Now that the league tables have been sorted for the 2009 season it is time to reflect on performances past and assess how prepared these teams will be come championship time. The league programme started with that cracker between Tyrone and Dublin amidst the worthy celebrations of our 125th anniversary. It was always going to be difficult for teams to produce anything that would create the same euphoria as that opening night given the fact that they would start without 70,000 plus supporters, a floodlit Croke Park and a firework display! There were many great games, however, and thousands of fans travelled around the country to support their county, fair weather or foul. The foul weather did indeed hamper many potentially exciting games but our players were nonetheless determined and committed to the cause of victory. Management teams will have burnt gallons of midnight oil over recent weeks finalising team selections and strategies and for some that process will continue now that championship fever begins to set in. The successful league counties will have the benefit of another competitive game to look forward to but more importantly the players will have the confidence of a winning season to carry with them into battle and for some this can be a very important weapon. Even teams that finished the season well despite having no immediate rewards will head into the championship on a high compared to some of the 'losing' teams. Sides like Dublin, Kildare, Mayo, Offaly and Louth will be happy enough with their performances towards the end of the season. Every team benefits from a winning run but some teams depend on that confidence factor more than others. Dublin are a fine example. Their demolition of Westmeath was no big surprise given that the Lake County were already relegated and we should not read too much into the result but I'm sure there was a smile on many of the Dublin footballers in the changing room that Sunday afternoon. Scoring 5-22 is a great fillip to any team regardless of the opposition and will boost players morale prior to their championship encounter with old rivals Meath whose erratic league form of recent years wouldn't inspire any confidence within their followers. Kieran McGeeney will look forward to pitting his Kildare side against Offaly and will have taken encouragement from their steady progress in recent months. He seems to have developed a good team spirit within the squad who were unlucky not to make promotion while his own managerial skills are developing as the weeks pass. Derry's consistency has been rewarded with a League Final place and is a good reflection of Damien Cassidy's abilities as manager. Taking over leadership of Derry was certainly a major assignment but one that he has already proven he is well capable of carrying out. Their eagerly awaited head-to-head with Monaghan will not be for the faint-hearted. Monaghan have bounced back from last years disappointments and in securing promotion to the top flight they have also earned themselves a place in the Division 2 final against Cork. The Farney men have silenced a few critics already this year and if Banty's infectious belief continues to spread among his charges then a victory against Derry would be no big surprise. Peter McDonnell will be extremely disappointed with Armagh's conclusion to the league. Their long journey to Pairc Ui Chaoimh ended in defeat to Cork. While every manager would attest that an away fixture to Cork is probably the toughest draw you could pull in the league, Armagh's losing deficit of nine points was certainly unforeseen. No doubt the recent spate of high profile retirements and Crossmaglen's involvement in the club finals were detrimental to Armagh's preparations. However, the vision of St Tiernach's Park in Clones packed to capacity and fifteen men in red and white awaiting their attention is now clearly in their minds and I'm sure Peter will have no bother raising his team from their current doldrums. While Kerry sit undefeated at the top of the table we have to recognise that this quite an achievement. Kerry travelled to Omagh, Bellaghy and Parnell Park and walked away undefeated. We can't say an easy set of league fixtures contributed to their current position. They've done it the hard way and but for a few lapses here and there they do look quite formidable though we must remember that September is still quite a long way away. Congratulations to Antrim who share the honour with Kerry of being the only undefeated team in the country. Liam Bradley has obviously stamped his authority on the Saffrons and is not afraid to wield the axe as seen in his cutting of top forward CJ McGourty for breach of discipline. Ross Carr and Malachy O'Rourke find themselves at opposite ends of the happy scale as they prepare Down and Fermanagh respectively for their Ulster Championship encounter in May. The Down manager is being rewarded for his steady progress but is well aware of the improvement needed in order to compete in Division 2. Malachy on the other hand has had to suffer the disappointment of relegation to Division 3 despite high level of performance maintained by Fermanagh over recent years. Throughout the McKenna Cup and league campaign Malachy and his backroom team have trawled the county for new players and have introduced quite a few new players to the green jersey. With only sixteen adult teams competing in Fermanagh it is extremely difficult to keep producing new talent that is capable of competing against counties that have perhaps five times as many players to choose from. He will benefit from his trawl of the county in a couple of ways. He will most likely unearth some new talent which he can bring to the squad but also he will know exactly what is at his disposal and develop a system best suited to their abilities. He will be greatly boosted by the return of Barry Owens, Ciaran O'Reilly and Ryan McCluskey prior to the Down encounter. Donegal's relegation is somewhat surprising given the talent usually associated with the county. Yet looking at the standings in Division 1 prior to the final round of league fixtures it is no surprise that a high profile team would suffer the drop considering the fact that Tyrone, Mayo or Dublin were all in the relegation zone. There were no major surprises then as we scan over the league form. Championship contenders as usual are coming to the fore as the league draws to an end. The usual heavyweights of recent years Kerry, Tyrone, Galway, Armagh, Dublin and Mayo can now be expanded to include Monaghan, Cork, Derry and Kildare. The likes of Down, Donegal, Westmeath and Laois have always the potential to cause upsets but current form would suggest that they do not have the consistency to seriously challenge for major honours. One of the main topics for discussion arising out of the league and pre-season competitions is the experimental rules. Opinion is divided though I believe the majority of people seem to be in the 'NO' camp if it came to a grass roots vote. Like most people I had an open mind on the rule changes at the beginning and decided to let time convince me if their introduction would be a positive step or not. After the first round or two of games, especially after the Tyrone v Dublin, spectacle I thought that perhaps there might be some merit in their inclusion as I thought it might increase the scoring average and develop better defending skills. As the league progressed though it became evident to me that in fact the opposite may be the case. I think statistics will show that scoring averages have changed very little (statistics can be manipulated to convey varying messages) while the defending has become hesitant and scrappy, defenders afraid of making the hard tackle. Further pressure is being applied to referees and more than ever the implementation of the rules would be left to referees' discretion. We have seen how detrimental this can be to the game when the referee applies the rules according to the rule book. Of course the whole game depends on how the referee interprets the game and individual incidents. This has always been the case and always will. I believe more should be done to promote good refereeing and forget about introducing new rules. There were some fantastic high-scoring games in the championship in recent years and a lot of them played without much notice of the referee. Referees should command respect. Of course in most county games they are afforded this respect but only because of the high profile nature of the games, the camera coverage and the need for a higher discipline within county teams. The respect for the referee is not inherent in the players. They have come up through the various age levels at club football and have experienced a total lack of respect for referees from within their own clubs. The parents, managers and players often vent their anger directly at referees and in a none-too-pleasant manner. Anyone involved with underage teams will surely have experienced under-12 or under-14 players refer to the referee in very unpleasant terms and of course this attitude will prevail unless clubs are prepared to do something about it. Successful clubs have recognised the importance of discipline amongst its players which in refereeing terms usually means "for God sake lads, don't say anything to that idiot in the middle or he will give us nothing!" It encourages discipline perhaps but not really generating any more respect for the poor ref. Perhaps a campaign could begin among clubs at underage level that would show the young players just how difficult the referee's job is and thus maybe generate a little more respect for the man in the middle. How this could be developed I am not sure but I believe it is more important for the wellbeing of the game than introducing more new rules. Tweet

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