National Football Leagues 2026

Donegal completely rinsed Dublin up in Ballybofey last year 1st game of league. But after last years AI collapse I now have a question mark on it like you do.

I think part of the problem could be that McGuinness puts way too much store into the Ulster championship. That seems to be his main goal each year.

Its mad the Stockholm syndrome some people have about certain teams.

Anyone else would be getting laughed out of Croke Park after a battering like that but somehow this is exactly what crafty Jack wanted and they are now more likely to win the All Ireland.

The shadow boxing excuse is overdone too. If Limerick were to shadow box next week and get a battering from Cork I will be fuming

I dont think they went to lose either, a beating like that wouldn't be in the plan at all, but with the new rules football is like hurling, if you are a bit off or leggy you can ship a hiding. Donegal were very good too it must be said, very slick, huge pace and accuracy in everything they did.

I would still have Kerry favs for the AI, they got hammered by Meath in championship last year and then ploughed half of Ulster after it.

Donegal are well ahead fitness wise. It was as obvious to me when I was at Mayo match in Letterkenny as it was today.
They won’t be in July when they meet Kerry again in the semi final or final.
Murphy incident will be highlighted big time now too. It has to be at this stage.
The next few months will define what kind of legacy McGuinness leaves. They shot out of the traps last year too but it’s hard keep that level of running going until end of July.

On the plus side as a Kerryman... last time Meath won Div 2 league was 2007.. last time donegal won Div 1 was 2007.. and Kerry went onto win Sam Maguire that year..

Hopefully history will continue to repeat itaelf

The last two times Dublin got relegated….Dublin won Sam after….🤔

Great win for Donegal it's, its not often Kerry get a hammering like that, I doubt the likes of Clifford and S O Se has taken such a beating before in a Kerry Jersey, it won't do them any harm in my opinion and might drive them on.

You’ve got your knickers in a twist. I didn’t even mention Murphy. It was mostly the Donegal are throughly dislikable comment and the amount of likes it had. Look I’ve been glancing in here for a while. A lot of people hate mcguiness and don’t like Donegal and there’s a lot of whinging that accompanies that. I see elsewhere as well.

That’s fair enough but let’s not deny that reality and make out that Donegal are liked. I couldn’t care less if were liked, as I said it makes it all the more sweeter when we win. Pointing that however some how triggers you though so you must be one those people I was talking about. Thank you for making it sweeter.

Cant be anything more pathetic than a keyboard warrior coming straight on here after winning a title to settle some imaginary scores.

What a horribly bitter post but not surprising as I've seen this before from this poster.

Seriously get over yourself! Your team completely hammered the AI champs. A very comprehensive beating in Croke Park that will really stand to them psychologically after last year's defeat. And that's twice this year they beat Kerry, the only team to do so, so hats off to them! So you're talking bollox about begrudgery unless you're in denial about the very obvious red card Murphy deserved. He was extremely lucky to get away with it and it's childish to call the many who are pointing that out begrudgers.

In the first half, I thought it was the wind and the sun that were giving Donegal the advantage but the second one showed it was game management.

Kerry started each half faster whereas Donegal took their time before getting a hold of it and just passing it about. Some great movement and patience from them as they got closer to goal and then standing tall when Kerry closed in on their goal. They were impressively drilled, well deserved victory for them.

That burst of goals was just bizarre, though. It was a spell where Kerry were stunned and didn't know what was it going on. Three times in a row they cut right through them. I couldn't believe it. The Donegal fans around us were saying they'd bored the Kerry players to death with all that passing.

Kerry's kick outs were terrible all game. They could blame the wind in the first half but didn't improve much in the second half.

There's 25 to 30 kickouts per team per game.

Can the Murphy incidented be revisited by the powers that be ? Deserves a while in the stands for the carry on today

The ref should be made clarify what the yellow was for as he gestured a strike which is a straight red

Kerry got to a league final almost by accident last year and then won it. Written off before the AIQF against Armagh, steamrolled through them, plus the next two teams and became unexpected AI champions.

Fast forward to this year and Kerry are already overhyped. So today's hammering bring things back to reality a bit.Kerry can be very dangerous but are also inconsistent. As a Kerry person I very much want them to lift Sam this year for number 40, but Donegal are every bit as likely to lift Sam. Or indeed another team could well cause a major shock this year. Such is sport and it's only March.