, no one is unbeatable.
I think the only way to do it will be to lock the game down & try to shake their composure.
Once composure goes the whole edifice comes down. Donegal managed this in 2014 & while Dublin are a better team now than then dictating the way the game is played is the only slim chance of beating them.
It can be done, not by anyone in Leinster, that is a lost cause, but a fit &, focused Donegal or Tyrone or maybe Kerry could have a right go at it.

MuckrossHead (Donegal) - Posts: 5028 - 28/04/2016 12:21:26    1850386

Dublin by far the best team in the country but every team can have a momentary slip up in a game which can result in a ball in the back of the net.

Although most teams wouldn't be able to keep close enough to Dublin for a goal even 2 to matter I'd say only Tyrone, Monaghan and Donegal have a chance . Kerry would too except when it comes to Dublin they lack discipline, the experienced lads on the Kerry team are not used to being second best and don't handle it well. If they had a bit more compusure when playing the Dubs they'd have a better chance. Still think it'll be the dubs and the way things are there going to dominate for the next at least 5-6yrs like Kilkenny do in hurling

galwayfball (Galway) - Posts: 1678 - 28/04/2016 12:32:49    1850394