Team profiles for all this year's NFL Division One sides:
Derry
Manager: Paddy Crozier.
Last NFL title: 2000.
2007 NFL: 3rd Division One B.
2007 SFC: Ulster semi-finalists and All-Ireland quarter-finalists.
2008 Assessment: A potentially big year for the county. With the Armagh-Tyrone duopoly on the wane as both counties go into the development phase of the cycle, Derry are many people's candidates to move to the head of the queue in Ulster. This campaign will be used to consolidate the team in the top division and trial players, particularly as manager Paddy Crozier goes into the league with a number of injury problems. A top-two finish would qualify them for a first final in eight seasons. Greater diversity up front needs to be addressed but the defence and centrefield is good quality and there is enough talent to build an attack that isn't quite as dependent on Paddy Bradley. Have lost out in the draw with more away than home fixtures, including a trip to Kerry, they face a demanding schedule.
Donegal
Manager: Brian McIver.
Last NFL title: 2007.
2007 NFL: 1st Division One A. Winners.
2007 SFC: Ulster semi-finalists and All-Ireland qualifiers round three.
2008 Assessment: A decidedly mixed season last year when the achievement of winning a first league title and some strong displays in the regulation matches gave way to crushing disappointment, as the team became the first league winners in five years not to reach the All-Ireland semi-finals - instead getting badly defeated by Tyrone and Monaghan. Brian McIver's resignation was reconsidered and his major task is to instil consistency over the whole year. Unlike 2007 the county didn't go full tilt at the McKenna Cup and will be pacing the season more evenly. They will be keen to maintain their place in Division One, but are unlikely to prioritise retaining the title and will have to run the rule over a few more players anyway because of the unavailability, through injury, of a number of experienced campaigners, particularly in attack where Brendan Devenney, Michael Hegarty and Adrian Sweeney will miss some matches. McIver's stated target is to have his best panel ready for the championship.
Galway
Manager: Liam Sammon.
Last NFL title: 1981.
2006 NFL: 1st Division One B and semi-finalists.
2007 SFC: Connacht finalists and All-Ireland qualifiers round three.
2008 Assessment: Under new management, Galway need to lift themselves after a couple of disappointing years. Liam Sammon's task is to halt that trend and try to mould the decade's under-21 talent into a senior force. Veteran forward Pádraic Joyce is suspended but Micheál Meehan is ready. Otherwise the attack looks a bit improvised with Matthew Clancy recalled and All-Ireland winning wing back Declan Meehan named in the half forwards. Undoubtedly talented, Galway have to overcome the inability to impose themselves on big matches. Whereas the defence is a decent platform, centrefield has yet to settle and the forwards are prone to alarming inconsistencies.
Kerry
Manager: Pat O'Shea.
Last NFL title: 2006.
2007 NFL: 3rd Division One A.
2007 SFC: Munster and All-Ireland champions.
2008 Assessment: In one decisive season Pat O'Shea has gone from wondering how to break the curse on retaining the All-Ireland to eyeing up the century's first three-in-a-row. Last year Kerry managed it without qualifying for the play-off stages of the league and carrying the retirement of Michael McCarthy and Séamus Moynihan. O'Shea will be trying to adjust to senior level some of the outstanding younger talents that the county has produced in recent years even if there hasn't been any All-Ireland underage silverware in 10 years. The absence of Colm Cooper will hinder the league campaign but the rest may be beneficial in the longer term. Even in experimental mode they're reliable challengers for the final.
Kildare
Manager: Kieran McGeeney.
Last NFL title: None.
2007 NFL: 2nd Division One B.
2007 SFC: Leinster first round and All-Ireland qualifiers round two.
2008 Assessment: Kieran McGeeney doesn't do razzmatazz which is just as well because Kildare need grind and graft more than they need a messiah just now. If an O'Byrne Cup campaign can be described as disappointing Kildare's was just that. The league action gets under way tonight in Omagh. McGeeney and his lieutenant Paul Grimley will know that Tyrone's apparently weakened state will have no impact on the task facing their side. Dermot Earley, enjoying a window of fitness, will be persisted with as a full forward target man and, with that in mind, Michael Conway has been operating as playmaker from deep. A recent trimming of six players from the panel reminded everyone that there is no comfort zone and a win over Louth buoyed spirits. A work in progress but Kildare's roster of away trips to Tyrone, Derry, Kerry and Laois is a little daunting.
Laois
Manager: Liam Kearns.
Last NFL title: 1986.
2007 NFL: 4th Division One B.
2007 SFC: Leinster final and All-Ireland qualifiers round three.
2008 Assessment: Liam Kearns faces into the second year of his tenure without Tom Kelly, Joe Higgins, Fergal Byron, Chris Conway, Kevin Fitzpatrick and Gary Kavanagh. Even in a county with as much talent lying about the place as Laois, those defections represents a challenge. Still in Laois it is about getting the attitude right as much as anything else. Brendan Quigley is being tried as a target-man full forward. Nevertheless Kevin Meaney is shaping up well as an alternative in the centre and Donie Brennan is settling into a career which should see him start to realise his immense potential. The prodigious John O'Loughlin will likely be used during the league at centre back if he can dovetail his college and under-21 commitments. Laois still have the talent.
Mayo
Manager: John O'Mahony.
Last NFL title: 2001.
2007 NFL: 2nd Division One A.
2007 SFC: Connacht first round and All-Ireland qualifiers round two.
2008 Assessment: John O'Mahony's reputation as a miracle worker forged in Mayo back in 1989 and merely burnished elsewhere thereafter will be tested fully on the second season of his return to Mayo. The Ballina boys - with the exception of goalkeeper David Clarke - are tied up with club business. Several other high-profilers, including one Ciarán McDonald, are unavailable just now. The good news is that David Heaney played last Sunday against DIT and newcomers like Séamus O'Shea and Mickey Mullins have been showing well so far. O'Mahony has enjoyed success with Peadar Gardiner roving midfield and Trevor Howley has been settling in admirably at centre back. A tough league but any O'Mahony team will be well organised and motivated. Interesting to watch.
Tyrone
Manager: Mickey Harte.
Last NFL title: 2003.
2007 NFL: 4th Division One A.
2007 SFC: Ulster champions and All-Ireland quarter-finalists.
2008 Assessment: Passing the door of the crowded Tyrone infirmary (the only one to give customer loyalty cards) one is likely to hear medics singing a little blues number: If It Wasn't For Bad News We Wouldn't Have No News At All. Stephen O'Neill packed in the intercounty game last week, the latest in a prodigious casualty list. Brian Dooher, Joe McMahon and Brian McGuigan have yet to return from varying degrees of disability. All of which meant that Tyrone, who usually devour the McKenna Cup as an appetiser, are in trouble for this time of the year. Shaun O'Neill, a cutting blade on Dromore's championship winning side, gets his chance in the forward line, as does the promisingly named Martin Swift in the defence. Tyrone won't worry unduly about the league this spring. Pacing themselves and staying well for the summer will be the challenge for this side.
