Tyrone departures a blow ahead of All-Ireland title defence bid: Peter Canavan column

Tyrone finished the National League on a high.

They found themselves in relegation danger, but when the chips were down they delivered with wins over Mayo and Kerry.

That is one major positive the management can take.

It took them a considerable amount of time to get up to speed at the start of the campaign in terms of fitness. They had just returned from a team holiday, but eventually found their feet.

However, if you look back on where Tyrone were at the start of the National League, we have not come out of the springtime campaign in a stronger position in terms of personnel. Mattie Donnelly was absent through injury, while there have been seven withdrawals from the panel since last September's All-Ireland win.

I was disappointed to hear of Paul Donaghy's departure two weeks ago. He really added to the Red Hands last year, and that follows on from other important players leaving the set-up. Mark Bradley, Tiernan McCann, Ronan O'Neill, Hugh Pat McGeary, Michael Cassidy and Lee Brennan are all serious operators.

If you are ambitious and serious about playing intercounty football, you want to play. You don't want to train and devote your life to be sitting on the bench, and in some cases not even making a playing panel.

This has always been the case for players down through the years. It's how badly do you want it? For the majority of young lads, it's a great honour to represent your county and to put on your county jersey. And the pull of that is still massive in Tyrone, as it is in a lot of other counties.

But you have to be prepared to set a lot of things to the side. And if you're not prepared to do that, you're better off being out. And in some cases, players have had to choose that. But that's where, in a lot of counties there are different set-ups, how well players are looked after. And there's ways and means of keeping them together and keeping them part of the group. That's something that Tyrone are going to have to look at moving forward.

There is no doubt that the departures are a major blow to Tyrone

And it shows you how difficult it is for management teams now to keep a team together. Even a group that is looking to retain Ulster and All-Ireland titles this year.

For intercounty football now, a lot of things have to be right both on and off the pitch, and everybody needs to stay in the one frame of mind.

It has made Tyrone's job of retaining the Sam Maguire Cup more difficult.

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Finishing the league on a high

The league win in Killarney was a boost.

But Tyrone won't be fooling themselves. It wasn't a do-or-die game for the Kingdom.

I could feel that in the terraces. Their supporters weren't up for a must-win game. There wasn't a tension in the stadium, that there has been for previous Kerry-Tyrone games.

Jack O'Connor's side knew they were already through to a National League final, and didn't have to win.

There is an asterisk beside Tyrone's victory. That shouldn't take away from some very good personal performances, and Kerry had a strong team out.

It was important for Tyrone to play well, and they did what they had to do.

A tough path through Ulster

Tyrone start their campaign away to Fermanagh on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.

They will have to play four tough games just to win an Ulster title. Derry await the winners. It could be Monaghan in a semi-final, and potentially Donegal or Armagh in the decider.

That's a difficult path. We could have done without being drawn in the preliminary round.
The Ulster Championship is notoriously difficult to win. Tyrone have it all to do. And personally, I feel it is too big an ask. I can't see Tyrone retaining the Anglo-Celt Cup.

Sky Sports' live GAA coverage gets underway on Saturday, April 16, with exclusive coverage of Wexford vs Galway in the Leinster Hurling Championship, followed by Fermanagh vs Tyrone in the Ulster Football Championship.