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RTÉ News
3 days ago
- General
- RTÉ News
Peter Canavan: Galway still capable of tearing teams apart
They have yet to scale the heights that saw them reach last year's All-Ireland final, but Peter Canavan has no doubt that Galway can emerge from their "flat spot" and have a say where Sam Maguire will reside later in the summer. After losing to Dublin in their opening game in the All-Ireland series, Pádraic Joyce's men looked in trouble for most of their subsequent clash with Derry at Celtic Park on Sunday. They trailed by eight shortly after the break. Joyce made the decision to withdraw key names such as Paul Conroy and Shane Walsh. Others had to step up. Matthew Tierney's 69th-minute goal - Galway's fourth of an absorbing game - looked to have completed a magnificent comeback. Derry would have the final say, however, with Conor Doherty's point at the death ensuring parity in the Maiden City. As a result, both sides stand on one point in the so-called 'Group of Death' ahead of Derry's date with Dublin and Galway, for the third year running, facing Armagh in their final round-robin clash. So what of the Tribes then? Clearly not at the level they reached when accounting for Dublin and Donegal at the height of last summer's championship. Peter Canavan, speaking on the latest edition of the RTÉ GAA Podcast, when asked as to whether Galway can rediscover their zip, replied: "They have the potential to be every bit as good as they were last year". In assessing Tribes' showing at Celtic Park, Canavan also took into account the desire shown by Derry, who were similarly in need of points after losing their opener against Armagh. He said: "There are two ways of looking at Galway's performance against Derry. They were flat and struggled to get to the pitch of the game in terms of their intensity. Derry were well up for it and were motivated. They were thinking that this was their last game in Celtic Park this year and they were going to go for it. They weren't going to be passive and took Galway on physically, and Galway struggled with that." Canavan, though, was impressed by how Galway clawed their way back, and still believes they have the personnel to really trouble other contenders. "Key leaders were taken off and they were brilliant in the last ten to 15 minutes; they easily could have thrown in the towel. Pádraic Joyce has a lot to take out of it from that point of view, they have a chance to reset and there is no doubting in terms of their physique and their size around the middle quarter, they have the players to dominate teams in terms of kickouts. "Up front, if you have Comer, Finnerty and Walsh and if they hit form, I don't care, they can tear anybody apart. Tierney and Thompson are also playing brilliant football "They still have the personnel, the size, and there is no reason they can't turn it around. "They have to win [against Armagh]. They have hit a flat spot and are more than capable of bouncing back."
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- General
- RTÉ News
Dramatic finale to group stages in store - The RTÉ GAA Podcast
On this week's RTÉ GAA Podcast, Peter Canavan and Ciarán Whelan join Jacqui Hurley and Rory O'Neill to discuss the state of play in the All-Ireland SFC after the second round of group games. Does the competitiveness of this year's championship suggest the GAA have been too hasty to change the format? Or is it all down to the new rules? Armagh and Kerry are showing their All-Ireland credentials while Mayo and Derry aren't done yet. But what is not working for Galway and Dublin?
RTÉ News
26-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Shane McGrath calls for overhaul to All-Stars selection
Shane McGrath has called for an overhaul to the way the hurling All-Stars are selected, to give players whose teams don't go deep in the All-Ireland series, more of a chance. Waterford and Wexford both bowed out of the championship at the weekend as they failed to progress from the Munster and Leinster round-robins respectively. Exits for those counties at this stage of the competition mean that star players like Lee Chin and Jamie Barron will see their All-Star hopes diminish and, speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podcast, McGrath claimed that changes are needed to give players like them more of a chance. "The All-Stars are a long way away but I do feel we could have some kind of a point system for guys to be in with a shout with it," McGrath said. "What more can you do if your team is out? There's a couple at Waterford - Jamie Barron and Mark Fitzgerald - who couldn't do much more to win an All-Star. "Mark Fitzgerald has really announced himself to the wider world. I got to work up close and personal with him in college hurling this year, and he ticks all the boxes. "I think this guy has potential to be the next Ken McGrath for Waterford, and he showed that to everyone else this year that didn't know much about him. "And then obviously we've Lee Chin in Wexford as well. I don't know what much more Lee could do. "I know he wants a team award, we all do, but to be nominated or even to be mentioned in the All-Stars, they're lovely things to get as an individual." For McGrath, the All-Star team should be made up of the best hurlers in Ireland, no matter who they play for and he feels that a weighted points system could help to pick out players who made a major contribution but saw their team exit early. "I just think that there's something they could do down the line, some kind of a points system," he said. "Realistically, these guys, they're not going get an All-Star now but what more could they do as individual players? Their teams are out now, they did everything they could." Watch Dublin v Armagh in the All-Ireland Football Championship on Sunday from 3.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Highlights on The Sunday Game at 9.30pm
RTÉ News
22-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Nigel Dunne: Case study should be sought on Derry's demise
