Peter Canavan says he can't understand why his native Tyrone and Kerry - the last two winners of the Sam Maguire Cup - have been excluded from many All-Ireland conversations.
Canavan himself pointed to Dublin as the most likely winner during a conversation on Wednesday among RTE TV analysts whilst new Division One league champions Mayo have been widely tipped to finally end their Championship famine.
Fellow pundit Lee Keegan played up Division 1 finalists and 2022 All-Ireland runners-up Galway while, at one stage, Canavan jokingly intervened to remind the other panellists that Tyrone were also involved in the competition.
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Speaking afterwards, Canavan said the reality is that Tyrone and Kerry have been totally overlooked.
"We also had a debate last Sunday night and predictions were made, Kerry weren't really mentioned," said Canavan.
"The last two All-Ireland winners, nobody has predicted them to win this year. With Tyrone, I'm not surprised. But with Kerry, I'm very surprised. They have a lot of young and up and coming players and they have the best player in the country playing for them. So it's surprising that they have been under the radar.
"People could be reading too much into Tyrone winning it, celebrating, going on holiday and all the rest of it and not coming back well then.
"Is that why people are writing Kerry off now? It seems to be because by and large they have the same panel of players that they had last year. I certainly wouldn't rule them out. Them and Dublin are still going to have a big say in who wins the All-Ireland."
If Tyrone are to do it again, Canavan's two sons, Darragh and Ruairi, will surely have a significant say in it. Both are prodigious forwards with Ruairi breaking onto the scene this season and making four National League appearances, scoring two important points in the win over Kerry.
"He was tied up with the U-20s so he didn't actually see that much action," said two-time All-Ireland winner Canavan.
"They're going to have to earn their spot on the team. We just hope that we can look forward to a long season."
Meanwhile, Canavan called on the GAA to consider affording National League finalists at least a two-week break before the Championship. Sligo, Mayo and Wicklow all contested finals last weekend yet will return to action within a week.
"The likes of Sligo and Mayo deserve better and the competition deserves better," he said.
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