THE CHAMPIONSHIP begins with football experiencing an odd, existential turbulence.

New president Liam O’Neill must feel like he’s fallen down a rabbit hole such are the disproportion and distortion of the reactions to his comments about the big-ball game. He actually said that just when you worry about it, football throws up cracking matches but that too much emphasis on defence and overuse of the hand pass can make it boring.

O’Neill has since empanelled a committee to review the game and their deliberations will be awaited with interest. He didn’t say football was better in the old days and he didn’t say that intercounty competition had become less interesting but he raised a question about the game as played on all fields and not solely in big-county venues.

The idea that these views in some way let the side down is the most preposterous – as if thousands of people involved with football were perfectly happy with the status quo until he undermined their simple tastes.

In any event as president, Liam O’Neill is a custodian of the game not a fairground huckster. If there is unease at the evolution of the football the sensible thing to do is to review it and find out what the association at large – not just intercounty managers but coaches and players at all levels – wants for the future. If the consensus is that it can’t be improved by rule change, then that’s grand but the future can’t be secured by insisting the present is perfect any more than by asserting that the past was.

In a way the most talked-about team in years has been Jim McGuinness’s Donegal. Not all of the talk has been complimentary and the All-Ireland semi-final against Dublin has passed into legend: the lowest scoring semi-final since playing time was increased from an hour, and beyond that the lowest scoring since 1956. Nonetheless as an exercise in tactical innovation, McGuinness’s game plan has its admirers both inside and outside of Gaelic games.

It gave Donegal their best season in 19 years and if the mass defence wasn’t easy on the eye for disinterested observers, what county is going to reconsider successful tactics in order to entertain neutrals?

It’s also worth bearing in mind that McGuinness was himself disappointed with a semi-final gameplan that was only partly realised. Whereas the team turned over possession they didn’t manage to unleash as many runners through the middle as had been hoped. Add to that the psychological pressure of being increasingly close to an All-Ireland final, which seemed to draw the team back into itself and it can be understood why Donegal wouldn’t wish to be judged on the match, regardless of how close they got to the eventual champions.

Dublin have had to grapple with a problem they’ve been envying for years – how to defend an All-Ireland. To date the indications have been mixed. History is against them. Just one county in 22 years has retained the title. Since 1995 only once have the eventual All-Ireland champions finished as low as fifth in their league table. Dublin can maybe take solace from having achieved that, 17 years ago after being relegated.

It can be argued that counties handle All-Ireland defences in different ways and that only Kerry appear to have the knack of consistently putting in meaningful challenges in league and championship nearly every year. Pat Gilroy’s situation is further complicated by not having been able to field his first team since last September so the degrees between fresh and rusty will only become apparent in the weeks to come.

Leinster will surely come down to a final between the champions and Kildare. Kieran McGeeney’s side are progressing nicely towards the challenge with the Division Two title on the mantelpiece and the serious injuries clearing. They will be a major test of Dublin’s ability to sustain desire.

Kerry enjoyed a good league but Jack O’Connor doesn’t appear entirely convinced that he has the makings of a settled defence, as the old one gradually departs the scene. The attack has however been lively and as well as the familiar big guns, Barry John Keane and Patrick Curtin have had good leagues.

Only once since the current system began have Kerry failed to make the semi-finals and the odds against that happening this year would be long depending of course on injury and suspension.

Cork’s extraordinary consistency took them to a third successive league title and if they can stay at full strength or close to it they’ll be able to address the one issue that has trailed them for a decade – beating Kerry at Croke Park. Conor Counihan has introduced tactical variation during the league but sprightlier movement shouldn’t mean having to play Aidan Walsh out of position.

League runners-up Mayo have beaten Dublin, Kerry and Cork over the past 12 months but you’d suspect that they’ll have their work cut out in Connacht should they meet Alan Mulholland’s reviving Galway. The team also has to demonstrate that they have more than one big shot in their locker in any given year. Defence has become formidable, the jury’s out on centrefield and the attack has lacked variety so there are bridges to cross but, under James Horan, there has been steady improvement.

Although Down came closer than any other county in recent times to winning an All-Ireland out of the blue, the return of Martin Clarke to Australia has removed one of the vital components from the team of two years ago. Even with him on board last year they struggled, without him it’s hard to see them making an impact.

Tyrone carry Ulster hopes and if their prospects were slightly re-evaluated after the Division Two final there’s enough talent from previous All-Ireland wins and know-how on the line to relaunch a challenge but it’s unlikely to be up and running in time for this year.

There is a serious competitive depth to the championship – as four different winners in the past four years demonstrates – but it will be a surprise if one of the three most recent champions doesn’t spoil that sequence. This championship won’t make football’s broader problems go away but it can ensure that we hear less about them in the coming months.