Cork’s bench strength can swing it

The proverb “ní neart go cur le chéile” – unity is strength, came to mind when watching Donegal warm up before their quarter-final with Kerry.

I was struck by how Jim McGuinness took part in nearly all the drills and issued his pre-match orders from such close range.

In these days of fitness gurus, runners, maoir uisce, cone bearers, and ballboys, it was refreshing to see McGuinness muck in with his troops and handle the ball in the warm up. Like so many more this time last year, I wasn’t entirely convinced by McGuinness. I thought some of the stuff he got his players to do smacked of gimmickry and pop psychology. The penny dropped in Donegal’s national league game against Kerry. Even though they took a bit of a hiding the same day, it was obvious Donegal were on a steep learning curve that was about to be negotiated with strength and with unity.