The teams are named, the long wait is almost over. Tomorrow we’re back in championship action after a five-week gap, making our first appearance in the All-Ireland part of this new competition structure that everyone is still getting their heads around.

While the new format means that, for Round 1 at least, clashes like tomorrow’s one in Clones aren’t do-or-die it’s already clear that every game in this All-Ireland series has a real bite to it, in the way that the group stage matches of the last few years so plainly didn’t.

The biggest change, of course, is that there needs to be a definite outcome from every game, with extra-time and penalties available to make sure this happens. All of the matches played so far in the All-Ireland SFC have been decided in normal time but, as sure as eggs are eggs, sooner or later we’re going to have clashes that will go the extra mile before they’re concluded. Maybe even tomorrow at St Tiernach’s Park.

Tomorrow’s match is a real trip into the unknown for us. We’ve no idea where we’re at and the hatchet that Andy and co. took to the team in the wake of the Roscommon meltdown only adds to this uncertainty about us.

I don’t think it’s a case of wondering if the real Mayo will stand up tomorrow.

We don’t really know who the real Mayo are at this stage, aside from knowing that the team we’re sending out to face Monaghan is the most inexperienced selection that we’ve sent into a meaningful battle in years.

For supporters too, this is a journey into the unfamiliar. Mayo fans are no strangers to Clones, of course, but being there in February, with the town largely deserted as it was for our league match there this year, is a different animal to what it’s going to be like tomorrow.

I first set foot in St Tiernach’s Park back in 1983. I was curious to experience an Ulster final for myself and I wanted to see a game from the vantage point of that enormous bank that rises up behind the open seating across from the main stand.

The crowds thronging the diamond and the walk out of town up the hill to St Tiernach’s Park is one of the great experiences to be savoured as part of the GAA summer. While it won’t be the full-on Ulster final version tomorrow, there should be a great match day atmosphere for Mayo fans to imbibe as they make their way to the ground.

The huge grassy bank that I stood on amidst all those Donegal and Cavan supporters over forty years ago is, of course, long gone, as it’s all been terraced over now. As a terrace, though, it rivals the marvellous one in Killarney and, if the weather is any way decent, which I think may be the case tomorrow, then it’s the only place to be to watch the contest.

That’s where Rob and I are planning on heading to and, once the hostilities have ceased, we’ll be making our way across the pitch to gather the audio we need for the Final Whistle pod. We’ll also have a match report up here on MFT soon after it’s over.

It’s been a busy week on MFT in the lead-in to tomorrow’s game too. Mike’s pod with Colm Keys earlier in the week started our countdown to the game and the pod he did yesterday with Aidan Kilcoyne following the team announcement will help to concentrate minds on the key battles we’re likely to witness tomorrow.

Mike’s been busy across MFT this week as it was his turn to pen a column and that’s well worth a read. So too is Darragh Berry’s latest guest piece, where he provides his take on the Roscommon reversal and the reaction we all want to see tomorrow.

Not long to go now. I know many – myself included – bemoan the rush-rush, hurry-hurry nature of the inter-county season but spending this long sitting on the sidelines isn’t good for the constitution either. Whatever fate has in store for us in Clones tomorrow, it’s definitely time for a return to the fray for us.