Oisin McConville was impressed by both Dublin and Kerry during their first Allianz Football League outings of the season at the weekend.
A young Kerry side just about got the better of Donegal in a thrilling, open encounter at Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday.
While on Saturday, the Dubs overturned a half-time deficit to comfortably see off Kildare at Croke Park – and both performances caught McConville’s eye.
Speaking about the All-Ireland champions Dublin, he said: "They looked imperious again – they looked like a team that’s continuing on from last year.
"They’re only back training a couple of weeks and that’s the most impressive thing. I think the other thing is, a lot of other managers can learn from the Dubs.
"I know they mightn’t have the talent, but there’s a lot to be said for going into the League fresh because there’s a lot of teams that have an awful lot of work done already and players might already be a little jaded.
"Dublin looked fresh, looked up for it, they looked as if they are enjoying their football and, as I said, it looks to be a continuation of last year."
Kerry are defending League champions and manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice gave several young players a chance, including the star of last year’s All-Ireland minor final win over Derry, David Clifford.
"We’ve seen a lot of talent. A lot of the focus has been on David Clifford and that probably takes a bit of the focus off the other players – the Sean O’Sheas and boys like that," said McConville, speaking to RTÉ Sport.
"I was delighted to see Ronan Shanahan back because I think the last game of note he played was last year’s League final. He’d gone off the radar but he seems to be back on it now.
"Defensively it’s where Kerry needs to find players and they looked a bit open yesterday and I’ll take that open all day with Kerry and Donegal because that was a fantastic match.
"There were some great scores in it. Maybe as well as Kerry having a new dawn, Donegal seem to be playing open, attractive football and they also have a lot of young players, albeit some of them in their second year."
