I've not once said anything about team of the decade. Sure everyone knows 5 is greater than 3. In my own humble opinion the 3 wins are overstated for reasons mentioned already. It is a bit of luck to get 3 defending champions in the final each time. '03 was an awesome win by an up and coming team over my own county in the semi-final. '08 saw a team stopped in pursuit of a 3-in-a-row by a great team. Back-to-back titles are hard enough let alone trying 3-in-a-row. It's a fact that Kerry were leading Tyrone a merry dance in the '05 final. As already mentioned, the Gooch was poked in the eye to curtail his dominance. It was what it was. Some people wish to turn a blind eye to it. Losing fair and square as in '03 and '08 is not a problem. Poking a player in the eye is uncalled for. Supporter being unsporting and un-GAA like in victory as happened in '05 was disgraceful. In fairness the supporters in my experience after '08 were good. Possibly as I said a maturity gained in 3 years. People can call it what they like and put up smoke screens but at the end of the day uncalled for incidents left a bad taste in the mouth after '05. Down have an exemplary record against us to an there is nothing but massive respect for Down. Armagh have always been sporting. Donegal have been sporting.
Legendixx, you dwell on the Gooch incident, but conviently dismiss Kerry's strategy for taking out Nicolas Murphy, only when mentioned did you reply about it. , this was premiditated and let's be honest, because you are being so honest, if a Tyrone player wrote a book saying he was instructed by MH to take out a player before an All Ireland Final , there would be blue murder from all the " it's not the Kerry Way Brigade ". They say that the victors get to write their history , but I think in Kerrys case even in defeat ye get to write it because of the massive amount of Kerry Journos:)
But when all the brim and bluster and jerra is stripped away , Tyrone beat ye 3 out of 3 in the noughties when ye both were at your prime, if it was boxing debate about who was a better or luckier world champion between two boxers in their prime I think the one that won the 3 meetings would be considered the best, not the one with slightly more title defences.
Win some, ye lose some lads. I wouldn't be worrying about that at all sure tis all part of championship. In my own humble opinion, my original statement still stands. The 3 wins are overstated. That is not belittling anyone's efforts and it is not taking away from a great Tyrone team. I'm not looking to get involved in a decade discussion. 5 is greater than 3 anyways for anyone that way inclined. If it was 4 all which could have happened had Tyrone retained their '08 title, that's where head to head record would come into play. Over the decade some are putting the cart before the horse by applying head-to-head over total All-Irelands won.
They were two different teams. You can make an argument either way.
Saying Tyrone had the advantage in 05 and 08 in facing the defending champions. The fact that Kerry are still sore about the defeats now and their reaction in 2012 show that they had no shortage of motivation on either occasion. The failed to beat Tyrone on the two occasions where they were their biggest rivals. I think in fairness the individual championship wins in 05 and 08 were bigger achievements than any of Kerry's in the period.
It's worth noting that Mickey Harte took over in 03 and that's where you can point to the start of that Tyrone team. Three years had already passed in the decade. Yes. Kerry won in 01 which probably should not be taken into account. Football changed from 02 and especially 03. If you watch the semi in 03 you can see that Kerry just were not ready. I would not really include 02 and certainly not 01 in the period. I would probably include 10 where Tyrone really should have beaten a Dublin who played a style not dissimilar to how we play now.
Kerry were though more consistent during the period, Tyrone especially 09 however had no excuses, we just couldn't handle Cork and undercooked from an easy passage through.
But, really we should appreciate that they were both two great teams. The fight for team of this decade has begun, but we are unlikely to win that one!