Jim McGuinness preparing for another decider

"As soon as the game is over, that's all you're thinking about," Jim McGuinness explains about switching focus from Meath to Kerry.

Following Donegal's comprehensive triumph over the Royals, thoughts immediately turned to the All-Ireland SFC Final on July 27. "That's all that you're talking about as coaches, but no, listen, it's the next game ahead of us. That's the reality.

"We've played a lot of games this year, played a lot of games in Division One, played a lot of games in the Championship, and so we know what we're going in against."

McGuinness acknowledges Kerry's tradition, guile, and experience at GAA headquarters on the greatest footballing day of the lot. "It is Kerry's third appearance in four years in the final," McGuinness adds. "They know their way about Croke Park extremely well.

"They know their way about Croke Park on All-Ireland Final day better than anybody else, maybe with the exception of Dublin in the last decade or so, but they were probably contesting most of them finals with them anyway.

"So, the challenge is huge. I think that's the biggest barrier that you have to overcome as a team that's around the periphery, if you like, and I would say ourselves would be in that bracket. Tyrone would be in that bracket. Armagh would be in that bracket. Good teams and good sides, but trying to make a breakthrough."

Steeling the mind for the battles ahead is key according to McGuinness. "We wake up on the 1st of January and you're hoping things will go well and you're hoping you can get momentum and you can build a team and build an energy," he adds.

"Kerry and Dublin wake up on the 1st of January and if they don't win the All-Ireland, they'll be disappointed. So, that mindset is going to be difficult for our lads to overcome because that's what they're going to be facing as soon as the ball's thrown in.

"They're going to be facing fellas that have been there, done that, and know how to do that and have the knowledge and the experience and the tradition to back that up. So, that's probably the first challenge that we'll meet and I think some of that will be played out before the ball is even thrown in."

As a student, McGuinness enjoyed a productive stint with IT Tralee. The Sigerson Cup was always on the agenda, but valuable sporting lessons were learned. "They're trying to play fast," McGuinness says about Kerry's style.

"They're trying to move the ball fast and they're trying to support the ball fast. We do it differently to Kerry, who look to do that through the hand and then through the foot and dink balls, longer balls inside.

"I think they're the best team in the country, to be honest with you, for third man runs. I spent two years down there myself and I've been part of many training sessions from a Kerry point of view.

"I used to laugh sometimes because, when I was starting out with Tralee, and we had a lot of players that played for Kerry and won the All-Ireland in 1997, the year that I arrived, a lot of the drills that we were doing from a handling point of view and a fist pass drill, it was the exact same drill but it was over 40 metres by 50 metres and it was a kick pass drill.

"Everything was sort of a dink ball and third man runs are basically, third man runs are basically, if we talk about our DNA being a running game, third man runs off a kick pass is probably Kerry's DNA. They love to kick the ball and they love to get a natural support runner coming off that that can carry the fight."

It was a rewarding spell for McGuinness. "I have good experience of how they want to play because I was part of that process myself and I was also part of the process of the confidence that they bring to games and bring to finals because I was lucky enough to win two Sigersons down there and there was never any doubt that we were going to win them," he reflects.

"You're going into those games and you're fully believing that you're going to do it. So yeah, it was good to be down there as a student and be part of some brilliant, brilliant teams and experience that."

McGuinness is fully aware of the threat posed by a gifted Kerry attack that features David Clifford. "Myself and Mark Anthony were chatting about it on the way up in the car there and we were talking about the fact that he could be the best player that has ever played the game and time will tell on that I suppose," McGuinness responds.

"You can never make that assertion until somebody hangs up the boots, but certainly he's an exceptional football player.

"He seems to be very driven this year. He's carrying the fight I would almost say with a determination and aggressiveness like an attacking aggressiveness - when he sees a gap he's just really going for that gap.

"Even some of the scorers even in Croke Park - he's not kicking it over, he's firing it over. It's almost he's putting down markers and I think he's leading from the front literally."

The other Kerry attackers are classy operators too. "It's a huge challenge, but obviously there's a number of what you would call marquee forwards in the Kerry team," McGuinness says.

"His brother (Paudie) is obviously in that bracket as well and Seán O'Shea and a lot of many other players that have been incredible servants that know their way around Croke Park.

"So the challenge on that front is absolutely huge but, at the end of the day, all challenges at this level of the competition are going to be huge you're playing in the biggest game of the year and there's going to be nothing easy, there's going to be nothing easy."

McGuinness guided Donegal to All-Ireland glory in 2012, but two years later they were beaten by Kerry in the decider. How did that change McGuinness perspective? "Losing always sharpens the pencil," McGuinness says. "There's nothing better than winning an All-Ireland and there's nothing worse than losing it.

"It's probably the best day of your life and the worst day of your life and that's the reality. I've been on both sides of the fence and I suppose trying to get that message across to the players is very, very important.

"But you have to live those moments as well and it's difficult. When you're 18 or 19 years of age and Anthony Molloy is telling you to make the most of this because it'll fly in, you're thinking, ‘it won't really fly in, I'm in a good place here.’ And all of a sudden you're retired and you haven't got the sense to take the information and use it maximally, if you like.

"So, we'll be imparting that to the players, that it's a brilliant day, but also there's a football game to be played. If you don't win that game, it's tough. Nobody has the right to win any game, but I do think that if you go out and you give it everything you've got and you fall short, at least you've done that.

"I think where regret falls sometimes is if you're coming down the road in the bus and you feel there was a bit left in the tank, I think that's when it becomes really, really hard.

"We know what we're going in against in Kerry and we know they're just brilliant in these situations and they expect to win in these situations.

"Challenging that and battling that will be very, very difficult but we have to give it our best shot to be fair to the work that they've put in all year. If we get that, I think I'll be happy."

The defeat was etched in McGuinness head for a long time. "I would say until I got back involved, I would say there wasn't a day I didn't think about it," McGuinness responds.

"I can remember walking about the hotel after we lost in a daze. I didn't know what happened, didn't know where I was, didn't know what actually had gone wrong there and taking a step back from that and trying to work that out.

"It's very, very painful. You're in a banquet and there's 1,200 people and you don't want to see anybody. That's not a nice place to be.

"All of that factors into it, but I think when you get back on the horse, then you're not thinking about the past, you're thinking about what you need to do.

"You're thinking about moving forward and we have moved forward and we've created this opportunity. As I say, if everything works well and everything goes to plan, the only thing that it guarantees you is to be competitive. That's the only thing that guarantees you.

"If we're competitive in this All-Ireland, I'll be happy. I'll be really, really happy. That's all we're looking for is to go in, show our true colours and be competitive. The focus has to be there."