FORMER CORK football manager Billy Morgan is in favour of scrapping the traditional system of determining All-Ireland semi-finals and drawing the pairings afresh in the wake of the quarter-finals.

"It would add a bit of novelty to the semi-finals and give a sense of unpredictability to quarter-finals," he said, commenting on the prospect of what would be a fifth All-Ireland meeting between Kerry and Cork in eight seasons.

Acknowledging he could be accused of self-interest given Cork's wretched record against their neighbours in All-Ireland matches this decade, Morgan nonetheless maintains the prospect of facing the neighbours yet again - and both are hot favourites to win their quarter-finals against Kildare and Galway - should provide a motivation for Cork.

"The possibility of playing Kerry offers them the opportunity to put things right immediately. A good few of them have good records against Kerry at under-21 level and I think they would see it as something to aim for," he said.

Last year Kerry were crushing winners in the All-Ireland final but all of the other meetings have been in semi-finals.

Morgan was in charge of all but one of those teams (Larry Tompkins was manager in 2002).

He believes the stark statistics at All-Ireland level reflect Kerry's changed attitude to the provincial championship.

"My own opinion is that since the back door came in Kerry aren't overly concerned about winning Munster. It's great to win and it's great to beat Cork but it's not a priority. I remember speaking to a Kerry player last year and he more or less said that to me.

"As you approach the All-Ireland stages Kerry are much more up for it and you could see that at the weekend."

For over a century the GAA has organised its football championship on the basis that the provincial champions rotated, each playing the three others once every three years in All-Ireland semi-finals. Since the introduction of the qualifiers system that rotation has remained unaltered.

It means this year's Leinster champions, Dublin, or the team that beat them were always scheduled to play their Ulster counterparts, Armagh, or their opponents.

The other semi-final brings together Connacht and Munster, which opened up the prospect of Cork-Kerry as soon as the latter were drawn against the Connacht champions, Galway.

Under Morgan's proposal the four quarter-final winners would go into a hat and be drawn into two semi-finals with no pre-ordained pairings.