WEEK two in the Big Brother house and things just got a lot more interesting.
A new game, a new dawn in football and we’re getting the hang of it, we think.
Even Kieran McGeeney was upbeat about it all after Armagh’s 1-23 to 0-19 win over Tyrone. Winning helps, all the same.
Aidan Forker, Ethan Rafferty (two!) and Ross McQuillan made hay with two-pointers while Andre Murnin thrived inside with 1-4 from play. Not bad, lads.
Donegal and Dublin served up a cracker in Ballybofey, as the hosts won by four. Daire Ó Baoill’s double from outside the arc was vital in a game that had it all bar a goal.
But the big winner of the weekend was Kerry against Derry at Celtic Park, healing the scars of their awful All-Ireland quarter-final last summer.
The Oak Leaf piled everyone behind the ball and the Kingdom frustratingly had to wear them down for over 70 minutes of torture.
We’d seen so many of these games for far too long, but it was the epitome of why change was so badly needed.
Croke Park lay silent in boredom. Anyone with an old Nokia phone played ‘snake’ and anyone else with a bit of sense hit the road for home.
It was truly awful stuff, but their rematch on Sunday truly banished the dismay we all felt at that 0-15 to 0-10 borefest last June.
Same teams, totally different game. Kerry took the points on their long spin south.
But finally, football was the true winner in one of the most electric national league games in recent memory.
Jack O’Connor’s men prevailed 5-15 to 1-24 in a game you simply could not get enough of. Goals from Donal O’Sullivan and Paul Geaney grabbed the headlines, but this was so much more than that.
Both teams went for it, all guns blazing. No mass defences, never-ending spells of keep-ball or death by hand-passing.
The Kingdom rained goals without David Clifford, and banished the notion that they rely too heavily on hom for scores in one foul swoop.
Conor Geaney netted twice and was one of eight players who got on the scoresheet as both teams showed us all how it’s done.
League form always comes with a word of caution, especially when it comes to the bigger guns.
Derry won the league last year and it counted for nothing when their championship was an all-out disaster.
But Kerry’s intent was hard to ignore in our first proper look at them since their All-Ireland semi-final collapse to Armagh last July.
Derry can feel hard done by, but their own positives were plentiful. This was much, much better than their round 1 flop against Tyrone as old reliables Ethan Doherty, Brendan Rogers, Conor Glass and Shane McGuigan thrived.
BOOK STOPS HERE
Of course, it is not all rosy. Referee David Gough jumped into the diary room and aired his dismay at not having a proper rulebook. You could see his point.
Officials need all the help they can get with the sweeping new laws, and each commandment in writing is the least you would expect.
In fairness, Croke Park chiefs listened – and an updated digital version of the official guide was uploaded to their website on Friday.
Jim McGuinness was next to get his feelings off his chest – and stressed that six substitutes are needed after hamstring hell dominated their 0-20 to 0-16 win over Dublin.
Sky Blues trio Davy Byrne, James Madden and Colm Basquel were all hit with the same injury and McGuinness’ flying defender Peadar Mogan was gassed at the end of the game.
The new rules were always going to increase the workload on players, and the Dubs really fell victim to that at the weekend.
Six subs isn’t a bad shout to give teams an extra option off the bench, but will it suit the big dogs with deeper resources?
Time will tell if it is even considered as a possible tweak when the ongoing assessments are conducted by Jim Gavin and co. behind the glass doors.
His new “Game Intelligence Unit” are already reaming through endless data after the first two rounds.
The first major review is underway. Tweaks will come, and what those are remains to be seen.
Gavin’s next update will be interesting and he usually has a firm response for the doubters – but it is hard not to feel the love so far.
