With this weekend's GAA action now behind us, we know what eight counties are set to battle it out for the Sam Maguire in the weeks ahead. Pat Spillane believes that there are only two real challengers for this year's GAA All-Ireland football Championship.
Mayo, Monaghan, Cork, and Tyrone all recorded wins over the last couple of days, meaning they will join Dublin, Armagh, Kerry, and Derry in this year's All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Having had a rather a pedestrian championship for the majority of the summer, things have really sparked into life over the last couple of weeks.
It has become increasingly clear that many counties were pacing themselves during the earlier portions of the competition, meaning it is difficult to know who will climb the steps of the Hogan Stand to lift the Sam Maguire next month.
In saying that, some people believe a couple of clear favourites are emerging.
GAA: Pat Spillane names two big favourites to lift the Sam Maguire
Pat Spillane has been critical of his home county Kerry in recent weeks, although he now believes they should be considered favourites to win the All-Ireland.
Writing in the Sunday World, the former RTÉ pundit said that Kerry and Dublin are well ahead of the chasing pack in the hunt for the Sam Maguire this summer.
The take-home message from last weekend’s action were the awesome displays of Kerry and Dublin...
There was a lot of shadow-boxing in the early rounds of this year’s new-look Sam Maguire series. What mattered is staying in touch and peaking for the knock-out phase.
The performances of Kerry and Dublin suggest this was their strategy all along...
The upshot is they are back again as my number-one contenders for the All-Ireland, but Dublin are a neck behind...
The bottom line is Kerry and Dublin have raced clear of the chasing pack.
Pat Spillane's Two Favourite Teams To Lift The All-Ireland Trophy
Kerry were certainly pacing themselves earlier this year, so it will be interesting to see if they can rise to the occasion in the latter stages. As for Dublin, they have been tipping away at a good pace all year and looked primed to make a run at winning their first All-Ireland since 2020.
There should be a very interesting summer of GAA action ahead.
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