We’ve been here before.
Just last summer, Tyrone turned every head in the country when they rattled in five goals against Cavan in the Ulster semi-final. They were tipped as the side who could undo Dublin.
They backed it up by winning Ulster – their first in six seasons but then they bowed out in the next round, not even a sniff of Sam or a battle with Dublin.
Instead, they watched Mayo take the champions to a replay in the decider having left the game behind. They watched the same side who beat them by the minimum in the quarters miss out on an All-Ireland medal by a bloody whisker, twice. You don’t notice those sort of things and forget about them very quickly.
The GAA Hour’s Steven McDonnell has spoken before about the turning point for Armagh.
They brought Kerry to a replay in 2000 and then took them to extra time the next day out. Kerry went on and won the whole thing.
In the qualifiers the following year, Galway edged out the Orchard County by a point. Galway went on and won the whole thing.
Armagh rallied, they knew they weren’t far away and it was only a year later that they themselves were lifting the trophy for the first time in the county’s history.
Tyrone haven’t had that feeling exactly yet – this team haven’t played Dublin in the championship yet but they’re well aware that they’re in the chasing pack and they’re not going to fear the capital’s athleticism anyway.
“There’s only one way you will actually know but we would be pretty confident in our fitness levels and physically,” Mattie Donnelly said on The GAA Hour (from 14:15) when asked if Tyrone are at the same pitch as Dublin.
“You can do a lot of physical work but Dublin are on the road and their players might be a bit more matured, physically. Look, we would like to think that we won’t come undone because of fitness anyway – definitely.
“But it’s like all the top teams, they probably won’t be beat because of fitness, because of the amount of work they put in physically.
“We wouldn’t be found wanting in that area.”
What Tyrone also have is a slick system and a formation that allows the majority of the team to shift from defence to attack as they see fit.
Mattie Donnelly spoke a few times about “a middle eight” – rather than midfield or half back or any of that. Tyrone have designed their own positions now and, because of it, they’re flying.
Because of it, it’s very hard to see an attack in the country that can do serious damage against them. And it’s just as hard to see 15 players that could live with them as they shift gears and go flat out in the other direction.
Listen to the full Mattie Donnelly interview and the Tyrone v Donegal analysis below from 14:15.
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