Eight Gaelic football championship observations: Who are the leading All-Star contenders right now?
ALL STAR?: David Clifford celebrates after scoring a point for Kerry. Pic: Tom Beary/Sportsfile
Uncertainty is an obligation. Before anything else, we canât know how it will end. Gaelic footballâs boom had to begin with a step into the unknown.
The textbook hit by James Guinness on Dessie Ward sent him sprawling. Conor McCarthy managed to salvage the break, race in along the endline and clip a shot with his right boot.
It was inches off target, rattling the post and landing at Patrick McCarthyâs feet. It was enough.
All Down needed was a glimmer. Thirty seconds, six passes, including back-to-back kicks up the pitch. Ryan McEvoy, playing with advantage, picked out John McGeough in stride.
The inside forward went for goal with an advanced mark already banked. He jumped facing his own goal and came down to earth facing the other. His strike into the ground ensured the ball skidded up and past Rory Beggan.
Hallelujah.
What a deadly goal. What a deadly week for Gaelic football: all the components for a cracker of a championship are falling into place.
Monaghan and Down hit 41 scores combined from an astonishing 73 shots. They both have legitimate reason to believe they can advance deep into the heart of summer. Itâs a marvel.
Gaelic football has experienced and endured drastic transformations throughout history. That applies to the game as well as its environment.
There has been tactical evolutions, open competitions, athleticism advancements, a revolution in coverage, great teams, a spread of generational talent and captivated crowds. They rarely come together at once. When they do, it edges the sport closer to the cusp of a golden age.
Look around. Weâve never been able to watch as many games and we have renewed reason to do so. The standard of skill across the board is unprecedented. Every element of it.
John Maherâs superman block, Conor Dohertyâs solo sprint, Sean Coffeyâs backpedalling catch, CiarĂĄn Thompsonâs crunching shoulder.
Beneath our feet, green shoots sprout. Take stock of the list of Young Footballer of the Year candidates, from Matthew Thompson to Finbarr Roarty to Conor Duke to Darragh McMullen to Theo Clancy.
And what of the contenders? One of the first All-Ireland finals I ever attended included a campaign to convince a fellow child who was sporting rival colours to switch sides and support us.
By the end of an abjectly one-sided first half, we had succeeded. Imagine what that did to his already devastated father.
The first All-Ireland final I covered was over after 20 minutes. The established favourites cruised to the cup for both of those finals. When are we likely to see such a dominant drive again? Mercifully, not soon.
Gerard OâDonnell, an Irish sprint coach to Olympian Sophie Becker and many more, recently told us that at athletics clubs across the country, the majority of children just want to run fast. All they need is a safe space to go flat out.
What is the comparable fascination in Gaelic football? For us, the purest phenomenon is to kick the leather off a ball. Have a go. From the sideline. Endline. 45. Catch it flush and watch it soar. The sweetest sensation.
The modern game is full of so many sweet strikers, from Shane Walsh to Rian OâNeill to Pat Havern. The modern game is full of incentives for them to have a go thanks to the two-point arc. A perfect storm of ability and opportunity.
âPeople gave out to me when I was younger because I kept laughing when I had the ball,â said Walsh on a recent episode of Hell for Leather, RTĂâs five-part Gaelic football series.
âPĂĄdraic still calls me Georgie Best. He used to give out to me for taking on players and going back to take them on again. I used to just enjoy it so much. The enjoyment of it all, going around smiling and happy. Doing what you love doing.â
This is not just the most spectacular season in decades. It has all the components to sustain a movement.
Of course, golden ages are not declared; they are recognised in hindsight, a reflection of our tendency to indulge in some retrospective myth-making. The point is weâre on the brink. Wonder is proving contagious. Rejoice.
53 games down. With knockout football approaching, this is a welcomed opportunity to appraise the performances so far. Too often, the end-of-year All-Stars are dominated by standout showings in the All-Ireland semi-finals and final.
Rory Beggan (Monaghan).
A terrific save to deny Danny Magill last weekend, albeit will be disappointed with the goal concession. His dead ball striking is an immense weapon with 0-16 scored in the championship already having hit 0-38 in the league.
