It’s that magical time of the year.
No county has any more league points than any other and everyone is free to dream about a glorious 2016.
Of course, it helps if you have a little something something up your sleeve – either a Jim McGuinness-style tactical innovation that will change how the game is actually played, or more likely a handy new young fella who has been whooping it up at minor or Under-21 level.
We all have hopes and aspirations, but not every county can boast talent like these rising stars.
Shane Nally (Mayo)
Rampaging wing-backs are not exactly something Mayo lack, but just in case Lee Keegan or Colm Boyle get injured or pack in this defending lark altogether and go full-time rampaging, it is good to know there is a ready-made replacement.
Well, we say ready-made but in fact Garrymore man Nally has been around for quite a while. Terrific on the flank for the 2008 minor All-Ireland finalists that lost in a replay to Tyrone, Nally progressed to the U21s without ever making the senior breakthrough.
Now new Mayo boss Stephen Rochford is giving the former bright young thing a chance to shine. Early signs are the former St Colman’s skipper is the real deal. As if that half-back line needed to be any more tenacious…
Con O’Callaghan (Dublin)
The rest of the country might be wondering if there is any end to this steady trickle of top-notch football talent coming out of the capital. Looking at the likes of O’Callaghan, the answer would appear to be a resounding no.
Ger Cunningham was keen to take the Cuala dual star for the hurlers, but the 2014 minor star has thrown his lot in with Jim Gavin’s men.
You have to admire his chutzpah.
As an insider forward he will not only be battling last year’s cast of All-Ireland winners, but also the returning Paul Mannion and the fit-again Eoghan O’Gara.
A few bright O’Byrne Cup showings suggest the young man who managed 4-32 in the minor championship two years ago could make the step-up.
Stephen McBrearty (Donegal)
Provided he doesn’t get whisked away to the AFL, this powerful forward could provide a little fresh blood to Rory Gallagher’s Donegal attack.
Watching an at times blunt forward division last year one might have imagined what Donegal could do with another Paddy McBrearty – well here is the next best thing, his younger brother.
Like O’Callaghan, he was a minor star in 2014 and has been in demand of late, with the Kilcar seniors and U21s, plus Donegal seniors and U21s, calling on the roving corner-forward.
Handed in a mixed McKenna Cup report card, but Gallagher is not so blessed with manpower that he can ignore the obvious talents of the latest McBrearty phenom.
Shea Heffron (Armagh)
Along with Rory McCaughey, the Clann Éireann man has been handed a first start in the Armagh defence for Sunday’s Division 2 opener away to Meath.
In their pomp a county blessed with an abundance of teak-tough defenders, Armagh have been lacking a little in the Bellew-McGeeney department in recent years.
Heffron can help address that shortfall. Much is expected of the Queen’s student and is there a better manager to learn his trade under than Geezer?
Tom O’Sullivan (Kerry)
The Kingdom cannot boast the same quantity of new recruits as their great rivals Dublin, but they do have a happy knack of sourcing reinforcements in the right areas.
O’Sullivan, along with Brian Begley, can be groomed for a Kerry full-back line that cannot bank on Marc Ó Sé and Aidan O’Mahony coming back for too many more years.
Judging by the team selection for Saturday night’s opener against Dublin in Croke Park, Begley is in the box seat to claim a starting place, but Dingle’s O’Sullivan is the right mix of grit and grace to cut it in the last line of defence too.
