The Mick O'Dwyer effect rolls into Aughrim this Saturday for the opening O'Byrne Cup match of the season when Carlow, and the Setanta Sports cameras, travel to the picturesque village.
O'Dwyer's presence has helped release the untapped potential of Leinster football minnows in recent years but unravelling the problems of Wicklow football is surely the most challenging task in 11 consecutive years as an intercounty manager.
While the leading club Rathnew have made an impact at national level, the sum of Wicklow's parts has consistently faltered on the intercounty stage.
O'Dwyer has already begun the process that yielded Leinster titles for Kildare and Laois. The formula failed to produce an All- Ireland title, but wherever the wandering Waterville guru goes, the internal bickering, which is a common feature in the Garden County - just as it was in Laois - tends to get forgotten in the initial excitement.
As part of the healing process, O'Dwyer intends to hold a training session at each of the 40 clubs across the county (he's already covered a fair few).
"The interest has been fantastic," said county PRO Seán Napier. "Anything from 150 to 200 people have been turning up at every training session. Mick O'Dwyer said he hopes to get around every club in the county. . . then probably ending up in Aughrim."
O'Dwyer has a reputation for enticing non-natives to join him on his travels - the most high-profile being his son Karl at Kildare and another Kerryman, Billy Sheehan, in Laois.
No names have been released yet, although Wicklow's leading forward in recent years, Rathnew's Tommy Gill, has been present at training. Carlow disposed of Wicklow in last year's championship but with Liam Hayes stepping aside and the O'Dwyer reign gaining momentum, it becomes a different ball game on Saturday.
Having made initial overtures to O'Dwyer, the Carlow County Board settled for Andy Shortall, significantly reducing the hype factor.
Another Kerryman, and O'Dwyer's replacement, Liam Kearns sends out his first competitive Laois team to play Kildare this Sunday in Portarlington. A full list of O'Byrne Cup fixtures takes place with Colm Coyle beginning his tenure as Meath manager against Louth and new Offaly manager Pat Roe welcoming UCD to Tullamore.
The McGrath Cup (Munster) , and FBD League (Connacht) preseason
football competitions also begin this weekend, while in Ulster the
McKenna Cup has a
full list of games with TG4 beginning their live coverage for
2007 with the meeting of Derry and Cavan at Celtic Park.
Donal Keoghan takes charge of Cavan this year with former Armagh
number two Paul Grimley a notable presence in his backroom. Down
and Antrim meet in Downpatrick with Ross Carr and Jody Gormley,
respectively, both cutting their teeth in
intercounty management.
Meanwhile, Dublin are not involved in the O'Byrne Cup until next
Tuesday but the annual Dub Stars game - between a Dublin selection
and the best performers
from last year's county championship - takes place in
Portmarnock on Saturday.
The Leinster champions reconvened for training last night with St Vincent's pair Dermot Connolly and Ger Brennan, along with Barry O'Hanlon from St Patrick's, Palmerstown, the new additions to manager Paul Caffrey's expanded panel.
Connolly, a forward, and centre back Brennan were the stand-out performers in St Vincent's march to the county final last month, where they were beaten by UCD.
Brennan also made a name for himself as a flanker while at
Belvedere College and on
the Dublin minor team that reached the 2003 All-Ireland
final.