Armaghâs Ethan Rafferty offers stiff competition. His black card and penalty concession against Antrim has been parked with a series of fine displays since. Downâs Ronan Burns has been terrific as well. Shaun Patton suffers due to his spell on the sidelines. A shoutout to Meathâs Billy Hogan too.
Jack Coyne (Mayo), Sean Rafferty (Meath), Peadar Mogan (Donegal).
At this juncture, Coyne is a lock. His bested matchups include OisĂn Gallen, Darragh Canavan and Robert Finnerty. The chasing pack includes Galwayâs Johnny McGrath, Brendan McCole and Cormac Quinn.
Ross McQuillan (Armagh), Ciaran Caulfield (Meath), CiarĂĄn Moore (Donegal).
A ferociously competitive line. Jarly Ăg Burns has a convincing case, Brendan Rogers and Dessie Ward belong in the conversation too.
Conor Glass (Derry), Odhran Murdock (Down).
Michael Langan, Conn Kilpatrick and Joe OâConnor will all have their say yet.
Oisin Conaty (Armagh), Rory Grugan (Armagh), Sam Mulroy (Louth).
Conatyâs tally stands at 16 points (1 tp) from 17 shots. Rory Grugan continues to be Armaghâs orchestrator in chief. Sam Mulroy is the current championship top scorer.
A serious crew pushing hard behind them includes CiarĂĄn Kilkenny, Danny Magill, Michael Bannigan and Cein DâArcy.
David Clifford (Kerry), Michael Murphy (Donegal), Robert Finnerty (Galway).
Two-time Footballer of the Year David Clifford is the current top scorer from play. Michael Murphy has been awesome. Robert Finnerty has continued his record as Galwayâs main scorer and assister, just behind Clifford with 3-22 from play.
Downâs Pat Havern, Tyroneâs Darren McCurry and Meathâs James Conlon chasing hard.
With 15 minutes played, Kerry were ahead 0-5 to 0-3. Kerry had taken four kickouts at that stage. Meath had six. They lost them all. Neither of them could win their own restart.
Both teams finished with a lowly kickout retention, 44% and 42%. The problem for the favourites is that they had more kickouts and continued to lose them.
Shane Ryan tried to get creative. He flooded the posts with balls to make sure he could go fast. He clipped to Tom OâSullivan at the top of the arc. He hit targets left and right. This was a complete malfunction. It wasnât on him.
Goddamn pic.twitter.com/Ulhn5tby97
â Maurice Brosnan (@m_brosnan) June 16, 2025
Meath mustered an astonishing 11 points from Ryanâs kickout. They won 15 in total for 12 shots. Kerry won 11 of Meathâs for 10 shots. If a team doesnât win their long kickout clean, they are generally outnumbered. The oppositionâs forwards will usually be ball side of the defenders, meaning they hit the break first.
The situation was made worse by the fact that when they did get it off short, they continued to turn over the ball. Diarmuid OâConnor is an obvious loss but the Munster champions canât afford to pin all their hopes on that.
In a long list of problems, their kickout was number one.
The most assists for one player in a game across Kerryâs season so far was seven. David Clifford hit that tally in the league against Galway. When it comes to opposition, Dermot Coughlan created 0-4 in the Munster final. Theyâve rarely seen anything like Ciaran Caulfield.
The Meath wing-back assisted a remarkable 1-6 last weekend as well as kicking a point. Across the Sam Maguire series, he has created 2-9. On Saturday, Kerry could not live with him.
The DCU Sigerson Cup winning captain continually punched holes and exposed the Kingdomâs zonal system.
His pass to Bryan Menton for the second half goal was a perfect example. Two Kerry defenders sat on one Meath forward in the D while Caulfield had time to look up and pick a pass. This happened consistently.
He teed up a point for Eoghan Frayne in the first half by ghosting into that left pocket while defenders on the arc were attracted to the ball.
Among all the difficulties in adapting to the new rules, the most pressing has come at the back. Several sides still donât know how to defend. Galway moved from zonal to man-to-man for their second half comeback against Armagh.
Mayo tend to switch players far less than others. Donegalâs ability to clog space and hunt ball in the scoring zone is among the best in the country.
Kerry are caught between old habits and a new system, still adapting without having faced enough top-tier teams to road test their work.
