All-Ireland champions Kerry look likely to begin the 2023 hunt for Sam Maguire against Mayo in Killarney, after the draw was made at GAA HQ earlier on Tuesday. Assuming Jack O’Connor’s side prevail in the Munster final against Clare this weekend – a fixture they haven’t lost since 1992 – they will be in the clear glamour tie of the opening round of fixture.
All predictions and prognostications should obviously be tempered by the fact that the GAA have insisted on making the draw before the provincial finals have taken place. It means that only four of the 24 fixtures are actually set in stone – and even at that, they are down for neutral venues, so we won’t know for a while exactly where said games will take place. But we can make semi-educated guesses and see where that takes us.
If we do a bit of fate-tempting and assume that Galway, Kerry and Dublin are going to see out the job in the provincial finals (yes, yes, we know that’s against God and nature and the so-called weaker counties), the thing starts to take a bit more shape.
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Along with Kerry v Mayo in Killarney on the opening weekend, it is likely that Galway will play Tyrone in Salthill and Dublin will welcome Roscommon to Croke Park. The opening game in Group Four will be an Ulster derby, whatever happens – Monaghan away to whoever prevails between Derry and Armagh.
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Other bits and bobs? Kildare have drawn a home game against the Leinster champions, meaning that they could, in normal circumstances, bring Dublin to Newbridge. Problem is, St Conleth’s Park is out of action these days as it undergoes a refurb. So they’ll probably have to move their home match to Portlaoise, which doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. All the same, after they ran the Dubs to a kick of a ball last weekend, they’ll surely fancy their chances again.
Is there a Group of Death? The fact that three teams go through out of every group probably squeezes out the chances of the existence of such an animal but Group One is going to see a right battle for the third spot. Taking nothing for granted, yadda, yadda – Kerry and Mayo ought to fill spots one and two, making the game between Cork and (presumably) Louth on that opening weekend a crucial encounter.
And if Donegal managed to pull themselves together – it didn’t look likely when losing to Down, granted – but if they did, Group Four containing them, Monaghan, the Ulster champions and (again, presumably) Clare, definitely has possibilities for teams taking points off each other. Three Ulster teams and Colm Collins’s perennially underestimated squad, who’ve only been dying to get championship games outside of Munster? Could be good.
Groups and fixtures
Group One – Munster winner (Kerry/Clare) Leinster runner-up (Dublin/Louth), Mayo, Cork
May 20th/21st: Munster winner v Mayo
May 27th/28th: Leinster runner-up v Cork
June 3rd/4th: Mayo v Leinster runner-up; Cork v Munster winner
June 17th/18th (neutral venues): Munster winner v Leinster runner-up; Mayo v Cork
Group Two – Connacht winner (Galway/Sligo), Ulster runner-up (Derry/Armagh), Tyrone, Westmeath
May 20th/21st: Connacht winner v Tyrone
May 27th/28th: Ulster runner-up v Westmeath
June 3rd/4th: Tyrone v Ulster runner-up; Westmeath v Connacht winner
June 17th/18th (neutral venues): Connacht winner v Ulster runner-up; Tyrone v Westmeath
Group Three – Leinster winner (Dublin/Louth), Connacht runner-up (Galway/Sligo), Roscommon, Kildare
May 20th/21st: Connacht runner-up v Kildare
May 27th/28th: Leinster winner v Roscommon
June 3rd/4th: Roscommon v Connacht runner-up; Kildare v Leinster winner
June 17th/18th (neutral venues): Leinster winner v Connacht runner-up; Roscommon v Kildare
Group Four – Ulster winner (Derry/Armagh), Munster runner-up (Kerry/Clare), Monaghan, Donegal
May 20th/21st: Munster runner-up v Donegal
May 27th/28th: Ulster winner v Monaghan
June 3rd/4th: Monaghan v Munster runner-up; Donegal v Ulster winner
June 17th/18th (neutral venues): Ulster winner v Munster runner-up; Donegal v Monaghan
