Mayo's long break since their early exit from the Connacht Football championship could be a blessing in disguise as the All-Ireland group stage begins, according to former goalkeeper David Clarke.
After a successful Allianz League campaign, Kevin McStay's side lost their provincial opener to Roscommon on 9 April and have had to bide their time since then.
Mayo will begin their group stage campaign against reigning All-Ireland champions Kerry in Killarney on Saturday, with Louth and Cork to come in the following weeks.
Speaking on RTÉ's The Championship podcast, ex-Mayo goalkeeper Clarke said the long break since their last competitive outing could prove beneficial for the panel.
"Mayo have had that break and in many ways, it mightn't be a bad thing," he said.
"I think Kevin McStay came in, set his stall out at the start of the season that he was going after that league, game after game, even FBD early on, strong pre-season, get going and unfortunately they didn't seem to hit the peaks that are needed for championship football.
"But there is a difference between league and championship football. So I can imagine from my past experiences of similar situations with Mayo and Donie Buckley involved, it was tough training there for a number of weeks with that break. That can really set the tone going forward."
Clarke highlighted that McStay's public pronouncements in the lead-up to this weekend had focused on aggression and intent rather than talk of systems and he feels that bodes well.
"That's what fans want to see. There was a feeling against Roscommon (that they) sat back a bit and didn't get to the pitch of the game, so it will be interesting and I'm sure they will bring that this weekend," he said.
All four group winners will advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals under the new format, while teams finishing second and third must negotiate a preliminary quarter-final. But that inaugural structure has had its critics however, although Clarke is not one of them.
"There's a lot of negativity about it, some of the stuff I've been listening to this week, but I'm inclined to take the positive view on it," he said, adding that the Super 8s structure used in 2018 and 2019 did not work well in his view.
"For this weekend alone, there are some really good games. And as much as you can say there's nothing to be gained or really lost by winning or losing, I feel Kerry and Galway are going in there are as top, top seeds.
"There's an opportunity for Mayo and Tyrone to take that top seed away from them. And there is a real prize at the end of this group if you can finish top.
"You're getting that week break going into a quarter-final. So I think there is a prize there for the real top teams.
"Because I know myself a number of years ago we got into the Super 8s, I think we finished second in our group and went straight into playing Dublin a week later. That's not an easy thing.
"That could be potentially for some of the teams that finish second or third in the groups if they have real ambitions of winning an All-Ireland."
For teams that are not realistic contenders, Clarke feels the format could also be helpful in allowing them to progress.
"We need them to get more and more games, that we can potentially six, seven or eight teams who are really competing for an All-Ireland final," he said.
"Once you have that then you have a real competition and every game really matters. At the moment, we've 16 and I can see what they're doing. Hopefully people will stick with this.
"There's really a bigger picture from the GAA if they want to try and bring teams on. Because you won't bring teams on by playing one or two games. They need to play four, five or six championship games and playing for longer in their season."
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Watch a Munster Hurling Championship double-header, Clare v Cork and Tipperary v Limerick, from 1.30pm on Sunday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on the RTÉ News app or RTÉ.ie/Sport or listen to live commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
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