By Cian O'Connell

"The big thing is we are able to grind out games," Gavin White says about what the chief difference has been in Kerry's 2022 All-Ireland SFC adventure.

In recent years, harsh and valuabe lessons have been learned so White was thrilled that Kerry were able to finish strongly to defeat Galway 0-20 to 0-16 at Croke Park.

"We said it after the Dublin game two weeks ago maybe once upon a time we might not have got through that game," White added.

"Likewise today we mightn't have got through. We have probably learned that as a group over the last couple of years. We did leave games behind us, we didn't get through them.

"That is a big thing from a players point of view. Mentally upstairs we got a bit tougher on ourselves. Inside in the dressing room everyone is able to call themselves out. That is a big thing. In particular in the Dublin game, we would have lost that game a couple of years ago.

"Today too, we were just able to grind it out, grind it out. It is a credit to our S & C programme with Jason McGahan and all of the lads that in the fourth quarter and over time we are able to push on, and the subs that came on they pushed it on. That is definitely a thing for me - that we are able to grind it out."

White, who suffered a knee injury against Dublin, only returned to training on Tuesday evening. "It was a rocky couple of days after that Dublin game because I wasn't quite sure what the extent of the damage was to the knee," he says.

"Thankfully I was able to get back into training on Tuesday, I had a good session Tuesday. Thankfully it wasn't the cruciate or anything like that so I was fine. I was able to get through the game and training pain free. Thankfully I was able to play on the biggest day of the year."