On this week's episode of The Throw-In, Will Slattery and Michael Verney are joined by John Mullane and Frank Roche to review the latest weekend of Allianz League action.

What was meant to be a hurling-only weekend also ended up featuring three football matches as inclement weather continues to cause havoc with the schedule. Limerick vs Waterford and Galway vs Tipperary were both called off last weekend, which will cause a delay in the hurling league later in the campaign.

On the pitch, Wexford pipped Kilkenny in another dramatic clash between the sides, and Mullane thinks that Davy Fitzgerald's men now have a psychological edge in the rivalry.

Mullane also thinks that Wexford's attacking defenders are transforming the sport, and thinks the Yellow Bellies are still firmly All-Ireland contenders.

In football, the lads assess the state of play in the lower divisions, with the promotion and relegation battles extremely difficult to call in Division Two, Three and Four.

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Referees, umpires, cards and time-keeping all came under the microscope after this weekend’s Allianz Football League games and on this week’s Throw-In, Ciaran Whelan joined Will Slattery and Donnchadh Boyle to go through all the big talking points.

Whelan slammed the Clifford sending off believing it was an easy cop-out to dish out two yellows.

"Let's look at the context of the incident and see would it be the defender instigating this and if it is the defender, let's start punishing the defender and instead of the cop-out of just saying it's handy here to give two yellow cards,” he told Will and Donnchadh.

“It was one of those classic GAA solutions to a classic GAA problem,” said Donnchadh Boyle.  “I suppose at club level you kind of expect to see that sort of stuff and it's probably accepted really at that level but you do expect the county game, for everyone involved, referees, umpires, linesmen to be more sophisticated, to have seen all these tricks before and to call it for what it was.”

The recurring failings of the Kerry defence also came to the fore, while in the Dublin-Monaghan game, timekeeping was a sore point for many from the Ulster side.

For Dessie Farrell, it was a chance to blood young talent and Sean Bugler caught the eye of Whelan whom he likens to a Diarmuid Connolly.

Meanwhile, Galway’s win over Donegal has people asking if Joyce’s Tribesmen are the sleeping giant of 2020? While looking to Division Two, with just two points separating top from bottom it could go right down to the wire in a dogfight in the final weekend.

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Playing with fourteen men, the clash in Castlebar between Mayo and Dublin became a foregone conclusion, but for David Brady, who joined Will Slattery, Michael Verney and John Brennan on this week’s Throw-In, the failings on the scoreboard over long periods of time is still a major cause of concern for his county.

Also looking back on the football action, the panel discussed Kerry’s victory over Galway in Tralee with Padraig Joyce’s Galway a team re-invigorated and Kerry’s backline still looking porous. Plus there was a big win for Monaghan over Tyrone in the all-Ulster derby.

In hurling, John Mullane was on the show with the sin-bin top of the agenda and all agreeing that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

Plus there was also a discussion of the League revamp which has meant the edge and pressure has been taken away from many of the games.

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The Allianz Leagues began with a bang over the weekend and while it’s a new era for Dublin under Dessie Farrell, the rivalry with Kerry is still the one to watch in 2020.

Tomás Ó’Sé joined Will Slattery, Michael Verney and Conor McKeon to look back on the drawn game in Croker as well as all the other football action, including Padraic Joyce’s opening win as Galway manager and Mayo’s draw with Donegal.

However, it was the advanced mark that was generating most of the talking points with Ó’Sé calling for it to be scrapped.

“Why is it being brought in now? Defensive football is not the blight it was,” he tells the panel.

In hurling, John Mullane joined Will, Michael and Conor, and he believes Tipp’s surrender of a ten point lead against Limerick will prove to be a big psychological boost for John Kiely’s men if they meet again in the Championship.

Plus, he sees good things happening for Waterford under Liam Cahill,
“You’re going to see Waterford back challenging and will be able to put it up to anyone on their day,” he says.

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The Throw-In is back for another weekly series covering the Allianz Football and Hurling Leagues.

On this first show, Will Slattery and Michael Verney are joined by the Irish Independent's, Vincent Hogan and Colm Keys, as they preview the 2020 series.

In football, how will Dublin fare in the post-Jim Gavin era, can Kerry start to fulfil their promise, and will Galway be challengers again?

In hurling, can Limerick prove the doubters wrong, will Waterford build under Liam Cahill's guidance, and who can ever write Tipp or Kilkenny off?

Plus, the lads also look back on the heroics of Corofin and Ballyhale in retaining their All Ireland club titles.

