He says replacing the All-Ireland quarter-finals with a round robin series is only good news for the more established football counties.
“Seemingly, the word on the street is that it’s going to come in.
“That’s geared towards the stronger counties as well.
“For the likes of Tipperary to beat Kerry once (is a challenge) but the fact that Kerry have two chances to go on somewhere else and get through that way, I think you’re going to see the same teams contesting All-Irelands.”
Moving further away from the knock-out element of the championship is not something Kearns supports. “You’d have to say that Dublin could get caught once but then they’ll go back and they’ll look at everything and then they’ll come back out in two weeks’ time and they’ll play somebody else and they’ll address it and they’ll have a different attitude.
“(Currently,) if your attitude is wrong on the day or your game plan is wrong on the day, you’re going to get done and you’ve no chance to come back.
“But this will change that completely. It’ll mean the strong counties can go away and do their homework and come back better again.
“You’re going to have the same three or four teams in the All-Ireland finals. I mean Tipperary coming from nowhere last year — you’d have to say that’ll be very unlikely to happen anymore.”
- Meanwhile, Cork native Frank Flannery has stepped down as manager of Wexford senior hurling champions Oulart-The-Ballagh after two years in charge.
It is a significant blow to a club that won successive Slaneyside crowns with the Carrigtwohill man at the helm — and a breakthrough Leinster title in 2015.
Flannery, who was recently linked with the Wexford job later filled by Davy Fitzgerald, also stepped down from his role with the Cork senior hurlers in August.