“What goes on between the ears is probably Donegal’s biggest challenge” – Why Donegal have underachieved in recent years

"They're taking their eye off the ball."

For all of the talk surrounding Tyrone last weekend, Donegal's excellent performance against them sort of went under the radar. With the depth of their squad and talent at their disposal, they look to be a real force this year. However, they were tipped to be serious contenders after some promising performances early last season, only to fall short before even reaching the semi-final stages. Talking on The GAA Hour, Colm Parkinson was trying to figure out why they can't seem to get over the line: "They have an unbelievable squad and every year we look through their team and marvel at Langan, Thompson, and Mac Niallais is back. "They have a good midfield, they have two wing backs, Mogan and McHugh who are like bloody hares up and down. You look through their team and it's almost flawless and they play a lovely brand of football.

"But when you look at last year, they couldn't beat Cavan in the Ulster final. In 2019 they couldn't get out of the Super 8s group, they lost to Mayo in Castlebar. In 2018 they didn't get out of the Super 8s, they lost to Dublin, no shame in that, but they also lost to Tyrone at home.

"Is there something we're missing here with this Donegal team?" Former All-Ireland winner Ger Brennan was also on the show and weighed in with his theory as to why Declan Bonner's side seem to keep falling short of the mark. "It's between the ears really," claimed the Dubliner. "They have all of the players, all of the physical attributes, they have the skill set there, they have the fitness, they're hardy old fellas, but when they're maybe expected to win some of the easier games, something is obviously happening.

"They're taking their eye off the ball, but are Donegal real contenders like they were being spoken about last year, before the Ulster final? It's not that the players are actively reading or listening to podcasts about how great they were, but that obviously does seep in.

"When the team is going well, that is when you're at your most vulnerable because you think, we have a great draw and then Dublin next. That's the beauty of sport, there's lot's of evenly matched teams out there but it's the stuff that goes on in the head which is hugely important and it has to be worked on." It isn't just in the GAA that you need to be mentally prepped to win. Every sport has some form of psychological edge to it that can either hinder you or heighten you. "Chris Hoy from Scotland won all of the golds for indoor cycling," continued the St Vincent's man. "He was on a podcast recently, talking about the mental processes of being expected to win all of the time.

"The way it's structured in racing is that the number one seed always goes last, so he was watching the times of his rivals directly before him and the guy who went before him set a new world record, but he went ahead and beat him.

"He thought about it and had a step-plan to go through in order to win when he's supposed to win. To be able to stick to the game plan even if you concede one or two loose goals - you don't panic. "The stuff that goes on between the head is probably Donegal's biggest challenge, I would say." You can listen to the full discussion of The GAA Hour now.