International Rules: A notable figure at many of this year's championship games has been Ireland's new International Rules manager Seán Boylan.

When watching his beloved Meath, Boylan took up an unfamiliar vantage point away from the line in the Páirc Tailteann press box. He popped up again last Sunday in O'Moore Park for Laois's second-half steamroll of Offaly.

The languid movements of twin peaks Pádraic Clancy and Brendan Quigley, who recently returned from the Brisbane Lions, may have impressed him. Tom Kelly also looked like an obvious international call-up, while Ciarán McManus has been competing in the hybrid game for aeons.

But this is all speculation. Boylan has been out and about but has resisted taking a hands-on role until the championship gets pared down to the bare minimum.

A meeting of his management team - Hugh Kenny, Pádraic Joyce (now retired from International Rules), Eoin Liston and Anthony Tohill - gets the process moving next week.

"It's a little too soon, what with the front door, back door, Tommy Murphy Cup and lads in America - you know what I mean?"

Still, the obvious question is what blueprint Boylan intends to adopt. Will he adopt the no-nonsense approach that his Meath teams pioneered in the 1980s and 90s? "I have ideas in my head but I want to see who's available to me and how anxious fellas are to play. I wouldn't be prepared to voice my plans just yet."

If his backroom team is anything to go on, Boylan's tactical approach to the autumnal visit of Australia for Test matches in Croke Park and Pearse Stadium will balance guile with grunt. "Principally, I have been looking to see what sort of form the fellas have been in. How enthusiastic they are and so on. Of course at the back of your head a plan is formulating. From this week on the championship gets serious and we will start getting the panel together."

If Ireland are to match Australia in the physical stakes then the participants in Saturday's Kerry-Armagh showdown at Croke Park is the right place to start the recruitment process.

"Kerry got a little bit of form last weekend. I know people can say (about the opposition) but they had to lift themselves to play Longford. Longford proved their worth by troubling Dublin with their game plan but Kerry got the scores when they needed them. People can say the Kerry defence isn't going well but the greatest carrot in the world would be to play against Armagh, particularly after 2002.

"Also, in a huge change for Kerry, they go in as underdogs, so the aristocrats of the game will bring a sting in the tail. They will make Armagh fight to the pin of their collar."

So a Kerry victory then? Hang on. Calling this game outright could be folly. Seán Boylan doesn't do folly.

"I said before the Ulster final if Armagh can beat Donegal they are some team because I expected Donegal to have done better against them. They were so good on the day you just wonder how they keep doing it. Along with Dublin, Armagh's graph has steadily risen."

Cork v Donegal? Two teams nobody paid much attention to until they started scalping more favoured teams in their respective provinces.

"I was down at Cork's first match in Limerick and they didn't do themselves justice but then they got their tails up for Kerry. The thing about this Cork team is there is a huge appetite.

"Donegal are very tenacious and confident the way they play so they will cause them trouble. For Cork to survive they must ensure their graph also continues to rise. The reliance on James Masters won't be enough. Scores must come from elsewhere. If any man is capable of sorting this problem it's Billy Morgan."

So to sum up, a Kerry versus Cork semi-final, or was that Armagh versus Donegal? Either way the shopping list will be out at Croke Park this Saturday.