Offaly Senior Football teams profiled ahead of start of championship

GROUP 1 - TULLAMORE

Manager – Niall Stack;

Selectors – Cathal Daly, Colm Quinn, James Buckley;

Captain – Michael Brazil/Declan Hogan;

Retirements/Long term injuries – Luke Plunkett is gone traveling.

New players – Cillian Bourke;

Last year – County champions;

Star player – John Furlong;

Key players – Cormac Egan, Declan Hogan, Cillian Bourke;

Prospects – History weighs heavily against Tullamore as they haven't managed to retain the title since 1926, when they completed three in a row. They have never retained the Dowling Cup, which was first played for in 1954, and that is an extraordinary blemish on the record of the county's biggest club and population centre. This group of players certainly have the potential to break that duck. Apart from a couple of vastly experienced players, who are crucial to them, they are very much at the right age. Cillian Bourke is now on board, out of minor ranks, and should be a great addition to them. Luke Plunkett is gone to Australia but they have kept the vast majority of their team around. That is something Tullamore have struggled with in the past. They have a conveyor belt of talent, they play their football to a very effective system and have no weak link. You can't trust Tullamore to win the title but they are very much the team to beat and the title favourites.