We all know who is in the running to win it but which side will come through like Down did last year and possibly cause an upset?

The West has to offer something, I expect Galway or Mayo to mount some kind of assault.

Can Louth go again and take a scalp or two?

In Ulster I think that we're a spent force sadly but Donegal might push on this year and I see that Armagh have unearthed some new talent up front which is what they were missing against the Dubs last year so no-one will want them either!

Anyways, it's gunna be some craic - thats for sure!!

Oh yea - Cavan for Sam :-P

Brolly (Monaghan) - Posts: 4472 - 19/01/2011 08:56:53    849166

Kildare are my 'white horses' for Sam.

Barnowl94 (Galway) - Posts: 3150 - 19/01/2011 10:32:57    849213

Ronan Clarke , Stephen McDonnell , Jamie Clarke - great full forward line if we can keep them all fit and in top form then its an exciting prospect for the championship.Im not saying we're going to win the AI , but hopefully we can be involved in the business end of the championship and bring the buzz back from a few years ago

FairShoulder (Armagh) - Posts: 333 - 19/01/2011 10:38:44    849221

Galway?! What championship are we talking about, and what sport?

tribes4liam09 (Galway) - Posts: 147 - 19/01/2011 10:50:25    849232

Your right Brolly....Cavan for Sam!!

laflour (Cavan) - Posts: 528 - 19/01/2011 10:52:56    849233

Its hard to see anybody causing huge problems for the big 3 (Cork, Kerry and Meath) but I'd say outside them lot your looking at Down, Mayo and Louth (once again they have to be mentioned, its the in thing at the moment) all being able to cause a stir. However nobody else outside those six I mentioned really has a snowballs chance in hell of winning Sam or even their respective provincials.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 19/01/2011 10:58:39    849242

Right lets have a bash at this.

In the West i'd love to say Galway have a chance of Sam, however in the real world no. If we win the Nestor back and then get a handy 1/4 final a semi final appearance at Croker would be a great year.

Mayo have a good chance. No-one really expects them to do anything so i wouldn't be suprised to see them in Croker on the 3rd sunday in September.

Up in Ulster i reckon the Dunnies are due a run, could do what Down did last year and even though it will be an emotional year i'd expect Tyrone to still be challenging.

No shocks in Munster, and probably not really any shocks in Leinster, but the Dubs to win Leinster back.

tribeinbrum (Galway) - Posts: 4155 - 19/01/2011 11:12:13    849253

Too soon to judge just yet, wait until the NFL is near ending, the contenders will be starting to hit form then.

artisan (Down) - Posts: 1795 - 19/01/2011 12:02:08    849330

Hmm Let's see,

Dark Horses in Football:

Louth will be fired up after last year's disappointment, they've moved on (I know some fans haven't but they're not on the pitch so they don't matter) and will storm back into the Leinster final again. I'd say they're good for a QF place this year whether they win Leinster or not

As already stated, it will be an emotional championship for Tyrone, difficult to see them being stopped

Will Limerick finally bag a Munster title? Probably not, but they will have a good run in the series I think

Galway will want to pick themselves up quickly & will have a point to prove so will grow in confidence as the year goes on in my view

So overall, I s'pose the AI semis will be a combo of Tyrone/Cork/Kerry/Dublin but Louth, Limerick & Galway to have a big say on the championship

Hurling:

Not us anyway, we've at least 2 years of rebuilding to do. Far less to choose from overall as there's less competition but I reckon Dublin/Antrim with a little luck could reach an AI semi this year

gigoer (Wexford) - Posts: 1998 - 19/01/2011 12:26:55    849361

I think Dublin will do well this year. Very unlucky last year against Cork in the semi-final.

Kerry will also be challenging for AI glory so I cant really see any dark horses appearing at the business end of things.

Kerry Dublin Cork and Tyrone will all be there with Kildare, Louth and perhaps Sligo and Limerick all having a good run as well.

BallsMcQ (USA) - Posts: 941 - 19/01/2011 12:43:49    849380

I would consider everyone outside of cork,kerry,tyrone,dublin and down as real long shots. I cant see anything coming from the west though mayo seem to come out of nowhere sometimes. Armagh have some good underage talent but they're still rebuilding. Kildare i feel have missed the boat,2009 was their peak. A team to look out for i'd say is meath,some very talented forwards there.

mikeoc (Kerry) - Posts: 567 - 19/01/2011 12:54:48    849389

The big two are Kerry and Cork, very hard to see anyone else outside those two. Dark horse for the championship would have to be Dublin.

paddyogall (Mayo) - Posts: 5110 - 19/01/2011 13:17:23    849406

So called 'Dark Horses' rarely actually win the big prize but gun to head the teams most likely to shift the big 3 will come from Leinster with Dublin, Meath and Kildare all getting stronger. The West will whimper at the QF stage as usual. Next likely challengers are Down and possibly Limerick if they get a favourable qualifier draw. Expect Louth to suffer from a serious dose of 2nd Year Syndrome Wexford style. They'll get dumped from the qualifiers most likely from an Ulster team or maybe Roscommon. Tipp would fancy their chances against them too, remember 2009!

In hurling Waterford seem the only likely challengers. Galway should set their sights on actually getting as far as a semi for once

trimmer (Meath) - Posts: 558 - 19/01/2011 13:27:27    849412

Mike, what exactly are you basing your thoughts on? Kildare had one of the youngest squads last year with players like Peter Kelly, Hugh Lynch, and Eoghan O'Flaherty all having got experience real championship experience. Add players like Rob Kelly (injured last year), Mikey Conway who was one of the country's best half backs in 09 before being injured for the whole of last year and Dermot Early who never really got going, I predict an improvement this year again.

