By Rory Gallagher
This is the time of year the fans have been waiting for. The players too will also have huge expectations for the championship no matter how things have gone previously in the league. I certainly remember that being the case in Fermanagh even in the days before we were winning games reasonably regularly in Ulster.
Everyone looks forward to the championship, there's a better buzz in training now with the longer evenings and a great sense of being involved in something very important. All the counties will be concentrating more on ballwork because the hard slog of the winter is finished and the sessions are probably more enjoyable as a result.
The next few days will be particularly nervous for the players themselves. They'll be wondering about how the team might perform, and how they're going to get on themselves. The Fermanagh and Down teams will probably have done a run-through their likely routine on Sunday. I recall often going to the pitch on the bus and the in-house matches between the probables and possibles. There would also be a lot more light-training sessions which are less demanding and concentrate instead on kick-outs, frees and getting players to focus on their own positions or task in a match. We would also have studied the opposing teams a lot more than would have been the case during the National League when you'd only have studied them on the morning of the game.
We're very fortunate up here to have the Ulster Championship. I know from speaking to friends in other counties, with the possible exception of Dublin, just how big the level of interest is. It certainly far outstrips anything in Connacht or Munster where you've really only got Cork against Kerry and Galway against Mayo. There's not the same anticipation as there is for Ulster games and it doesn't matter who is playing.
The major positive is that there are so many of the teams with a genuine aspiration and ability of winning the provincial title. I think in any of the other provinces there's only a small number of counties who believe that they're capable of winning the title, but what sets Ulster apart is that on any given day the top team can be caught.
My memories of the Ulster Championship go back to 1983 when Fermanagh beat Down, who were the National League champions at that time. That kind of thing is a regular occurencce in Ulster, but it was particularly the case in the early nineties when no one team was able to dominate.
This hasn't been changed or diluted by the All-Ireland Qualifiers. I don't believe for one minute that the backdoor has taken away from the Ulster Championship. I believe that players with a niggling injury will chance lining out, but everyone empties the tank for the Ulster Championship no matter what and that includes Tyrone even though they have won three All-Irelands.
In saying that, the old system was harsh because teams only had one game and I've no doubt that the backdoor has been brilliant for the game.
You also have to realise that players can't go out with any sense of complacency. That's not a good frame of mind to take into a match, especially when you consider how few championship matches you will be playing in a career when compared to other sports such as rugby or soccer. You want to win every single one of them and that's definitely the case in Ulster.
It is hard to tell from the National League what the standard will be like over the coming months. Managers have appeared to go down the soccer route developing a squad system. One of the reasons for that is the increase in the number of subs and it's a lot different from when I started playing and the best available players were picked for every match.
Some past players are too quick to say that the standard has fallen and there's too much emphasis on fitness, but I don't agree - some of the skills that we see in the top matches are absolutely brilliant. The games last year in Croke Park from the quarter-finals on were real high quality encounters.
It's the same in any sport. The standard is always going to be better when the competition reaches the last few rounds, and you'll probably get a large share of poor matches earlier on. You want the best teams to meet when the championship is reaching its climax and only rarely does that not ensure really good games.
The one thing that I can't understand is why pundits this year are consistently selecting Kerry as their choice to win the All-Ireland.
Maybe that's because of the system and that they have a greater chance of reaching the final. But the evidence is that when Tyrone are at themselves they have the edge over Kerry. I just find that a bit strange and the view simply doesn't take into account the fact that they've failed to beat Tyrone in the championship from any of the meetings between them this decade.
Kerry don't have to peak just as early and I don't think any other county would allow their senior player, as is the case with Dara O Se to come back to training after the league. I think that could be their Achilles heel.
The system has definitely made it a little harder for Kerry, yet they have still managed to make the All-Ireland finals, apart from the difficulties that they've faced against Tyrone and Armagh.
It's far too easy to say that Down have the edge on Fermanagh this Sunday simply because of the contrasting league fortunes enjoyed by the two. Down will be very happy to get promotion, but three defeats is not real form for them either and I wouldn't be getting carried away with that as a result. Fermanagh lost five matches in the league, but it's not that big of a difference and Malachy O'Rourke did try out a number of new players.
Martin McGrath only played a few games and wasn't fully fit and Ryan McCluskey wasn't available either. For me, Ryan McCloskey, Martin McGrath and Mark Little have been the county's most consistent players in the past three years and if the of them really hits form then I think they'll do enough to bring us through.
Our form this year has been disappointing, but you have to accept that now and Fermanagh will be focusing instead on the positives like the new lads who have come in. I don't think they'll fear Down and will have taken heart from Tipperary who are a possession-running team and caused Down a lot of trouble. Fermanagh also like to move the ball around and have players who like to move forward at pace.
Fermanagh have a very good record at Brewster Park and are a lot more comfortable playing there than anywhere else. It shouldn't make a difference, but I think it will have a small advantage.
In a word, I'd go for Fermanagh if those three players produce a high level of performance.
