The free-flowing nature of the Division 1 football league final and the quality both Dublin and Derry produced may indeed be replicated in this year's championship, but most teams will still have a "fairly defensive shape", says Enda McGinley.
Championship 2024 is now up and running, with the concluding act of the league whetting the appetite for hopefully similar fare over the next few months.
In previewing what's to come, McGinley, while predicting that teams will be a little more adventurous in terms of their attacking approach, believes most counties aren't as a cavalier as either Dublin or Derry were in producing the classic they served up on Easter Sunday.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Saturday Sport, the former Tyrone star said: "Given the calibre of the two teams involved [Dublin and Derry], given the way both teams have been developing I think what they produced will be more of an outlier.
"The majority of teams aren't capable of playing football at that level, turnovers will still hurt teams. At times both Derry and Dublin were actually really open; they were a wee bit looser with possession than they would have been in the past.
Another championship season upon us
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"Most teams down the pecking order will still have a fairly defensive shape and most games will follow a similar pattern to what we've become familiar with in the past few years, in that it tends to be quite cagey. When both teams throw off the shackles and you're coming into the last 10 or 15 minutes, the game certainly opens up and you see brilliant games - that was the case in the way Armagh and Donegal finished."
Developing that latter point more, the three-time All-Ireland winner added: "The coaching that has gone into attacking play, breaking down the blanket play, the type of cuts and back-door play that players are capable of doing and the creation of space so that players are capable of going one-on-one, I think there is more courage in teams in terms of how they attack now.
"There is nothing like championship football to tighten things down a wee bit though.
"That said, You can't help but be positive after last week's match and feel that the game is coming out of several years where teams were struggling to move on from the blanket."
Watch Monaghan v Cavan in the Ulster Football Championship on Sunday from 3.15pm on RTÉ2, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to updates from all matches on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Follow a live blog on Kilkenny v Clare in the Allianz Hurling League final on Saturday from 7.15pm on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Follow a live blog on New York v Mayo in the Connacht Football Championship on Sunday from 8pm on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
