Jim McGuinness

In his column today Jim McGuinness looks at the deep-rooted reasons why Dublin and Kerry are the standout favourites to lift Sam Maguire in September.

He looks at the importance of practice and how this enables players to stick to a game plan as though it is second nature, and become completely accustomed to and familiar with a particular system of play.

He writes: “The point is that practice is incredibly important and not just any old type of practice but based on a very detailed philosophy, coming from the manager down to the squad, whether that’s Barcelona or an intercounty manager.

“This is a slow and detailed process to get from the point where you sit down and identify what’s important to the stage of implementing systems on the training pitch and then on to execution on the field of play.”

He also alludes to the importance of the culture of the group within high performance teams: “All of these things add up: the philosophy of the game plan and the systems which will deliver that, the culture within the group and a sense of connection.

“The teams that have been paying close attention to these aspects all year will be best placed as we approach the business end of the championship.”

GAA and GPA announce new deal

Elsewhere the GAA and GPA announced a new framework agreement yesterday which will see the player’s body receive EUR6.2 million a year towards welfare and expenses.

Galway races

Swamp Fox took the feature race on the opening day of the Galway races, staying on to win the Connacht Hotel Handicap having been sent off at 16-1. Today’s feature race is the Colm Quinn BMW Mile at 7.20pm, and Brian O’Connor writes that Hasanour can take advantage of a favourable draw to score for Michael Halford at Ballybrit.

What to watch out for:

Racing

Day two of the Galway races at Ballybrit (RTE 2 5.00-7.30pm)

Football

Dundalk travel to take on BATE Borisov in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier (eir Sport 1, 7pm ko)