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On a special episode of The Throw-In podcast, Will Slattery is joined by Joe Davitt and Sean Potts to discuss The Herald's Decades of the Dubs annual.The book is a collection of The Herald's six-part series on the history of Dublin GAA from the 1950s to Jim Gavin's side completing a historic five in-a-row in 2019.Joe helped produce the annual while Sean was a contributor and both have a wealth of knowledge of Dublin GAA.The annual features in-depth interviews with Dublin legends like Mickey Whelan and Jimmy Keaveney, as well as player diaries from the likes of Alan Brogan and Ciaran Whelan.As well as that, there is an extensive collection of sensational photographs included, some from all the way back in the 1950s.

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The Dubs did it. History was made and Jim Gavin achieved what the games' greats, Mick O'Dwyer and Brian Cody, couldn't do. The promised land of the 5-in-a-row was reached.

For the final Throw-In of the season, Will Slattery and Michael Verney were joined by the Irish Independent's Donnachadh Boyle as well as Tomás Ó'Sé to reflect on the game and the Dubs' wider place in history. Plus, Cork legend, Bríd Stack, was also on the show to look back on the ladies final decider.

"People talk about All Irelands will come for this Kerry team," says Ó'Sé. "But by who and how? The players have to make it happen, it won't just come."

Eoin Murchan gets the Throw-In's final Rising Star award for the Championship with his incredible goal and stand-out performance and just shows how Gavin has been able to consistently renew and change the Dublin team across their five-in-a-row.

"I retired in 2013 and thought this feeling wouldn't be back, but it is," Tomás Ó'Sé tells the panel. "It's just a feeling of being flat and depressed, it's hard to describe."

It was also a double for Dublin GAA with the Ladies team winning their own three-in-a-row with victory over Galway. Despite a record crowd of 55,000+, it wasn't a spectacle to be enjoyed.

Bríd Stack joined the lads with her analysis and believes that the narrow, direct running game on show didn't showcase the best of what Galway and Dublin are about. Does the end justify the means? Three-in-a-row will probably say it does.

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On the latest episode of The Throw-In, Will Slattery and Michael Verney are joined by Donnchadh Boyle of the Irish Independent and Cork legend Brid Stack to look ahead to the All-Ireland football final replay and the ladies football final.

Jim Gavin has some big selection calls to make, chiefly whether to change up his defence after it struggled to contain Kerry's vaunted attack. Youngster Eoin Murchan is one name tipped to come into the side, which could see James McCarthy shift to midfield and Michael Darragh Macauley drop to the bench.

One of the key questions is whether Jonny Cooper marks David Clifford again after picking up two yellow cards in the drawn game.
Donnchadh thinks Cooper will definitely be handed the man-marking job once again, with Gavin showing faith with his defensive general.

In the ladies final, Dublin are huge favourites to beat Galway and complete three in-a-row, and Stack thinks they will be hard beaten.
However, she also says that if Galway play at 100%, a shock could be on the card.

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With Galway winning their first All-Ireland camogie title since 2013, beating Kilkenny 3-14 to 0-17, it wasn’t a result that the Throw-In panel had predicted.

Joining Will Slattery and Michael Verney to look back on the three 2019 camogie finals was Dublin’s Aisling Maher, and Ursula Jacob, Wexford’s former All Star.

Although it was a heart-breaking third final defeat in a row for the Cats – with manager Ann Downey stepping down in the aftermath - It was a great match with two high-performing and high-scoring teams showcasing the best of the sport in front of a record final crowd.

Niamh Kilkenny was at the fulcrum of Galway’s persistence, scoring, setting up scores, standing up and leading from the front.

Plus a special word must also go to Westmeath who claimed their first Intermediate title as well as Kerry for their first Junior camogie title - especially as they have just the one adult club with the players all from the Clanmaurice club.

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It’s a repeat of the 2013 final with Galway v Kilkenny facing off in the 2019 Camogie All Ireland final on Sunday and Dublin’s Aisling Maher and former Kilkenny All Star, Elaine Aylward, joined Will Slattery and Michael Verney on this week’s Throw-In to preview the game.

It’s the best attack (Kilkenny) against the best defence (Galway) and promises to be a tight game with Kilkenny seeking revenge for their League final defeat to Galway earlier in the year.

Kilkenny made amends beating their opponents in the opening group game in Athenry in June and are favourites to pick up their first camogie title since 2016 having suffered two subsequent All Ireland defeats at the hands of Cork.

But, Aisling Maher believes that Galway have that bit more focus and mental strength this year, though whether they can hold out the Kilkenny forwards is another matter.

While both Aisling and Elaine are predicting a Kilkenny victory they are hoping for a flowing, open and skilful game to showcase the best of what the game has to offer on its biggest day of the year.

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