With the League barely out of the way, we’re already looking forward to the start of the 2021 All Ireland football and hurling championships this weekend and in a special preview show, John Mullane and Dick Clerkin join Will Slattery, Michael Verney, Colm Keys and Frank Roche with their predictions for the summer.

It’s a two-horse race in both the football and hurling our experts are predicting and despite a lot of people tipping Kerry, Dick Clerkin believes Dublin will still have too much for the Kingdom in the home stretch and will make it seven-in-a-row.

But it’s beyond the big two where he thinks most of the interest will lie.
“There's an awful lot to look forward to for a lot of counties in terms of the competitiveness that's there,” he says. “And like there was last year with the Cavan and the Tipperary stories there will be similar stories this year. I'm really looking forward to a lot of those sub-battles and plots throughout the provinces.”

In the hurling, John Mullane and the rest of panel are all going for a Limerick win with Galway pushing them all the way. But history beckons for John Kiely’s men, says Mullane.

“In Limerick the back-to-back has never been done before and I think Kiely and Kinnerk realise they've a special group of players. They're a very well grounded bunch of players and there's a realisation there that they want to win as much as they can when they can, when the going is good and the going is good now at the present moment in time and I think they're going to achieve back-to-back titles.”

Listen and follow the Throw-In on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, with new episodes every Monday throughout the Championship.

For more from the Throw-In, visit the show page at:
www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-throw-in/

The Throw-In’s All Ireland Championship series is in association with Bord Gáis Energy.

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