#TheToughest: Are Tyrone genuine All-Ireland contenders or not even in Ulster’s top two anymore?

It’s amazing how quickly perceptions can change in the GAA and in sport in general for that matter.

This time last year, for example, Tyrone were the cock of the walk. They had spent the spring of 2016 in Division Two, but nobody was under any illusions that they deserved to dine at the top table. What’s more, they weren’t likely to be the most welcome of dinner guests either, the brash, young upstarts ready to throw flies in the soup of Dublin at the head of the table and Kerry and Mayo to their left and right. This time last year, they were being touted as Dublin’s biggest obstacle in their quest to land two All-Ireland titles in a row. The Red Handers had a nice mix of youth and experience, one of the best managers the game has ever seen and appeared, on the surface at least, to possess an athleticism that was the equal of, and arguably superior to, the fittest and best team in the land. In last year’s Ulster Championship, Tyrone made no secret of how they were plotting their way to the top. They were going to run all over the opposition and they weren’t shy about it. If Peter Harte wasn’t slicing through the defence, it was Mattie Donnelly. When they were taking a breather, Niall Sludden and Tiernan McCann gave it a go. And all the while, Colm Cavanagh was keeping the stable door bolted with a level of efficiency that made Joe Brolly go weak at the knees. Derry and Cavan (second time around) surrendered fairly meekly to Tyrone’s relentless style and while Donegal were never going to be rolled over and tickled that easily, the fact that Tyrone managed to better them in such dramatic fashion in the Ulster Final led many to think that the hype was justified. Last year’s quarter-final defeat to Mayo, however, raised questions about Tyrone that they still haven’t answered and appear to have been badly undermined by since. Not only did Mayo not let Tyrone counter-attack them at will, they also proved, with one of the shrewdest tactical moves of last season (the deployment of Alan Dillon to attack Tyrone at centre-forward), that their defence might not be all it was held up to be either. And yet, Tyrone still could easily have won that game. In fact, they probably should have. But irony of all ironies considering it was against Mayo, it was the lack of a so-called ‘marquee forward’ to finish off their many chances that let them down. That game was a long time ago, but we saw plenty of evidence in the league that their struggles when Plan A isn’t working are continuing to haunt them. Mattie Donnelly was tried at full-forward (and is well able to play there), but Harte soon realised that you don’t want to take an All-Star midfielder out of his natural habitat. There were other attempted solutions, but, much like Mayo, it was thought of Tyrone that we didn’t see a whole lot that was new about them and that they’re going to suffer for that a little further down the line. Tyrone finished one point behind eventual winners Kerry in the league, but because their bad results came at the end of the league as opposed to the start of it, Mickey Harte’s side have dropped down the pecking order to the extent that a youthful Donegal and a rejuvenated Monaghan have potentially moved above them in their own province. There’s that perception thing again. That sort of talk, however, is likely to be music to the ears of Mickey Harte. No man has moulded teams and shown a capacity for rejuvenation like he has over the years and he’s no doubt relishing the fact that if Tyrone are going to retain their Ulster title, they’re going to have to do it the hard way by beating Donegal and Monaghan (should they overcome Cavan and Down or Armagh). It would be stretching it to say that Tyrone are being written off (just you wait for one of their players to say that everyone was doing just that a little later in the season), but there’s certainly a level of uncertainty about their prospects ahead of the beginning of their championship campaign. Something tells us there’s plenty of life in them yet.