It was in the spring of last year that Derry were seen as genuine All-Ireland SFC contenders. Their stock was on the rise and the expectation was of a continued upward trajectory, this after winning a Division 1 league crown and consecutive Ulster titles. Mickey Harte was at the helm, an experienced hand to keep things moving. And then came a crash of sorts. Donegal proved too good in that 2024 provincial quarter-final. The All-Ireland series saw just one victory and their season ended after a most underwhelming effort against Kerry. The new season saw the arrival of the well-regarded Paddy Tally as coach. Nothing so far has happened to indicate that Derry have rediscovered their spark. Relegation to Division 2 and a ten-point defeat against Donegal in their Ulster opener offer some grim reading on the report card. And on Saturday, it's a date with All-Ireland champions Armagh in the All-Ireland series as they begin their quest to arrest their alarming slide. It's 6 April since Derry fell to that loss in Ballybofey. We haven't heard much from the camp since and you can bet that they shuddered at the prospect of also facing Galway and Dublin in their Sam Maguire group. Speaking on the latest edition of the RTÉ GAA Podcast, former Offaly star Nigel Dunne expressed a sense of bafflement as to Derry's fall from such lofty heights. "I think there should be a case study done on them," he remarked. "What has happened in Derry? I've no idea how a team with back-to-back Ulster titles, who won a brilliant Division 1 title against Dublin and were at a stage where they looked like they could take the next step can then fall off a cliff. And I mean fall of a cliff in such dramatic fashion. It's incredible; I don't think I've ever seen such a steep fall. "They have played 14 league and championship games since (winning Division 1 in March 2024) and they've only won one game in regulation time, that was against Westmeath and later won against Mayo, but after penalties." The clash at the Box-It Athletic Grounds will see Derry back in action for the first time in 48 days, more than ample time for the Oak Leaf men to refocus, says Dunne. "It's the quietest I've heard from the Derry camp, or the noise around it, in 18 months. "It's probably a good thing from their point of view because there was a stage there where there were stories coming out every second day. They needed the time to reassess. "Armagh will bring a performance. They have only lost one championship game in regulation time in three years. They are defiant. Everything that Kieran McGeeney was as a player has transferred on to them. Att the moment, Derry just don't have that consistency." With Chrissy McKaigue retired and Gareth McKinless out injured, there is now a fear that other established Derry names may miss out on fully realising their potential, a view echoed by the now Offaly minor selector. "They spent years building up the confidence going from Division 4 to Division 1, to get the inner belief that they could compete at the top table and then it's all washed way," Dunne added. "Derry have the ability and can fall back on what they had in the not too distant past. You hope they would have used the time since the Donegal game to find that spark again. For Shane McGuigan, Conor Glass and Brendan Rogers, they are generational talents, their careers could go by and ultimately be unfulfilled. That is nearly a sin."
RTÉ News
17-05-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Key battles everywhere in Cork-Limerick war
There's no such thing as a phoney war in the red-hot Munster Hurling Championship. So says Antrim's Neil McManus, who's expecting a battle for the ages when Limerick welcome Cork to the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Sunday. Earlier this week Brian Hayes said of Limerick: "They're still the top team around the place, so we'll be looking forward to trying to bring ourselves up to that level on Sunday." But McManus is having none of that, suggesting the Rebels absolutely believe they are the county to beat in the race for the Liam MacCarthy Cup this summer. "Make no mistake about it, Brian Hayes thinks Cork are the best hurling team in the country. There's no second-guessing that. Brian's playing the game there," McManus said on the RTÉ GAA Podcast before analysing where this contest could be won and lost. "What I can't wait to see is Brian up against Dan Morrissey, because I think that's who he'll have for company. "Every time we question Dan in any way, shape or form he comes up with the answers. Will he ever have played somebody in the form of Brian Hayes with the physical attributes to match? He's going to get a real test that's sure. "These are the two teams that both believe they are the best two teams in the country." The Rebels certainly have a chance to make a statement this weekend. There'd be no bigger declaration of their intentions that beating Limerick on their own patch. "I would say Cork have said, 'lads, wouldn't it be lovely to go into Limerick now and turn them over? That would be a real sign that we're No 1'," added McManus. "You can imagine that bus arriving into the middle of Limerick own the Galeic Grounds, the song 'Killeagh' by Kingfishr vibrating the bus as the lads get off. "The match-ups all around the field... I cannot wait to see Tim O'Mahony go up against Will O'Donoghue, I think that'll be war to be totally honest. "Then we've Cian Lynch against Robert Downey, even Eoin Downey against the Bull O'Brien, it's mouthwatering every way you look at it." We're still in Munster, but such is the competitive ferocity of the province that neither of these elite sides can take anything for granted. They will not want to lose and increase the pressure on temseves ahead of next weekend's matches, when Cork face Waterford and Limerick take on Clare. "These two teams can still end up in the final against each other," said McManus. "It may well be the dress rehearsal, but there's no room for that so we're going to get the full-blooded version of this. It just might be part one." Watch The Saturday Game this weekend from 9.40pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
