National Football Leagues 2026

Lets wait and see then. I'm confident today will be long forgotten when the championship gets into it's stride.

Fantastic performance from Donegal today I thought they were starting to wane a little after starting the league very well. The challenge now is maintaining that performance level through Ulster and for the next 4 months if they are to have a chance.

This contrasts to Kerry who really only need to peak in June. They won’t be happy with today but they won’t panic either. Jack O’Connor will use today to his advantage. They’re still far and away favorites for Sam this year.

Give it a rest . Donegal were fantastic today, played kerry off the pitch. Its ok to say that and also that Michael Murphy deserved a red card. Not that hard.

I'm no begrudge either.

He's probably disappointed but we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. He could be flogging the lads in training behind the scenes not worried about a peak performance now. Even if they don't win Munster they'll go into the AI series won't they? If Kerry peak for the knockout stages they'll be very hard to stop.

Donegal on the other hand that was only their second ever national League and the first for McGuiness as manager. It was a very prestigious title to win yesterday.

Ulster shouldn't matter to this team. An all ireland is the only currency that matters. People dont worry that Tipp didn't win munster last year.

TV whether RTE or TG4 need to cop on to the importance of the kickout to the game. They showing replays of any score and therefore missing the kickout is a cardinal sin. All focus should be on the kickout and better shots of the scrap for possession for the contested ones, this jostle for possession is the winning and losing of games, the clipped scores after long routines around the D are only the fluff. TV needs to realise this fast

Kick out is important but I find long kicks the least interesting part of the game, not particularly skillful when it just lands between players. If teams are finding ways to find players in space then I’d be interested in seeing how they do it and a few clips of how a teams positions to stop a short kick then that is worth analysis. Stick a chart up for contested kicks, it will be as interesting as showing a few of them again.

The teams with the best forwards need to win the ball from kickouts or else the forwards will be starved, Clifford got 5 touches of the ball yesterday. TV needs to focus on what's going on from contested kickouts, it just not about just jumping for the ball, the amount of blocking and screening runs that is going on is manic, even getting to jump for a ball is a feat in itself and the tv viewer is oblivious to all this as they watch a replay of a lad clipping the ball over the bar from 30 yards.

Agree. From the % possession that Kerry got they did well to score what they did. Complete reversal of the All-Ireland final. Personally the last 5 minutes of the games this weekend are hard to watch as teams hog the ball. Doesn't make for great viewing. Btw Murphy is such a bad tackler. I remember the semi-final in 2014 when he punched the Diarmuid Connolly in the midriff. He needs to take a sending off as soon as possible because his cards are marked now for the championship. If he's dropping into midfield it's only a matter of time.

There is more contesting and high fielding now than before the new rules. But we are never going back to the 2 on 2 contests and 1-15 line ups. In order to do that you'd have to create 15 marked out zones on the field and not let players leave those zones. Players are too conditioned now to stay in discrete zones at their own discretion.

jack is like that whether he wins or loses.. he never ever looks at opposing manager when shaking hands

A shot clock needed I think - any team keeping the ball for the sake of it for 2 minutes it gets silly. It would also force the team in front to take a shot at some stage. Particularly at the end of the game.

There was a Donegal goal yesterday (first one) that must have been around the two minutes mark in total. But you could see they were waiting for that opening to attack.

It is dopey though. Ulster the most difficult province makes zero practical sense. I understand it from an Ulster viewpoint- “Ulster Gaels” expression of identity and Irishness- symbolism etc etc.’ The way the Ulster crowd go on you would swear Ulster was more important than the Sam!

They are the only province who repeatedly go on about “Gaels” and Ulster counties normally seem support each other v counties from other provinces. As “Ulster men”. You certainly wouldn’t get that in the other three!

Didn't get a chance to watch the match yesterday. Caught up on the highlights there. What a horrible nasty streak in a person. It was obviously intentional. Don't know how it didn't break the jaw of the Kerry lad.

What was Conor Lane at. It was right in front of him. And he was looking intensely at it. Couldn't have missed it. Just bottled it I guess.