Dublin are 'out there on their own' when it comes to the favourites to lift Sam Maguire this summer according to Colm Cooper.
The former Kerry football star joined Joe Molloy on OTB this evening, and when talk moved onto who he expects to see come the latter stages of the campaign he had a few teams in mind, though doubted if any could actually beat Jim Gavin's side.
"I expect Kerry to be in the last four. Are they going to be ready to challenge Dublin this year? I'm not quite sure".
"Mayo have proven they can compete with them. Now Mayo have to navigate their way through a topsy-turvy couple of weeks ahead yet, but I think they will".
While Mayo have been within touching distance of All-Ireland glory against Dublin in recent years, 'Gooch' feels that the route they now face through the qualifiers could mean potentially tired legs come the business end of the season.
"With mileage on the clock, and what I would describe as not too much strength in depth, that's going to be a real challenge for Stephen Rochford and the management. I still see them being a Super 8 team, they're going to be in there and they've proven they have the resilience to comeback so I think they'll still be knocking around".
Cooper also referenced Monaghan as a dark horse, but still feels that any side touted as potential challengers are just that, mere potential.
"I haven't seen anything from the league and championship to date that would suggest that anyone can topple Dublin, and we're all looking for contenders. I can list out three or four teams that could be contenders, but are they real, real contenders? I'm not sure".
When it came to his enjoyment of the current season and modern football as a whole, Cooper brushed aside the idea that changes are needed in the game, and looks forward to the Super 8s, though said that there will still be mismatches and negative matches because that's always been part of the game.
"I'm enjoying it. Sometimes we go a lot about the negativity in matches, and mismatches and the whole lot, but I think the Super 8s is going to be really good this year. I was a bit undecided when it came in, but I think it's going to throw up really big fixtures and the opportunity to play home and away games, and play in Croke Park. I think it's going to be exciting and I think there's the possibility for more scalps like we saw over the weekend and it'll really hot up in July I think".
"I don't think it's as bad as people are making out at all, we still have competitive matches. If you look back to 40 years ago we still had teams getting hammered, we still had mismatches, we still had all of this. If you look at the quality of football on some of the re-runs that you see on television some of the quality there wasn't great. The GAA and gaelic football will always have issues, but I don't think it's as bad as people are making out and I still think we're going to get a highly competitive summer, albeit Dublin are out there on their own at the minute".
Cooper joined Off The Ball as part of the promotional campaign for AIB, with the bank announcing a five-year extension to their 27-year long association with the GAA which will see their partnership continue until 2023.
For exclusive content and to see why AIB are backing Club and County follow them @AIB_GAA on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and AIB.ie/GAA.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