It showed.
âFool me once, shame on youâŚâ or so the saying goes. Easier said than done. Con OâCallaghan marked his return from injury with five points and one assist (fouled for a Cormac Costello free).
At the start of each half in Newry, the captain came out to midfield on the sideline for the throw-in. Numerous teams have deployed the same tactic since Shane Walsh utilised it in the league.
Derryâs first concern is that Peadar Ă Cofaigh Byrne won both throw-ins clean. For the first, OâCallaghan was able to carry uninterrupted and fist a point. Padraig McGrogan stuck diligently to his man.
It fell to Patrick McGurk, who was positioned on the opposite wing, to sprint across and apply pressure.
For the second-half, Paul Casidy tried to race back from the wing-forward spot. He couldnât catch OâCallaghan.
At least Derry tried to counter it, but the best bet against a monster like Con is mark him goal-side and let the other defenders wheel across.
They had their warning. The raw numbers from Healy Park after the Ulster SFC quarter-final highlighted an obvious issue for Raymond Galliganâs outfit.
Tyrone 31 shots. Cavan 26. Tyrone win by one on expected points. Final result: Tyrone win 1-24 to 0-20.
They met again last weekend. Tyrone had 35 shots. Cavan 32. Cavan win by one on expected points. Final result: Tyrone 0-31, Cavan 0-18. And so, a 42-year wait goes on.
âIf they had converted more of their chances, it would have been a lot closer,â said Malachy OâRourke post-match.
It was another Man of the Match showing. Michael Murphy was awesome in Dr Hyde Park on Sunday. He made one mistake prior to Mayoâs goal and worked like a demon to make up for it.
None scored more than him. No one created more than him. No one won more kickouts than him. He was central to their triumph.
That has impacted the players around him too.
In the Ulster final, captain Patrick McBrearty was taken off having failed to score from play. All-Star OisĂn Gallen kicked four first-half points before fading out of the tie and coming off on the hour mark.
In their defeat against Tyrone, Conor OâDonnell and Gallen started. Neither scored. McBrearty started against Cavan and was taken off at half-time having hit one free.
Gallen was the first man taken off last Sunday having struggled to find space throughout. McBrearty came in, missed a goal chance and did not score.
For Wicklow to come back from eight points down midway through the second half, they required something special.
The margin was three with 58 minutes played. A lost kickout saw Wicklow break and Joe Moran forced into a difficult choice.
Let Dean Healy drive down the centre or scramble to stop him. He wrapped him up, brought him down, took a black card and a penalty.
It was still level in the final minute and Westmeath had the ball where they wanted it. Luke Loughlin wheeled onto his left with a chance to kick the winner.
A brilliant block by Malachy Stone presented Wicklow with one more opportunity. Healy went up the other end to slot a clutch point.
It is Westmeathâs ninth defeat of 2025. Seven of them have been one-score margins.
I cannot claim to be an expert on very much within (and outside of) the GAA. To become an expert at anything usually requires enormous dedication to one specific component, hours of honing a craft. Continuous learning. Real-world application. Time and effort.
I am an expert at finding myself locked into GAA grounds and escaping. A low-budget Liam Neeson.
I can tell you I don't have intellect. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a middling career. Slowness of hand, a tendency to dawdle, poor spatial awareness.
Skills that make me a nightmare for GAA groundsâ corrugated gates. I will look for you, I will find you, I will perform an ungraceful vault over you.
Breffni Park joined the lengthy hitlist last weekend. These are the things that arenât taught in journalism courses.
Levers and latches. Every ground has a gate with a low lever that can be lifted to open. If youâre lucky, there will be a middle bolt as well. That right there is rung one and two on your ladder to freedom.
Wear a backpack and pull it tight. That serious satchel that completes your working professional outfit? Itâs a deadly hazard. A one-way ticket to a dislocated shoulder if it catches anything as you clear the other side.
Turnstiles never reverse. Donât even try it. But the ticket sheds may have a door that may mean you donât have to jump over anything. DO NOT TRY TO CLIMB OVER THE TICKET SHED. Shed roofs are not designed to support clumsy writers. Trust us.
Railheads. Spikes. Dogs. Impact injury. Always, always remember: soft knees.
