John 'Tweek' Griffin: It's important Kerry stay in Joe McDonagh Cup

"It’s important for the group at the start of every year that we’re playing at our level and we’d feel that the Joe McDonagh is our level for the group we have at the moment."

SLIGHT TWEEK: Kerry manager John Griffin giving his players information. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.

John Tweek Griffin is following in the footsteps of Kerry’s previous two senior hurling bosses in Fintan O’Connor and Stephen Molumphy, who since the Joe McDonagh Cup began in 2018, not only kept the Kingdom in the competition but reached three finals, although all three were lost.

So while, for a variety of reasons, Tweek has inherited a much changed squad of players that, based on league positions, are the lowest ranked of the six teams competing this year, how important is it for the former Christy Ring winning captain to keep Kerry in Tier 2?