Donegal v Kerry - 2025 All-Ireland Football Final

[RedHand88]

All the superlatives follow an All Ireland final. Clifford the GOAT.. Kerry heading for the golden years again.. a few months ago the money was on Armagh-Dublin final.
Kerry will be beaten soon enough. Let them enjoy it for now..

We went from the "the most open all ireland in years" to "kerry will dominate the next 5 years and nobody else comes close", all in the space of a few weeks.

[Cunny Funt]

Tyrone will struggle. Lot of experienced heads v close to retirement and you cant just replace that overnight.

If they get a good run next year maybe last bite they'll have at it for a good few years.

Seems to be a consensus that Tyrone haven't much coming through which is strange having won three of the last four U20 All Ireland finals and this year's minor All Ireland. U21 & U18 was better to get players through. Don't know who thought it was a good idea to cut that year back.

Former GAA director general Páraic Duffy, he tried for a few years to get those grades scrapped and eventually got his way before stepping down.  U21 level was a better grade to get players through than U20.     Next change they have in the pipeline is a U19 grade and U20 no more.  What they want U17 to become is full development much like U16 level with no coverage of games. 

[Truthsayer]

Tyrone will struggle. Lot of experienced heads v close to retirement and you cant just replace that overnight.

If they get a good run next year maybe last bite they'll have at it for a good few years.

Seems to be a consensus that Tyrone haven't much coming through which is strange having won three of the last four U20 All Ireland finals and this year's minor All Ireland. U21 & U18 was better to get players through. Don't know who thought it was a good idea to cut that year back.

Former GAA director general Páraic Duffy, he tried for a few years to get those grades scrapped and eventually got his way before stepping down.  U21 level was a better grade to get players through than U20.     Next change they have in the pipeline is a U19 grade and U20 no more.  What they want U17 to become is full development much like U16 level with no coverage of games. 

Should have left well enough alone. Wasn't unusual for U21s to be seamlessly making their way into senior county panels now is a bit of a leap.
Same as taking the minor finals out of All Ireland day in Croke Park. They had to mess it up..

[tonto1888]

Have my money where my mouth is from Semi final winnings [donegal -3] [kerry-4].

Kerry -2 for Sam

Reasons : kerry are possessed this year. Their defence is underrated.

Despite some injuries they have some depth.

Really rate Dylan Geaney over Paul tbh despite him being raw.

Patton is vulnerable. Gallens form not great but semi will help him.

Kerry much more experienced side. Expect a less heralded player to produce a big display.

Shall wait and see what the Guru comes up with, kerry will take some beating.

Expected 4 point but this is some statement.
McGuinness just ignored the two pointers. Jack embraced them. Kerrys defence put in a serious shift.

Quality team hammer Donegal. Shin é

Kerry keep playing and beating teams whi are "having a bad day".

McGuinness couldn't even give Kerry proper credit and used the tiresome cliché. Kerry were imperious.

Why does everyone have to create false narratives about Mcguinness I thought he was very magnanimous in defeat.

No excuses from him at all.

I agree. Certainly in the interview I seen anyway.

[tiempo]

U21 as a nationally recognised standard kept young lads active in the game for another year during that time in life when its easy to drop hobbies in favour of beering and other distractions

Your club U21 championships would have been well contested even if scheduling was a challenge, there was an Ulster U21 club championship that was taken seriously

21yos whether they be county prospects or club senior prospects were benefitting from that extra year of age-group football with their peers

U18 was a natural avenue to introduce young prospects to wider exposure, it worked perfectly, they got to play in tandem with seniors on the big day but with the ground only half full as their game ended - the rationale to withdraw that being framed as welfare is a total ball of shite

[EoinW]

U21 as a nationally recognised standard kept young lads active in the game for another year during that time in life when its easy to drop hobbies in favour of beering and other distractions

Your club U21 championships would have been well contested even if scheduling was a challenge, there was an Ulster U21 club championship that was taken seriously

21yos whether they be county prospects or club senior prospects were benefitting from that extra year of age-group football with their peers

U18 was a natural avenue to introduce young prospects to wider exposure, it worked perfectly, they got to play in tandem with seniors on the big day but with the ground only half full as their game ended - the rationale to withdraw that being framed as welfare is a total ball of shite

I'm surprised the GAA would feel a need to change the age structure at all.  Mainly because in Canada Junior hockey has always been U21, while Junior lacrosse has been U22.  The idea of tinkering with the age has been a non-issue.

