All Ireland contenders...

[Hound]

For the Dubs I am interested to see whether individual players kick on from the AI win and become better with that enormous confidence boost, or whether they get a dose of 2nd season syndrome and levels drop.

I think pretty much every defender is playing slightly better than at this stage last year. Helped I think by the fact that we have 3 or 4 lads who didnt start the final who are really putting it up to the other 6.

The lads I would have thought would have been most at risk from letting success getting to their head and thus not being able to sustain their performances would have been Connolly, Macauley and Flynn. Connolly though has been superb and the gain in confidence has brought about an increased consistency. The other two I'm not sure about yet. Macauley for instance mixed brilliant play with pathetic play on Saturday (albeit no question that he's the best we have in his position, midfield being an area of relative weakness for us).

Alan Brogan has naturally dipped in form from the heights of last year. But it'd be unfair to judge him on the limited gametime he's had in 2012. I think we still lack depth in the forwards. Last year we had our starters being Plan A, then Kev Mac was Plan B. There was nothing else. That turned out to be enough, but a couple of injuries could scupper us. Maybe O'Gara will be a genuine additional option...

My prediction at the beginning of the year was we'd win the league and lose in the QFs of the championship with a relatively unfancied team (i.e. anyone bar Cork and Kerry) surprising us. I'm less convinced now about the league, but more convinced about the QF. However, if we did manage to sneak into the AI semis, I think we'd take a lot of beating.

I personally rate Kildare as a definite genuine challenger this year.

[nrico2006]

Kerry, Cork or Dublin will win it. Would be amazed if Tyrone win it . They are playing well at the minute but thats in Div 2 in the League. Big difference come c'ship, I wouldn't fancy them to even win Ulster.

I would actually fancy Tyrone to win Ulster pretty handy to be honest, they have made it look easy over the past few years.  But I actually would not want them to win it, as they have been caught on the hop on each occasion.

[squire_in_navy_slacks]

1. Kerry (Provincial Winners)

2. Cork

3. Dublin

4. Tyrone (Provincial Winners)

5. Kildare (Provincial Winners)

6. Mayo(Provincial Winners) / Galway / Donegal / Armagh/ Down ....................the rest of the buckos

[Fuzzman]

For Armagh Rafferty and Stevenson looked very good from what I saw on Saturday night
Tyrone's lack of a quality consistent right footed free taker could cost us dearly this year

Will be interesting to see can Coney keep up the work rate and will Mugsy make this a year to remember.

[Syferus]

Really Dublin and Kerry are the only ones you can say are already contenders, and that's more based off last year and the general direction of the teams over the last few years than anything that's happened this year.

Dublin are in front but not by all that much. Kerry and Cork share an age problem and both have the potential to bomb out of the championship much earlier than expected.  The next teams are Tyrone, Kildare, Donegal and Mayo, but even then it's murky.

Really, it's way to early to christen any team, this has the potential to be a very hard fought championship and that's the most exciting part of it all.

A much more interesting question is what teams people see contending for an All-Ireland quarter-final berth outside of the established top 6-7. Certainly there's potential for a Down-esque run to the All-Ireland final with the amount of handy teams around the country right now.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Tyrone's lack of a quality consistent right footed free taker could cost us dearly this year

Coney did OK on Saturday night! 

[nrico2006]

Tyrone's lack of a quality consistent right footed free taker could cost us dearly this year

Coney did OK on Saturday night! 

We lack a consistent free taker full stop.  SON is not as consistent at the frees as he once was, so hopefully Coney hits all the frees from the right side from now on. 

[nrico2006]

Really Dublin and Kerry are the only ones you can say are already contenders, and that's more based off last year and the general direction of the teams over the last few years than anything that's happened this year.

Dublin are in front but not by all that much. Kerry and Cork share an age problem and both have the potential to bomb out of the championship much earlier than expected.  The next teams are Tyrone, Kildare, Donegal and Mayo, but even then it's murky.

