Éamonn Fitzmaurice: Jim McGuinness, Donegal, and the blueprint for how to beat Kerry

Donegal showed the best way to deal with Kerry's much-vaunted attack is to starve them of possession. You can be sure that anyone else with All-Ireland ambitions will also have sat up and taken notice

SOBERING: Kerry players Tadhg Morley, Dylan Geaney, David Clifford and Seán O'Shea take stock of their comprehensive defeat in the Allianz Football League Division 1 final to Donegal. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

That Croke Park performance and Division 1 final win for Donegal on Sunday was both a statement and an answer - a statement to the possibilities that 2026 holds and an answer to the way 2025 finished.

The hurt from that All-Ireland final loss poured out of them in a very positive way and drove them on with a steely determination. While it won’t disappear, it addresses it for now and fills their bucket of belief for the road ahead.