Were /are Donegal 2012 to now a great team?

[seafoid]

They only won the one all Ireland. Teams that people remember usually win at least 2

[screenexile]

I don't think they were a great team at all. Derry weren't a great team when we won ours and neither were Armagh.

I agree you need to win at least 2 to be considered in that bracket!

[Rossfan]

So do Donegal have to give their medals back??

[BennyCake]

To win just once. Manys a county would rip your arm off for an AI medal. So what if some teams won one, it's one more than a lot of counties.

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

Depends on how you define "great team". When Donegal have only over won 2 All-Irelands, they are obviously a great team in Donegal! You could make a good argument also that they epitomised a "great team" in the way they played, winning a title when they weren't a collection of the most talented individual players in the country but an exceptionally strong unit. Given where they came from and what they did, I think it was a wonderful achievement by Donegal. One of the greatest teams to win Sam in terms of style, obviously not. 

[Croí na hÉireann]

They would have won a second one if they put in any type of a performance in the 2014 final. Too many didn't move on enough after that heroic game against Dublin, a major regret up there I'm sure.

[seafoid]

They would have won a second one if they put in any type of a performance in the 2014 final. Too many didn't move on enough after that heroic game against Dublin, a major regret up there I'm sure.

they never really got going in that match, which was very disappointing

[J70]

So if the ball hadn't shifted on the tee for Durcan or McFadden's late fisted effort had gone in and not come back off the post and we got a winning point or won the replay, they'd be classed as a "great team"?

That's a thin line!

[Croí na hÉireann]

So if the ball hadn't shifted on the tee for Durcan or McFadden's late fisted effort had gone in and not come back off the post and we got a winning point or won the replay, they'd be classed as a "great team"?

That's a thin line!

The line's a bit thicker than that J70, Kerry themselves put in the worst winning performance in an AI final I can remember so the didn't even have to reach any great heights at all to get the coveted second one. Two contrasting performances from Donegal in the semi and final in 2012, poles apart.

[BennyCake]

So if the ball hadn't shifted on the tee for Durcan or McFadden's late fisted effort had gone in and not come back off the post and we got a winning point or won the replay, they'd be classed as a "great team"?

That's a thin line!

Tis indeed. Same as Gormleys block on Stevie.

[seafoid]

So if the ball hadn't shifted on the tee for Durcan or McFadden's late fisted effort had gone in and not come back off the post and we got a winning point or won the replay, they'd be classed as a "great team"?

That's a thin line!

Most winning is on thin margins

[screenexile]

So if the ball hadn't shifted on the tee for Durcan or McFadden's late fisted effort had gone in and not come back off the post and we got a winning point or won the replay, they'd be classed as a "great team"?

That's a thin line!

Lines are very thin when you operate at the top level!!!!

[J70]

So if the ball hadn't shifted on the tee for Durcan or McFadden's late fisted effort had gone in and not come back off the post and we got a winning point or won the replay, they'd be classed as a "great team"?

That's a thin line!

The line's a bit thicker than that J70, Kerry themselves put in the worst winning performance in an AI final I can remember so the didn't even have to reach any great heights at all to get the coveted second one. Two contrasting performances from Donegal in the semi and final in 2012, poles apart.

But either of those two incidents were the difference between the winning and losing of the game and, going by the 2+ All Ireland "rule", what separates that Donegal side from the great teams. A ball shifting on a tee and/or the width of the post in a desperate, injury time, goalmouth scramble. That's pretty thin to me.

That both sides played poorly and cancelled each other out on the day is irrelevant. Had Durcan caught the kickout properly or McFadden found the net, Donegal could easily have won the second title.

Now understand I'm not saying that they deserve to be considered one of the great teams. Personally, I don't give a bollocks. They'll be legends to us Donegal folk no matter what. I'm just saying that the criteria for judging them on a national scale are a little subjective and wanting.

That this current Dublin team will go down as one the greats is clear. Three titles in five years and probably four in six is all-time great stuff (although it is interesting that not too many would list the Kerry 2000s team as legendary - I guess they weren't so head and shoulders above the rest as Dublin appear to be, especially in years when Tyrone were on their game).

At the entry level side, its a little more tricky though.

[Il Bomber Destro]

Yes, they were.

A shame for them that McGuinness hadn't arrived 3 or 4 years earlier.

[SouthDublinBro]

Better than 2002 Armagh.
Worse than 2003 Tyrone.