There may be trouble ahead!

The loss of Paul Galvin may prove too much of a handicap for Kerry according to Colm Keys who also suggests that the "thirtysomethings" could still put it up to the best. By Sunday evening Kerry will know, post Paul Galvin, how they stand. The reigning All-Ireland champions have hogged the rail in the race for the 2008 title almost from the moment David Coldrick"s whistle was sounded to confirm their all too easy victory over Cork in last year"s All-Ireland final. By now Galvin"s whipping of Paddy Russell"s notebook from his grasp as the Tipperary referee prepared to issue him with a second yellow card two weeks ago has become chapter and verse for anyone with even a fleeting interest in sport. Galvin"s case is as good as shut now. He has failed to convince a hearing committee and an appeals committee that the six months proposed for the offence was not merited. And with the record of success that the GAA"s appeals committee has for watertight decisions holding their shape at DRA level the Kerry captain has an agonizing six months on the sidelines which could incorporate him missing up to 20 games for club, district, county, province and country in football and hurling. It didn"t and doesn"t matter how many former Kerry (or Meath) greats came out to bat for him and dilute the severity of what he did. Of course there is sympathy for Galvin on a broad scale. Of course the suspension was a little heavy handed. But the climate that governs GAA"s discipline has changed. It was reflected as much in the proposed barring of Cavan club Ballinagh for six months last week from all activity because of the mindless actions of a few of their supporters as it was in Galvin"s moment of madness. By punishing innocent players in this way for something they had no hand, act or part in sends out a cruel, but ultimately powerful message. The GAA is no longer willing to tolerate abuse of officials, regardless of how good, bad or indifferent they may be. Galvin"s case has raised a few issues, firstly the honour of county captain being bestowed on county champions. Is it a good system? Would it ever be applied, or work, in business? It"s doubtful. Very few counties operate the system now, but where it does operate there has been outbreaks of trouble. Managers don"t like captains being foisted on them. Cue Killkenny in 2003 when Charlie Carter couldn"t get his place on the first 15, "Redser" O"Grady series of text messages to "Babs" Keating in the wake of their 2006 Munster hurling final defeat to Cork, the stripping of Seamus Moynihan as Kerry captain prior to the 2001 All-Ireland semi-final with Meath as Dr Crokes insisted on Eoin Brosnan taking over and Tipperary"s demotion of Pa O"Neill prior to the 1988 All-Ireland hurling final against Galway as Nicky English took over. Another question raised by the Galvin affair is why the penalty for "minor physical interference" with a referee is only listed in the Official Guide as minimum three months. Two other allegations of the same offence against a Longford official and a Wicklow under-21 player earlier this year resulted in three-month bans. Galvin, as Kerry captain, has paid the penalty for his celebrity and notoriety. Finally, it appears that the loopholes that once stalked high profile GAA cases are closing. After a few years of turmoil (Ryan McMenamin "05 and Omagh "06) the GAA is winning one battle with its own rulebook. As for Kerry on Sunday there may be trouble ahead. Cork"s record in recent Munster finals is quite good by comparison to their meetings in Croke Park with Kerry. Galvin brings much more to the table than aggression and sacrifice. He is a great ball carrier and can be a deft finisher. Without him and Declan O"Sullivan it"s hard to see them completing three-in-a-row. Diarmuid Murphy (Kerry); Frank Bellew (Armagh), Darren Fay (Meath), Sean Martin Lockhart (Derry); Declan Meehan (Galway), Damien Healy (Westmeath), Anthony Rainbow (Kildare); Darragh O Se (Kerry), Paul McGrane (Armagh); Ciaran Whelan (Dublin), Padraic Joyce (Galway), Brian Dooher (Tyrone); Jason Sherlock (Dublin), Graham Geraghty (Meath), Oisin McConville (Armagh). Would the above team, laid out as it is, be good enough to win an All-Ireland football title? At first glance they appear a competitive match for any prospective champions. Their common denominator is of course that they are all over 30 years of age, in some cases considerably more than 30. The form of Padraic Joyce, Paul McGrane, Jason Sherlock, Martin Flanagan and Damien Healy in particular in league and championship distorts the view that football at the top level is becoming a much younger man"s game. One of the most striking features of the over 30 mark is how many seasoned midfielders are still on the beat. We settled for Darragh O Se and Paul McGrane, the two iconic midfielders of the decade. It meant re-routing Ciaran Whelan to right half-forward, the position where Mickey Whelan sprung him for his championship debut in the 1996 Leinster final against Meath. Sligo"s Eamonn O"Hara has been excluded from the team entirely, but he is in illustrious company with Offaly"s Ciaran McManus, Cavan"s Dermot McCabe and the man most enjoying an Indian summer to his football career, Westmeath"s Martin Flanagan. By comparison, the wear and tear on defenders seems to be higher although 37-year-old Anthony Rainbow is the oldest player to line out in the 2008 championship having made his debut back in 1992. McGrane came into the Armagh team a year later, the same season that Graham Geraghty made his championship bow with Meath although Geraghty was on the bench for Meath"s Leinster championship defeat to Laois in Navan 12 months earlier. They are joint second on the longevity chart with O"Hara and O Se next. Enda McNulty (Armagh), Anthony Lynch (Cork), who just makes it over the 30 mark, James Nallen (Mayo) and Anthony Forde provide the defensive cover with Meath"s Brendan Murphy as replacement goalkeeper to Diarmuid Murphy. Ironically both Murphys are relative fledglings to championship football having only made their debuts in the last four years while Francie Bellew only started to figure on Armagh teams six years ago when Joe Kernan was appointed manager. Up front there is an abundance of quality. Oisin McConville has pledged to retire at the end of this season, Jason Sherlock, now in his 14th season, may opt to do the same. Padraic Joyce is, however, enjoying a renaissance. Remarkably he was only 31 on April Fools Day and is embarking on just his 12th championship. It feels he has been around longer. The depth of the squad of over-30s still involved in the championship is impressive. Meath"s Anthony Moyles, Cavan"s Jason O"Reilly and Donegal"s Brian Roper could all lay claim to attacking positions with McCabe, O"Hara, Flanagan and McManus candidates too. So much so for shortened careers and pressures on inter-county footballers. These men have impressively stood the test of time. And the manager? Who else, but the only septuagenarian in the game - Mick O"Dwyer. * Colm Keys is GAA correspondent with the irish Independent.