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 \u2013 but he just wonders was it too emphatic.<\/p>\n
“In the league final, Donegal clearly corrected some of their issues that they had in the previous year\u2019s All-Ireland final.<\/p>\n
“Two-pointers in the All-Ireland final, Kerry had five, Donegal had none. In the league final, Kerry got one, Donegal got four.<\/p>\n
“In terms of the way they defended, they pressed out, they didn\u2019t allow the Paudie Clifford situation to develop like it developed in the All-Ireland final, even though Paudie wasn\u2019t playing in that league final obviously.<\/p>\n
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“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.<\/p>\n
“They got turnovers that led to goals, which didn\u2019t 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\u2019s 15 kick-outs and got six or seven points off that.”<\/p>\n
“They got a huge amount right in that league final, I did think they showed a lot,” Fitzmaurice added.<\/p>\n
“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\u2019s no reason not to.<\/p>\n
“The thing that\u2019s going to be fascinating for me is what is Kerry\u2019s 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.”<\/p>\n
The loser on Saturday remains alive in the All-Ireland race, but will face a longer path to the business end of things.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s result \u2013 but Fitzmaurice doesn\u2019t expect a peep of such talk to permeate either dressing room.<\/p>\n
“Whether it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“They\u2019re (Kerry) going to be hugely motivated, it\u2019s Killarney, they\u2019re going to want to put on a performance for their home crowd.<\/p>\n
![\"8](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/002465ae-614.jpg\"\/)
\nKerry and Donegal are preparing for a third meeting of the season – this time in Killarney<\/p>\n
“From the Donegal perspective, they\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/a><\/p>\n “They would have been using the few weeks, particularly the three weeks they\u2019ve had since they\u2019ve known they\u2019ve been playing Kerry.<\/p>\n “You can be sure they\u2019ve been fairly zeroed in and they will be coming with everything they have as well.”<\/p>\n Listen to the RT\u00c9 GAA Podcast on the RT\u00c9 Radio Player<\/a>, Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, or wherever you get your podcasts<\/a>, and email us at sportpodcasts@rte.ie<\/p>\n