GAA/National Football League: Ian O'Riordantalks to Donegal manager Brian McIver who explains why he expects a tough campaign

"No Easy Game" will clearly be the theme of this year's Allianz National Football League - and for Donegal's first game against Cork that certainly rings true. As well as the 500-mile round trip it's a rematch of last summer's All-Ireland quarter-final, which saw Cork emerge by a single point.

While the main event of Saturday's opening games may be the meeting of Tyrone and Dublin in Croke Park, things will be every bit as competitive under the lights of Páirc Uí Rinn, where Donegal not only seek some revenge for last summer's championship defeat but also a winning start to what manager Brian McIver sees as a particularly crucial league campaign.

"I think all managers are thinking exactly the same thing at the moment," says McIver, "and that is they're taking the league very seriously, because they really have to. With the change in format coming along next year there's obviously a lot more to fight for, and it also means every team will be looking to finish as high as possible in the end, and preferably make the play-offs.

"But I also think the league results of recent years speak for itself, in that the teams that have done well in it have nearly always gone on and done well in the championship. I think the days of managers saying they just weren't going to take the league seriously, and put everything into their championship preparations, have definitely passed by.

"Every team wants to go out now and win as many games as possible, because that's the best way to prepare for the championship."

The theme of "No Easy Game" will hold up for Donegal and Cork in the coming weeks. After Saturday's game Donegal have Mayo, Dublin, Tyrone and Kerry in that order, before finishing up against Limerick and Fermanagh. And Cork have Kerry and Cork to come in round two and three - which clearly puts a lot of onus on making a winning start.

"You only have to look at our schedule to see there is truly no easy game," agrees McIver. "I actually believe a lot of these games will be played at championship pace, because there is so much at stake. The way I see it, every team in the country is keen to do well in the league, not just because of the format changes coming on.

"I mean Cork are as tough as any team out there at the moment. They've a particularly good record against us under their lights at Páirc Uí Rinn, and of course they ended our championship run last summer. So this is as stiff an opener as we could have asked for and we're certainly going into it expecting a very, very tough game."

There's further guarantee of a competitive edge given both teams have shown good form in recent weeks - with Cork winning the McGrath Cup final over Limerick last Sunday, and Donegal qualifying for the McKenna Cup final after beating Armagh in the semi-final also last Sunday.

McIver is also working off a practically full-strength panel, which includes Brendan Devaney, who rejoined before Christmas. However, Brendan Boyle is on the long-term injury list, and Colm McFadden is unlikely to feature because of injury, but the mood is clearly positive given last Sunday's win over Armagh.

"Well I wouldn't say we've done more than any other team at this stage. We did get back quite early, in November, but that was really just to get everyone on a weights programme but we didn't do any extra pre-season training. And we used our four McKenna Cup matches to try out new players, experiment with a few things, and that's really where we're at now. These first few league games will tell a lot more."

Like all Division One teams, a poor league run could see Donegal end up in the Division Three next year, and while McIver is not contemplating that right now, he does question the need for such a major overhaul after 2007.

"I actually think the league is working very well the way it is right now. I felt the level of interest had been rising quite steadily in recent years, and I didn't see a whole lot wrong with it. But obviously somebody felt it needed a little freshening up."

It used to be that the only teams truly bothered with the league were those actually doing well. Whether the structural changes were necessary or not it's now clear every team takes the league seriously - and nowhere will that be more evident that in the opening round of matches this weekend.