Joyce McMullin: Jim McGuinness doesn’t need the McKenna Cup to assess Donegal talent

Joyce McMullin says Donegal boss Jim McGuinness does not need the Dr McKenna Cup this season as a tool to give players a chance to make their mark. 

The absence of the pre-season competitions in 2025 follows adjustments made to accommodate a tighter footballing schedule and align with the split-season and respective club scenes throughout the country.  

The McKenna Cup has always been viewed and valued as a softer platform for counties to test experimental lineups, provide game time to fringe players, and integrate younger talent into senior setups.   

The shift to a shorter season led to a pausing of the preparatory competitions but with the Football Review Committee's new set of playing rules subsequently rubber-stamped, some felt that the decision to bench the likes of the McKenna Cup was made in haste and should have been reviewed.  

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However, 1992 All-Ireland winner McMullin – a former teammate of McGuinness's - asserts that the Donegal boss' familiarity with his squad, combined with in-house training and challenge matches, provides him with more than enough time and, indeed, space to evaluate what's at his disposal.  

“I don’t think that the McKenna Cup will be a massive loss in-so-far as the management team needing to take a look at players and giving them a chance,” the 1992 All-Ireland winner told Donegal Live.  

“I don’t know how much learnings the Donegal management teams took out of that competition in the past, but we know from watching that winter football is not pretty.  

“Some people will say it gave young players a chance to show what they can do, but I think Jim has enough of an idea having the guys in-house and training with the team every week.”  

Despite the competitive nature of Division 1 of the NFL and the compact season, McMullin is confident that McGuinness will provide opportunities for emerging players, pointing to Ciaran Moore as the prime example of McGuinness's unparalleled eye for something different.  

“Jim is in his second year with the squad, he knows what he wants, he knows the strengths of his players, and everything he’s learning is coming from lads training, playing in-house matches, and playing challenge games," he said.

“And I have no doubt that he will unearth a few new gems along the way this season as he did in the past. 

“Even though there won’t be much of a chance to blood players in the league because all the games will be so tight, I still think Jim will give a few lads their chance.  

“He'll look at the one or two that he believes will be able to do a job for him, when it really matters, which is the championship.  

“I still think a few lads will come into the team that will compete for places and make the side stronger like Moore did last season.   

“The exciting one for me is Finnbarr Roarty. He’ll be pushing somebody hard for their place and that’s what you need in a big team and that shows that Donegal are in a nice position.”  

Donegal's return to the top flight of the NFL campaign begins away to Kerry on January 26.