Times have moved on for the Rebels

Nobody attending Páirc Uí Rinn on Sunday will be expecting a revelation. Cork are a work in progress and will remain so regardless of the result.

Tralee last April taught them how little should be made of this time of year. Their seismic shift in strategy will be a refiner model next time they meet.

This school of thought extends to Kerry’s personnel. Sunday’s win over Dublin showed the growing options in their panel but when Colm Cooper, James O’Donoghue, Marc Ó Sé and Aidan O’Mahony are marked absent as they will be this weekend observers will be robbed of a truer image.