Really, it's way to early to christen any team, this has the potential to be a very hard fought championship and that's the most exciting part of it all.

A much more interesting question is what teams people see contending for an All-Ireland quarter-final berth outside of the established top 6-7. Certainly there's potential for a Down-esque run to the All-Ireland final with the amount of handy teams around the country right now.

I really can't see Dublin winning it this year.  Alot of things came together for them last year, but if they were playing Kerry in the Championship again I would put my money on Kerry to beat them.  Tyrone seem to be progressing rughtly, they are in a period of transition and are fortunate enough to be able to make this change using personnel who are used to winning All Irelands, be it at College or Minor level.  As mentioned, free taking is something that has been taken for granted over the past few years, Tyrone don't seem to have that player who will consistently score free after free - Mark Harte had some left peg on him.  I suppose Ronan O'Neill coming through would have been an option for the right footed frees, but that will have to wait now. 

[Shamrock Shore]

It's a toss up between Kerry and Dublin but I like the cut of Tyrone's jib.

Not much to get too excited about after that.

[CK_Redhand]

The general consensus is then that if Tyrone find a free and 45' taker then they'll win Sam.  It's a steal at 9/1

[rrhf]

Id say 9 - 1 would be short odds for Tyrone.  They will face a KIldare team mad keen to readdress their poor defeat in Croke Park and then an Armagh team capable of incredible one off feats.  Win them 2 games and they play Donegal the most dangerous blanket in the game. After those challenges all of which could go either way they will win Ulster if they progress, and they still wont know where they are until they play the Dubs, Cork, or Kerry in the late summer.  Tyrone  are having fun this year but it has been the worst Division 2 season for many years.  They are developing very well but this year is likely to be way too soon for them.  There are two many old dogs still with a bark.       

[ONeill]

Impossible to tell where Tyrone are in terms of being All-Ireland challengers. Even the worst Division One teams are better than the best of Division Two.

They seem to be in a better place than this time last year.

[Redhand Santa]

For all the talk about Tyrone being inexperienced I can't see too many players starting their first championship game come the summer. The only one's likely to be in real contention are McCrory and McNabb. There is a freshness to the side but a lot of the guys have been about for a few years and have got a certain amount of experience.

Wouldn't say the team is much more inexperienced than the 2003 team that won the All Ireland. It included a lot of players around 22/23. Sean Cavanagh was playing midfield at 19 and I think I'm right in saying Gavin Devlin started his second only championship match in the final at centre half back. It's alright saying its a year or two to soon but the likes of the McMahons, Cavanagh, O'Neill and Mulligan are at an age were they are around their peak and another few years they may be past their best.

I'm not saying Tyrone are going to win the All Ireland but I am saying this may be as good a chance as any for getting another one and there's no point talking about a few years down the line (generally when people talk about teams in this way the time never comes). Tyrone will be well tested in the league final and first round of the championship and we will have a better indication of where they're heading after them games.

I think the biggest thing for Tyrone is to keep the key players fit for a sustained period of time - something that has been an issue in prior games. Against Dublin last year a number of the players had suffered injuries all year and it was obvious they were far from their best on the day. I think Harte is trying to protect against this this year by giving lots of guys games and showing he is only prepared to pick players who are 100%. This has resulted in the McMahons spending a good bit of time on the bench and Sean Cavanagh being eased very slowly back into the team. Its an interesting year ahead.

[moysider]

It's a toss up between Kerry and Dublin but I like the cut of Tyrone's jib.

Not much to get too excited about after that.

Same as the 70s. But Dublin have not won 2 in a row since 76/77. They ve won like 2 since.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Impossible to tell where Tyrone are in terms of being All-Ireland challengers. Even the worst Division One teams are better than the best of Division Two.

I doubt that to be honest. Laois for example are Division 1 but I think I'd fancy Tyrone and Kildare to beat them. Couple other Division 2 sides would probably stand a good chance as well. That said bar a couple of sides the remainder of Division 1 is very strong.