Derry still All-Ireland contenders says former All Star - but they must step up
Chrissy McKaigue insists that Derry remain All-Ireland contenders despite the woes of the past year - but says they must now step up.
Paddy Tally's side face a season-defining All-Ireland series Group 4 tie with Dublin in Newry on Saturday knowing that a victory will guarantee them a spot in the knockout stages - but they haven't won a game in regulation time since beating Westmeath at the corresponding stage last year.
Former Oak Leaf defender McKaigue, who announced his retirement last November, challenges the perception that Derry's showing in 2024 was disastrous, pointing out that they won the McKenna Cup and Allianz League while reaching the All-Ireland quarter-final and that he endured far worse seasons than that over the course of his lengthy innings with the county.
He said: 'It was more so we didn't meet expectations. I'm not saying that everyone follows that narrative but it's amazing that narrative was depicted in so many areas and I felt Mickey Harte last year got a lot of scrutiny that was a wee bit over the top at times.
'I still feel that Derry are a contender for Sam Maguire. Maybe not this year in the same capacity as last year but do I feel that Derry squad will have the potential to be a contender for Sam Maguire in the next number of years? I do.
'I still think we're knocking there or thereabouts. I feel that the underage in Derry is really strong and you'll probably be yet to see a couple of the players that I'd be really excited about.'
Having lost six and drawn one of their seven League games before losing to Donegal and Armagh in the Championship, Derry had a golden opportunity to get that elusive win over Galway last time out, though they just about scrambled a draw in the end.
'I think even the most ardent Galway supporter would say that they got out of jail with that one,' said McKaigue. 'Even with the nature of the new rules, the leads don't mean as much anymore but certainly for the vast majority of the game Derry played all the football, brought a huge amount of physicality and huge amount of intensity which is probably the first time they brought it this year to that level of consistency.
'But the worrying thing for Derry still is that they played seven games in the National League, Donegal in the Ulster Championship and now two games in the round robin.
'That's 10 games and they still haven't won a game yet. So they'd want to be clearing that one out fairly soon and the hard thing for Derry this year is all their games so far this year have been against Division One teams - that's probably a new thing in itself, so they've had a tough year from that point of view.'
Tackling Dublin outside of Croke Park boosts Derry's chances on Saturday, says McKaigue, who feels that the Dubs will be very hard to beat if they get back to GAA headquarters.
'I just think Dublin will have a big say in this year's All-Ireland potentially. I hope they don't because that will mean that Derry will have been turned over.
'They're a different side without Con [O'Callaghan] too. He is their David Clifford, he is their leader, he does so much for them and gives them that composure and that settled feeling.
'I just think if there's one team that can cause you a lot of bother with the new rules in Croke Park, it's Dublin. A couple of their performances this year, like Derry in the League in Croke Park, they were awesome. They were very, very polished against Galway I thought also.
'For large parts of the game against Armagh, let's be honest, they were very impressive, bar the scoreboard. Sometimes we can get caught up in people's different analysis of the game. Armagh were worthy winners but Dublin still have a wee bit to work with.'
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