The are as vulnerable as Vladimir Putin in a Russian election .
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other teams are shot though
Moan should be gone for 3 months now if the GGA believe in equality
Keegan gone for a while too
Kerry will be good but not for another year or so
Jim Gavin has ye all spooked. All the talk about the depth of Dublin’s panel tends to concentrate on Forward options. When there are a couple of injuries at the back we are playing the likes of David Byrne and Darren Daly who are very average.
That is true re Mayo. I think Kerry will be decent in August. Galway look to be a serious prospect too if they can only control their discipline.
The more senior Galway players are too windy and have gone missing in Croker the last two years. Understandable against Kerry but unforgivable against Tipp. The ginger U21s are great additions but Galway are not a threat yet imo.
If the 98/01 teams are the standard needed to deliver then this current crop are a good bit short yet.
Galway’s biggest addition is Paddy Tally. The man is a proven winner. All Galway players seemed to know their individual roles very well yesterday. There were several periods where Dublin were forced to play keep ball for two or three minutes at a time because they couldn’t find an opening and bar the efforts of Ciaran Kilkenny, who looks revitalised as a shooter, Dublin were largely forced to shoot from difficult positions.
Belief is a huge thing at inter-county level. Galway have been lacking it a bit over the last few years but they have serious talent. They had Kerry on the rack last year but their lack of belief that they could win was glaringly obvious. A successful Division 1 campaign should go some way towards addressing that weakness.
But Dublin will sense they are a potential threat over the next few years and will be out to do a serious job on them in the final.
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Tally is Tyrone isn’t he? You can see that in their defensive structure. They have better forwards than Tyrone to counter and hurt you down the other end.
He was a tad biased alright.
Yeah. Galbally I think. Coached them in 2003 but then fell out with Harte and was replaced after 2004. Coached Down in 2010 and was St. Mary’s manager when they won the Sigerson Cup last year.
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There’s talent there but I think most of the senior players are menatlly weak. It’s not about belief. I’m sure there was belief they could beat Tipp but when things started to go wrong they all folded. Same against Kerry. No leaders. Knock-out games In Croker are where it’s at. A coach can only do so much.
I think a huge Over Belief came home to roost that day.
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Belief and mental strength are intrinsically connected.
The point is to still have belief when things start to go against you.
If belief deserts you when things start going against you, as has happened to Galway in their last two All-Ireland quarter-finals, that’s not real belief.
Just watching this on the Player. When did Rob Catterson join RTÉ 
What’s up with Flynn?
Connolly will be available you’d suspect. He has played little part in the last number of league campaigns.
Hard to know what Galway will be like come summer. League is a different animal to Championship.
Have the talent there but still big question marks over their mentality. They’ve been opened up in Croke Park over the last few years.
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Whatever you want to call it there is no evidence that Galway have improved that side of their game. Incredible achievement to get to a League Final but to say they’re ready to compete for an All-Ireland is a bit premature. Performances against Tipp and Kerry were woeful and people forget that Galway did their best to lose to Mayo the last 2 years with some terrible decision making in the closing stages only for it to be trumped by the ever reliable Mayo.
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There is evidence that they have improved the mental side of their game but it’s too early to say whether that evidence will hold up in Croke Park in the championship this year.
Dublin had to build mental strength after humiliating championship defeats in 2008 and 2009. They did that by winning in Kerry for the first time in 28 years in the league in 2010 and winning in Tyrone. They then sustained another humiliation against Meath in Leinster before regrouping and beating Tyrone in the championship, which was a big advance.
Then they got to a league final in 2011, where they sustained another humiliation by losing by a point to Cork after being 8 points up.
During 2010 and 2011 they were gaining considerably in mental strength, but the progress in that regard was not a straight line. It hasn’t been and is unlikely to be for Galway either but their graph has definitely begun to rise.
I think what is clear now is that Galway have finally rejoined the select group of counties who are genuinely serious about winning an All-Ireland. There are only four others in that category.
Until they deliver a performance in a Croke Park championship match there is no evidence to suggest Galway are ready to compete with the big hitters. The only scalps they have are Mayo and there was a big difference between the Mayo that Galway beat and the one that played Dublin in the subsequent finals.
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No finer sight in GAA than a Galway football team when their dander is up.
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Flynn had an operation on his back and isn’t due back till summer. Truth be told he has been a pale shadow of his former self for about 3 years now. There are all sorts of rumours regarding Connolly and none of them good from a Dublin point of view.