Normally with champions, you're looking at star players like the David Cliffords, the Con O'Callaghans, the Michael Murphys. But look at the Armagh team and not that many jump out as certs for All Stars.
Armagh have torn up the script. That's one thing we can say for definite. All the old notions we had about what it takes to win the All-Ireland don't apply to them.
Kieran McGeeney is in his 10th year as boss. Nearly all of the players in the panel have never played for a different manager.Normally with champions, you're looking at star players like the David Cliffords, the Con O'Callaghans, the Michael Murphys. That's the way football can go. You can train for endless hours, put in a huge amount of preparation, and it all comes down to getting a break.
I think he's taken a similar approach to managing Armagh. We all know that this didn't happen overnight.McGeeney has finally won silverware in Year 10. And he got the biggest prize of all. Resilience is to be admired and there were plenty who felt Armagh wouldn't come back from losing the Ulster final to Donegal.
They kept their focus, building from game to game. Getting Roscommon in the All-Ireland quarter-finals was a good draw for them.Getting that win in Croke Park under their belts put them in a good place to throw everything they had at Kerry.In so many games, they just leaked far too many scores.
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