When he won his third All-Ireland medal with Tyrone, in 2008, the final was played almost two months later on September 21.

Sunday Game pundit Cavanagh said the reality is that county games are now being run off so quickly that 'you don't even remember a lot of the games'.

Speaking at the launch of this year's AIB-sponsored GOAL Mile challenge, Cavanagh said that getting the best GAA players together again in an 'Avengers Assemble' manner for a revived International Rules series would help to fill some of that void.

"I do think the GAA has scored an own goal, wrapping up the inter-county season so early and leaving that gap," said Cavanagh. "I think back to some of the McKenna Cup games in January this year and there were massive attendances at them. You ask yourself why and the answer is that people were starved of big spectacles.

"It just felt for me this year that we bunged in too many games too close towards the end and because of that, we lost the sense of occasion.

"For me, growing up watching sport, I loved going to those big sort of white-heat knock-out championship games. I can see myself standing and watching Peter Canavan in 1995, Tyrone beat Derry with 13 men and Canavan scored 10 out of 12 points or something outrageous. I go to a lot of games now as a 40-year-old man and I don't come away with those same memories.

"Everything is all about, 'Well, there's always next week' or 'We didn't need to win this week'. You look at the National League (final) this year and Mayo playing Galway. You're sitting there going, 'Well, Mayo are out again in six days' time so they'll probably not even play their strongest team'.

"And you're going, 'What's that about?' We're cramming games in on top of one another and you kind of get hypnotised. You don't even remember a lot of the games that are happening."

Cavanagh said he'd prefer 'less games, a bit more spaced out and with more significance added to them'.

Those who support the split season often claim that club players are getting a better deal now. Cavanagh, who was player/manager with his native Moy this season, doesn't agree.

"My own club this year, we started training in February and we finished up last Sunday week," he said. "There's nothing split about that. We've been training for 10 of the 12 calendar months. 

"The counties have been training for the last month or two as well, so they're training from October through to July or nearly August in some cases. There's nothing split in my eyes about the season.

"We've lost that big occasion and I think the GAA has an onus to try to get that entertainment factor back."

Reinstating the International Rules series would be one way of bringing back some excitement, according to Cavanagh.

"I felt anyway that there was room in the calendar for it and I thought that it was a brilliant thing, even for kids and what not, to see their heroes all come together, Avengers Assemble sort of thing, and play the Aussies," he said.

The International Rules was particularly special for Cavanagh as the trophy is named after his late colleague Cormac McAnallen.

"Yeah, and you know what, I can remember giving very passionate speeches to the players in the changing rooms because it did mean a lot," he said.

*AIB is offering people the chance to win €1,000 for their GAA club by registering for their GOAL Mile by visiting www.goalmile.org and also registering their club for the AIB GAA GOAL Mile competition at www.jotform.com/team/232784181278060/AIBGoalMileCompetition2023