The next generation: the likes of Paul O'Connor will be looking to build on experience gained last season during the league

IT'S been hard to get that enthused about the start of another national league campaign. It's clearly been difficult for some players too; while last year's campaign opened under lights and fireworks in a majestic stadium, this weekend some of Kerry's finest opted for Florida rather than Killarney to sample a similar NFL experience. For most players, though, and nearly every manager involved in inter-county football, this weekend and this league is a rather big deal.

Brian Cody's autobiography is desperately short on yarns – we counted only two 'didn't-know-that' behind-the-scenes anecdotes relating to his players: the injured Willie O'Connor's refusal to come off at half-time in the 2000 All Ireland final, and JJ Delaney also making little of an injury for fear he'd miss training and lose his place – and even shorter on laughs. It has its merits though, especially when the great man philosophises on how Kilkenny learned and regrouped from their championship defeats to Galway and Cork and why they approach every game, every ball, as if it is the only thing that matters.

"I always tell players that every career starts somewhere," says Cody. "It could be a Walsh Cup game in Freshford, Portlaoise or Birr… So the day you pull on a jersey for the first time is the day you get your opportunity. If you take it, then you decide your future, since a player who keeps performing well won't be dropped. And even if it doesn't work out, it's still the day you were given an opportunity to represent your county. It's an honour that eludes many so those who get it should always treasure the experience."

That is why there's still so much at stake with Dublin-Kerry today. Nineteen of the players listed to start didn't start when the two counties clashed in Croke Park last August, and all 19 want to be starting for their county when the summer comes along.

In Kerry, Paul O'Connor has had sporadic auditions through the years, like when he impressed coming off the bench in last year's All Ireland quarter-final, but now he has the chance to get a run of games.

Barry John Walsh will be thinking that if his brother could make the championship starting line-up before he was 20, then so can he. James O'Donoghue, a slight, skilful footballer in the mould of fellow Killarney man Gooch, impressed in the McGrath Cup and will be hoping to be sprung from the dugout today. All three of them aren't going to start in Croke Park this year but one of them could, and it's days like today when they get that jersey and chance. And even if they don't take it, well, at least they had today, at least they had that honour.

Getting that balance between looking for players and looking for wins is a delicate art. Too many new faces can lead to too many defeats which does no good for the confidence of rookies and veterans alike.

In a recent Gaelic Life column, Jarlath Burns identified the obstacles a newcomer has to encounter in his first few pre-season or national league games: the sense you have to impress from the off, the groan of the crowd when you commit a mistake. "Another circumstance that skews the odds for the rookie is that the team can essentially be a rookie team too, so you're nervous and tense together. At least in the championship you have plenty of experienced men around you, and a system of playing. [Early in the season] these lads have to play well and win the match in an environment where the steadying hand of a veteran is nowhere to be seen."

Cody noted that for all Kilkenny's famed strength in depth, his second 15 couldn't be competitive if they were thrown into the starting line-up en masse (he should maybe send a copy of his book with this page earmarked to Justin). That's why Dublin's line-up today is both a curiosity and a gamble. Despite all the injuries he has to contend with, Pat Gilroy has kept Bernard Brogan, Paul Casey and Bryan Cullen in reserve while a litany of unknowns take on the green and gold. The balance seems wrong.

Kerry, for all their experimentation, have a central spine of Tommy Griffin, Aidan O'Mahony, Seamus Scanlon, Declan O'Sullivan and Kieran Donaghy to ease in the rookies. Contrast that to Dublin's lineup down the middle today: Rory O'Carroll, Cian O'Sullivan, Eamonn Fennell, Michael McAuley and Blaine Kelly. Was this really the day to start the David Henry corner-forward experiment? This Dublin team might not need to win the league but they need to win a couple of games on the road, and today represented a chance for them. Instead they appear to have given themselves an excuse to lose.

Outside the top division, the league will be hugely important and competitive for all teams. Within that top division, it's different. Another Gaelic Life columnist, Brendan Devenney, has argued that for most managers the league is about two things – not winning it and not getting relegated. In many ways he's right, at least about this year's Division One anyway. Jack O'Connor has always liked winning the league but he won't be that pushed this year. Neither will Damian Cassidy, and clearly, neither is Gilroy. The goal for every team will be to get four wins – enough to avoid relegation, and a bonus if it sneaks them into a league final.

This might be the least intense league since 2003 and the advent of Mickey Harte but we see this league working out a lot like that 2003 version. That year Tyrone topped their division; four wins were enough to earn Armagh second, and just three wins enough for Roscommon to be relegated. This year teams will similarly take games off each other.

For Mayo, Derry, Dublin and Monaghan, a good league will be finding a few players and leaders and avoiding relegation. Galway this past decade always had a decent league without winning the thing, and with the impetus Joe Kernan has given them, this might be the year they finally get to show something for that spring consistency. Judging by their line-up, Cork aren't going to tank any games and may well end up in the final. Kerry may even stumble into one.

But for now, put your money on Tyrone who have the right balance between desire and talent and rookies and veterans. They'll be in the final anyway and that's when the real fireworks in this football year will begin.

kshannon@tribune.ie