I would rate Cork as being far ahead of everyone with Kerry and Tyrone drifting back towards Dublin, Down and Kildare. I'm not convinced about Dublin, 15 minutes of power and good football from Cork murdered them last year and if Tyrone had any sort of shooting boots on or any bit of luck and they would have had them out the gate in the quarter final. Down need a few defenders to make them a real prospect.

Armagh and Meath will be interesting this year, both need to find something different to take the next step. I would predict Armagh have the better chance of going further but if Meath could find a bit of pace and a midfield then they have a good chance aswell. Sligo are another team that are worth keeping an eye on.

Louth, Limerick and Roscommon are not going to improve on last year, I'm fairly sure of that.

SallinsMan (Kildare) - Posts: 77 - 19/01/2011 13:49:36    849434

I don't think anyone could describe Dublin as 'murdered' in last year's semi, had they kept their heads right at the end, they could have won that match, but they just lost their composure right at the end. It would be very dangerous to write them off this year, 2010 will stand to them I think

Plus I agree with the other post, Kildare are not next to near finished, not by a long shot. No one will want to face them this year

gigoer (Wexford) - Posts: 1998 - 19/01/2011 14:41:57    849488

I would agree with trimmer. Limerick would have been a match for most teams this year but were unfortunate to get Cork in the qualifiers after the Munster final. Might be tougher this year with the hurlers back but I think they are there or thereabouts.

I would consider Kildare in with a shout but would probably have to beat one of the big three or Dublin before they can be classed as definite contenders. Talk about us reaching our peak is absolute nonsense though as was said by the Sallins chap above. Of the older players Roley went very well for Moorefield, Johnny is still flying like a young lad and Earley effectively only had one leg last year. No peaks there in my opinion.

I think the potential shocks you could possibly see are Carlow versus Louth in Leinster and possibly New York vs Roscommon in Gaelic Park. Now they are dark horses...

doublehop (Kildare) - Posts: 4172 - 19/01/2011 15:04:57    849518

meath will not mind when we meet the dubs big all to say no one wants then bring them on

7stars (Meath) - Posts: 94 - 19/01/2011 15:06:42    849522

Dublin are not dark horses , We wont win sam this year or the year after that

Im not saying last year was a fluke

Last year showed that you don't have to be the most talented team in the world in order to progress . All it takes is alot of hard work in order to go forward . Don't let last year fool you's regarding Dublin , there is still an awful amount of work to do if we are to see ourselves as contendors

As a unit they where phenomonal from the Meath game onwards and showed fantastic team spirit for a relatively unexperienced side , But let us not forget that this time last year we all said Dublin need two or three years to gel a different team together in order to mount a serious challenge for sam after being absolutly destroyed by Kerry (and also the retirement of Ciaran Whelan and Jason Sherlock , Along with Shane Ryan changing codes) . Last years run doesn't change the long term goal . Its still a two/three year plan WITH GILROY IN CHARGE , The foundations still need to be put in place . And the fans need to be patient

Last year went a long way to laying down the foundations but lets not get ahead of ourselves here .. The aim for 2011 at the very least will be consolidation. If we can put a good run together in our league games .. bring that into the championship and maybe achieve what we achieved last year . ie getting to a semi final and putting it up to one of the top 3/4 teams in the country .. then we can seriously think about really pushing on in 2012 and winning sam .. But 2012 is miles away , we just need to show last year was no fluke , We need to prove it to the country but more importantly the players need to show themselves that last year was no fluke , This year will be an awful lot harder , Alot of teams will know how Dublin play and will try to counter-act that - Last year we had the surprise element , This year we don't .. thats why i feel consolidation will be the main goal , anything more will be a bonus .. and 2012 will be when we really go for it (providing we have no set-backs)

For this year at least i don't think people should be looking at Dublin as dark horses , Time to add a sense of realisation to it all ..The dark horses for me would be Kildare ..

But i think that as usual .. The winners will be one of the big three .. Cork , Tyrone or Kerry .. if not one of them .. then Kildare ..

But Dublin , Meath , Down , Armagh , Mayo and Galway are (in my opinion) still a long way from challenging for an all ireland this year ..

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13656 - 19/01/2011 15:17:54    849534

meath will not mind when we meet the dubs big all to say no one wants then bring them on

____


Yeh.. Cause that makes sense ?

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13656 - 19/01/2011 15:21:16    849541

Ok I'll give an honest opinion this time and my apologies, I can't insert paragraphs at the moment so bear with me. Basically I find it hard to see any team beating Cork or Kerry this year, there are a couple of teams capable alright but will they actually do it? Dublin, Tyrone, Down and Kildare are the main threats to the big two and could easily beat them if they hit top form with Meath, Armagh and Galway just in behind the chasing pack. I'd love to say The Royals could challenge for an All-Ireland this year but that would be the heart talking not the head, I have a bad feeling that we could actually go back a few steps this season. I wasn't a huge fan of O'Brien's management but an AI semi and quarter final in consecutive years ain't too bad for a lad who wasn't highly rated by many. So can Banty really do much better? I certainly hope so! GO ON THE ROYALS :-)

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 19/01/2011 15:59:55    849590