Armagh brought sensational support to the quarter-final. Must have been in the region of 40k.
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A proper football county.
And sent home with their tae in a mug
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I’ve not seen demand like it since places went up for SoCoDu Cúl camps
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Sunday will be Darragh Maloney’s first live TV commentary of an All-Ireland Final.
No Ger Canning 
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It’s too expensive. Cost of living is skyrocketing
I’m hearing the final is now sold out.
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“Brill”
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‘That’s gorgeous, from the Bayhst Comer.’
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“He loves it, he LOVES it!”
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Kevin McStay brings a real touch of class to proceedings as you don’t need subtitles to make out what he says.
For that reason and others I like him as an analyst.
No Ger for either the hurling or football. They must be trying to phase him out
Kevin McStay seems to go with Darragh Maloney and vice versa.
I imagine that Maloney was the choice and McStay came with him.
Do ye have them yokes? I thought ye all went away for the summer?
Liberal use of ‘another slicer Darragh’ incoming.
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Ten things to look forward to this Sunday
1. The Clifford(s) show
There is a scene in Ben Affleck’s 2010 love letter to Boston and heist movie ‘The Town’ that I somehow always find at the end of a YouTube rabbit hole.
No great surprise. It is the most quoted and memorable moment of the film. Affleck’s character, Doug, is told by his new love interest that some guys have been harassing her.
Doug then goes to his best friend, a live-wired maniac, with a request. “I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is, you can never ask me about it later, and we’re going to hurt some people.”
His friend, Jem, played impeccably by Jeremy Renner, is sitting watching TV. He barely moves. It’s like he didn’t hear him. Then, with a slight shift of his eyes, he takes a breath and calmly replies, “Whose car we gonna take?”
It is perfect. Together they are box office. The subsequent attack is enthralling.
Affleck is the movie’s main attraction. Renner is the glue. One is David Clifford, the other is Paudie.
2. Galway colour
N17 blaring around town. Popup flag shops in every parish. Countless interviews with Leo Moran and his guitar. Random clips of Ja Fallon and A Year ‘Til Sunday on social media. Low lie the fields of Athenry. Padraic Joyce proudly patrolling the sideline with his chest out and air-pods in.
21 years is a long time for the third most successful county in history to be without an All-Ireland final appearance. It is good to have Galway back.
3. Jubilees
This year’s 25th anniversary jubilee winning team, who will be introduced before throw-in by Daithí Ó Sé, is the Sam Maguire-winning Kerry team who defeated Mayo in the 1997 decider.
After Covid-19 restrictions excluded them from involvement, the Dublin 1995 and Meath 1996 jubilee teams will also be invited and introduced to the crowd in the build-up to the game.
Three great teams.
4. Darragh Maloney
The best Gaelic football commentator in the country finally gets his day in the sun. The game will be better for it.
5. Top scorer chasers
The current top scorer in the Gaelic football championship is Shane McGuigan. Interestingly, two players are within six points of the Derry forward. Galway’s Shane Walsh and Kerry’s Sean O’Shea. Both free-takers should have sufficient opportunities to move to the top of the ladder. Whoever does will go a long way towards securing Sam.
Consider the fine margins bridged by an expert free-taker. Diarmuid Byrnes was hurling’s top dog, 37 frees for 29 points. Per analysis outlet GAA Insights, he scored six from seven in a semi-final where the expected points was only 3.5. That’s a +2.5 difference. Limerick won that game by three.
6. Pat Spillane’s last hurrah
He was sometimes right; he was often wrong. After 30 years, Pat Spillane will bid farewell to The Sunday Game this week. Even the critics will admit in full flow, there was few like the Kerry legend.
7. Crack the goalkeeper
There is a special Croke Park noise reserved for goalkeeper mishaps in HQ. Primarily it is shock, this is the top end on the biggest stage, we’re not expecting calamitous errors. It mixes with an instinctive celebration and becomes prolonged by a reflex jeer, as if supporters believe they can widen the wound from the stand. Think Stephen Cluxton’s kick-outs at the end of first half of their ’16 All-Ireland semi-final or Rob Hennelly’s mishaps in the final that year.
Both teams will inevitably target the opposite number one. It means heart in the mouth moments for fans and special entertainment for the neutral.
8. Matchups
A staple talking point. Who takes David Clifford? Derry got it badly wrong with Damien Comer; what will Kerry do? Do Galway have the upper hand in midfield? The great thing about this topic is it lasts the full week, right until the moment before the throw-in when teams line out.
Our stab at it? Sean Kelly vs David Clifford. John Daly vs Sean O’Shea. Kieran Molloy vs Paudie Clifford. Johnny Heaney vs Stephen O’Brien (if Gavin White isn’t fit.)
At the other end, Jason Foley vs Damien Comer. Tom O’Sullivan vs Shane Walsh. Graham O’Sullivan vs Rob Finnerty.
9. Post-game festivities
As Limerick demonstrated this week, the entertainment does not stop with the final whistle. Even Kilkenny have rightly cut loose if Instagram is anything to go by. Kerry have already attracted unwanted attention for their post-game party, unfairly it should be said. They have always done so. Swap one word, party for banquet, and no one bats an eye.
Meanwhile, Padraic Joyce confirmed this week to The42 that goalkeeping coach Pat Comer has been filming around the team again this year.
Back in 1998, cinematographer Comer was sub goalkeeper and his fly-on-the-wall documentary, A Year 'Til Sunday, was a brilliant insight into their All-Ireland glory. If all the material is there for a part 2, it just needs the perfect ending.
10. The future
This weekend’s decider has been labelled a starting point for Kerry’s potential dynasty. Win one and who knows where they will go.
But what of Galway?
NUIG’s Sigerson conquest was charged by current Galway stars. The club championship has witnessed three different winners in three years.
At minor level, they reached All-Ireland finals in 2016, 2018 and 2019. They won the U20 Connacht championship in 2019, and in 2020 and 2022 won an All-Ireland.
At the start of the Championship, this writer interviewed former All-Ireland winning manager John O’Mahony. He is currently embedded in Galway, coaching Salthill Knocknacarra.
Back then, he made a prediction. If Galway get over Mayo, a sleeping giant could rise again.
“There is no real reason why Galway couldn’t have stayed at the top table more than they have in the past. It is all there. If Galway overcome this game, it could herald a new era.”
Numbers of the week: Per GAA Stats, in the 1940 decider, Kerry and Galway were level for 38 minutes in the game. It is the longest any two teams have been level in an All-Ireland football final.
We expect a close contest this Sunday, but not that close. (Kerry won that ’40 game by a point.)
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Christ - bring back Ger
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Thats a good article apart from point 1 which id a bit forced. Brosnan is a lot better than a lot of the dross out there.
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