Donegal may have shown full hand too early

RTÉ GAA analyst Éamonn Fitzmaurice is wondering did Donegal problem solve too well ahead of their Division 1 final hammering of Kerry as the counties prepare for their All-Ireland clash in Killarney on Saturday.

Speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podcast, the former Kingdom boss was nothing but praiseworthy of the way Jim McGuinness' side dismantled Kerry by 13 points having easily come off second best in the 2025 All-Ireland final.

McGuinness faced some rare tactical criticism in the wake of that 2025 final defeat, and Fitzmaurice believes the league final was a response to that – but he just wonders was it too emphatic.

"In the league final, Donegal clearly corrected some of their issues that they had in the previous year’s All-Ireland final.

"Two-pointers in the All-Ireland final, Kerry had five, Donegal had none. In the league final, Kerry got one, Donegal got four.

"In terms of the way they defended, they pressed out, they didn’t allow the Paudie Clifford situation to develop like it developed in the All-Ireland final, even though Paudie wasn’t playing in that league final obviously.

"Last year they would be willing to give up one of the corners when they were defending set attacks; for the league final they used Gavin Mulreany as an extra body in front of the square.

"They got turnovers that led to goals, which didn’t happen in the All-Ireland final, and then obviously the huge one was the kick-outs. In the first half when the game was a game, they won seven out of Kerry’s 15 kick-outs and got six or seven points off that."

"They got a huge amount right in that league final, I did think they showed a lot," Fitzmaurice added.

"So, the next thing is, will they bring the same again? I imagine they will do a lot of the same again because it worked so well and there’s no reason not to.

"The thing that’s going to be fascinating for me is what is Kerry’s answer to that?...I think Kerry are going to be aggressive in how they attack the game because of the nature of that league final defeat."

The loser on Saturday remains alive in the All-Ireland race, but will face a longer path to the business end of things.

As currently the two top-rated teams in the country, expectations are that both will still be involved in the latter stages of the Sam Maguire race no matter this weekend’s result – but Fitzmaurice doesn’t expect a peep of such talk to permeate either dressing room.

"Whether it’s a club game or a schools game, a challenge match certainly at inter-county level, I don't think teams ever look at a safety net until they need it.

"You're going out to play a game, you want to win and for Kerry, the only team that has beaten them this year is Donegal. They beat them twice, they beat them in the league and they hammered them in the league final.

"They’re (Kerry) going to be hugely motivated, it’s Killarney, they’re going to want to put on a performance for their home crowd.

"From the Donegal perspective, they’re obviously going to be disappointed to have been knocked out of the Ulster championship - they always viewed the Ulster championship as a huge part of their season and a huge target.

"It might help them in the long run but, again, they wouldn't have been thinking of that at the time, they were flat out trying to win an Ulster title. They would have been disappointed with that defeat to Down.

"They would have been using the few weeks, particularly the three weeks they’ve had since they’ve known they’ve been playing Kerry.

"You can be sure they’ve been fairly zeroed in and they will be coming with everything they have as well."

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