Playing near full strength teams in the McKenna Cup is something that never sat well with me during my career
There are numbers from my career that come to my mind without having to do any thought. Number of All-Irelands? Three. Ulster titles? Six. All Stars? Five.
It brings up something that I always found curious about Mickey Harte, this obsession with going out hard from the start. He brought that to Louth and Derry too. Derry won this year's McKenna Cup - the 13th time Mickey has won this competition. I knew that it didn't really matter and, when you have that knowledge, the edge is gone from your game. Without an edge, you're nothing. But, when Championship came around, I delivered. That was the kind of football I craved.Listen, if it was a team that had won nothing, you could make a case for them going hard from the start of the season.
Look where that has got them. A stuffing on their own patch first day out in Ulster. A trip to Galway where they were chasing the game from early on, never looked like winning, and ended up losing by five points. That kind of indiscipline is one of the reasons why I can't see Derry making the step any time soon to become All-Ireland champions.
Crucially, Padraic Joyce has been able to get Damien Comer and Shane Walsh on the field together, something that was a struggle since the 2022 All-Ireland final.Already, in this Championship, they have beaten Mayo and Derry. They are getting a bit more belief and momentum with each win.The sun has been shining and the ground has hardened up. Galway have plenty of footballers that are suited to summer football.
Tyrone GAA Derry GAA All-Ireland Football Championship
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