Part one: Your team by team guide to Kildare's Division 1 opponents in the National League

Kildare will be getting their Division 1 National Football League campaign underway next Saturday when they travel to Croke Park for a meeting with Dublin, with the Lilywhites back in the top tier for the first time since 2014.

We've taken a look at all seven teams they will be competing against, and first up are Donegal, Dublin and Galway. Tomorrow we'll bring you the info on the remaining teams.

Donegal

Manager

Declan Bonner

"We have to expand and we have to change the way we play,” was new manager Declan Bonner’s brash assessment of Donegal football in one of his first press briefings. He takes over from Rory Gallagher and has a team packed full of exciting young talent for 2018.

The Kildare view

The Lilywhites face a long trek to the northwest in round four of the league in a game that could prove pivotal to both side’s chances of survival in Division 1. Donegal flattered to deceive for long periods last year, with Rory Gallagher blooding a number of young players following a raft of retirements during the 2016/17 winter.

Quite what we can expect from the Tir Chonaill men is anyone’s guess this year, but they possess plenty of talent to supplement the leadership qualities of the likes of Michael Murphy, Patrick McBrearty and Neil McGee.

Main man

Odhran McNiallais

McNiallais returned to the Donegal setup over the winter after taking a year out of the intercounty game, and he will be a massive boost for Donegal. Before his temporary departure he had become one of the best players in the country at scoring from deep positions.

One to watch

Nathan Mullins

Mullins has been a star of the hugely successful St Vincent’s side in Dublin, but he has never been able to establish himself on the Metropolitans’ panel. He chose to link up with the county of his birth this winter, and he could prove a vital asset to the 2012 All-Ireland champions.

League odds: 12/1

Dublin

Jim Gavin

A pilot in his day job, Gavin has helped the Dubs fly high ever since taking over for the 2013 season and is currently on course to be one of the greatest Gaelic football managers of all time, capturing four All-Ireland titles in five years at the helm of Dublin football.

You couldn’t ask for a much more difficult proposition on your return to Division 1 football, but if ever there is a good time to play Dublin – and there rarely is – it is in the opening game of the league. Kildare travel to Croke Park on Saturday week to raise the curtain on the National League for 2018 with a glamour tie against the three-in-a-row All-Ireland champions.

The most recent meeting between the two sides was somewhat encouraging for Kildare, even if they did lost by nine points in the end. They showed in last year’s Leinster final that the talent is there to at least bloody the nose of the champions, but perhaps the temperament and experience isn’t. That is why a meeting on the last weekend in January offers a glimmer of hope. Dublin’s first string once again took a leave of absence from the O’Byrne Cup as they enjoyed a well-deserved holiday, so there is a chance they will have a mixture of inexperienced youngsters and undercooked established players.

Even with that blend, they will be massive favourites and any defeat inflicted by Kildare would be a huge upset.

Brian Fenton

With Con O’Callaghan still involved in the club hurling championship and some of the elder statesmen of the team likely to play less minutes in the league, the marauding Raheny man will be pivotal for Dublin once again.

Brian Howard

A clubmate of Fenton in Raheny, 2017 U21 All-Ireland winning star Howard is a highly rated young footballer. Diarmuid Connolly recently stated that he was surprised that the half-back wasn’t involved quite so much in 2017, but 2018 could be his year.

League odds: 5/6

Galway

Kevin Walsh

It is impossible to tell what the Division 1 landscape will look like when the Tribesmen rock up to Newbridge on March 25 for the final league game, but, on paper at least, Galway are one of the more beatable teams in the division and if Kildare need a result they would fancy their chances.

That would go against last year’s form however. The Lilywhites sent out a second string in a dead rubber in Salthill last year in the final round of the league and lost narrowly, before they fell to the same opponents the following week in the league final.

Galway are similar to Kildare in many ways – they are building from a relative low with a vibrant, young and attacking side. The two frontrunners for relegation, let’s hope this isn’t a dead rubber once again between the sides.

Shane Walsh

With all the talent in the world, Walsh has somewhat flattered to deceive in a Galway jersey thus far in his career. He was superb for the Irish International Rules team in Australia last November, and he could be primed for a more influential role in 2018 for his county.

Sean Mulkerrin

There is a feeling that Kevin Walsh will try and stop himself from throwing too many youngsters into the Division 1 cauldron, but 18-year-old defender Sean Mulkerrin could be the exception. He captain the Galway minors last year and is highly thought of.

League odds: 25/1