They did go woke a few years ago.  Someone was offended by the names of minor divisions: Midget(15-16) Bantam(13-14) Pee Wee(11-12) etc...  I believe all these terms are now in the bin.  In fact I've seen Junior occasionally referred to as U21.

Hockey did change in a big way back in 1979, when the WHA started an underage draft to steal players away from the NHL.  Wayne Gretzky being the reason for this.  NHL followed suit after it absorbed the WHA.  Since then we have 18 year olds drafted and, if they are good enough they leave Junior early to play professionally.

Lacrosse has always been similar to the GAA and the best Junior player is often picked up by his Senior team after the junior season has ended.  However the Junior will always play out his career before becoming a full time Senior.  The exception being the lacrosse/hockey superstar who also gets raided by the NHL early.  That is very rare.  Joe Nieuwendyk & John Tavares are the only two I can think of over the past 40 years.

Sorry for rambling.  I am just puzzled at the GAA seeming to micromanage an issue that Canadian hocky/lacrosse people basically ignore.

[u]

Great kerry minor teams coming to prime now. Can see this kerry doing 7 in a row.

Play football the right way with heads up football and kick passing. None of this hand passing gick.

Man to man football,  no sledging or cynical play. Just pure football

[tiempo]

5 in a row minors coming of age is very true and more power to them

No chance they do 7up, but you'd expect another 2 or 3 in that time

[tyrone08]

Great kerry minor teams coming to prime now. Can see this kerry doing 7 in a row.

Play football the right way with heads up football and kick passing. None of this hand passing gick.

Man to man football,  no sledging or cynical play. Just pure football

Sounds like you havent watched a Kerry team before

[Armagh18]

Great kerry minor teams coming to prime now. Can see this kerry doing 7 in a row.

Play football the right way with heads up football and kick passing. None of this hand passing gick.

Man to man football,  no sledging or cynical play. Just pure football

Sounds like you havent watched a Kerry team before

He's trolling surely.

[tyrone08]

Great kerry minor teams coming to prime now. Can see this kerry doing 7 in a row.

Play football the right way with heads up football and kick passing. None of this hand passing gick.

Man to man football,  no sledging or cynical play. Just pure football

Sounds like you havent watched a Kerry team before

He's trolling surely.

I would suspect so but given some of comments I have read from Kerry fans its hard to know sometimes.

[u]

Now that dust has settled and the hangover is reseeding its fair to say this was Kerry greatest All Ireland since 75 and certainly my lifetime.

The level of adversity this team faced is incredible.

One stat I read was that Mark OShea never played for Kerry at any level before May of this year and he started midfield in an All Ireland final 2 months later.

The injuries Kerry had was incredible throughout the season 6 players from the starting and 2 subs all injured during the summer.

Playing a very tough series of games to make a final.

One last point,

I was never a fan of McGuinness but hes has been shown up again as all talk.

To stand on a line an watch Paidi walk around a pitch and do nothing about it for 70 mins is bizarre.

Unlike 2022 I think Kerry have a panel now to challenge next year and our main rivals have teams with an older profile.

A content winter.

Kerry ABU

[tonto1888]

Definite WUM

[Truthsayer]

Now that dust has settled and the hangover is reseeding its fair to say this was Kerry greatest All Ireland since 75 and certainly my lifetime.

The level of adversity this team faced is incredible.

One stat I read was that Mark OShea never played for Kerry at any level before May of this year and he started midfield in an All Ireland final 2 months later.

The injuries Kerry had was incredible throughout the season 6 players from the starting and 2 subs all injured during the summer.

Playing a very tough series of games to make a final.

One last point,

I was never a fan of McGuinness but hes has been shown up again as all talk.

To stand on a line an watch Paidi walk around a pitch and do nothing about it for 70 mins is bizarre.

Unlike 2022 I think Kerry have a panel now to challenge next year and our main rivals have teams with an older profile.

A content winter.

Kerry ABU

Calm down  it was another team winning an All Ireland. Apart from David Clifford, there is nothing that remarkable about it. We'll all go again next year. Comhghairdeas! Enjoy it.

[DaleCooper]

If Tyrone lost Kennedy and Kilpatrick, blooded two fairly new guys for midfield roles [Obrien has 9 cship appearances] who help dominate in an All Ireland final, I think people would be gushing more.

Jack Barry to come back as well?

Kerry middle 8 will have some competition for places in 2026.