The football curtain-raiser at Croke Park on Sunday brings together two sides that hope reaching a divisional league final will be the start of something even bigger as the Championship progresses.
Cork and Meath have already guaranteed their top-flight league status for 2027.
Silverware, in the shape of the Division 2 trophy, will be handed out on Jones's Road. After that it'll be further preparation for provincial combat, with both looking to contest their respective deciders come May.
On the latest edition of the RTÉ GAA Podcast, Ciarán Whelan assessed where both teams are at and began by underlining the importance of Cork clinching promotion after the victory away to Tyrone last weekend.
"You could definitely see after the game against Tyrone what it really meant to them as a group and they looked like a close-knit group," he said.
Whelan also felt the victory in Omagh was a requirement after the Rebels' previous away-day assignment resulted in a trouncing by Derry, this after an important two points picked up against Meath.
"I saw them the day against Meath in Páirc Uí Rinn and that was a big game they won that day but you still would have questioned them after that in terms of their consistency," remarked the former Dublin midfielder.
"They were going to Derry after that and you were asking yourself: would they deliver? They imploded but I think going up to Tyrone and beating Tyrone, they put that to bed to a certain degree. I think that would have been a massive piece of the chat psychologically afterwards."
Whelan went on to talk about a "good balance" in the Cork squad, highlighting the quality of players they can now bring off the bench.
"They have good forwards and Colm O'Callaghan (above) is flying in the middle of the field.
"They just look like they have moved to the next step - but ultimately championship will tell that," he concluded.
And what of the Royals?
Like Cork, Whelan believes Robbie Brennan's outfit "will have their eyes on bigger prizes and wanting to perform in the All-Ireland series", while also being impressed by the manner in which they kick on from 2025.
"At the start of the year, you were thinking: have Meath overachieved? Form what we've seen so far, you would say no. They are full of confidence," says Whelan.
"Meath have been given licence to express themselves, though sometimes that will lead them to make mistakes. But they will take stuff on, if they see a pass, they'll deliver it to Ruairí Kinsella and Jordan Morris inside.
"Aaron Lynch has done well in midfield and they have solid defence in Ciaran Caulfield, Donal Keogan and Sean Rafferty.
"They have really developed and not forgetting Jack Flynn, and the wonder points he has kicked in the league. A quality side who will give the championship a right rattle
"Meath are looking at the Leinster Championship now and getting into Croke Park this year (for their home league games) was a genius idea. They are very comfortable in there. The buzz is back in Meath and they'll bring a big crowd on Sunday.
"But Meath, ultimately, will want to back up last year; Leinster Championship is their goal."
