National Football League: Whereas Tyrone may be hot favourites for the weekend's NFL final, one man who's seen both teams up close isn't that sure. Pat Holmes, manager of Mayo, saw his side record a good win over Cavan last month and crash to Tyrone in the semi-final two weeks ago.

"I wouldn't think of it as a foregone conclusion," he says. "They're both good football teams with excellent forwards.

Tyrone dominated midfield against us but won't have it as easy against Cavan. It could be a lot closer than people think."

Mayo had to dig in to see off Cavan in Ballinrobe, winning by two points after taking a bombardment in the first half. "Cavan have a good attack and start games very well," according to Holmes. "They always seem to get a goal in the first five or 10 minutes. The question is whether they can tighten up at the back."

If that win represented one of Mayo's better performances in defence of their league title, the manner in which it was relinquished was disappointing.

"They were excellent," says Holmes. "The question is can they repeat that sort of performance. If they can, it's hard to see anyone beating them. But we didn't get out of the blocks at all and it's been a while since that happened. We had been working hard at training but while I'd love to be able to make excuses, they were way sharper."

As winners a year ago, Mayo are well placed to evaluate the advantages of taking the NFL title. "I think it is important for young teams to win something and it was very important for us last year. The fact that we made an impact in the league helped our preparations, gave us matches. But maybe we were that wee bit happier, maybe in a bit of a comfort zone.

Obviously "Everyone wants to do well at this stage and both Cavan and Tyrone are young teams who haven't won a league for a while in one case or at all in Tyrone's."

He doesn't believe that the qualifier system in the championship has affected priorities in the league.

"I don't think that's a factor. What has been brilliant is that matches have been played over eight or nine weeks. The only break was for the Sigerson, which has been tough on the players involved at that level - and maybe the ideal solution would be for the Sigerson to be played in November - but the increase in competitive games has been great for teams."

Tyrone manager Art McRory is enthusiastic about the new calendar-year season whereas his Cavan counterpart Matt Kerrigan is a bit more circumspect. Holmes is more than enthusiastic. "You could never plan anything on the basis of he old system. I think this could even lengthen players' careers. Now you're training three times for each match; before it used to be about seven sessions, which was the wrong ratio."