By Cian O’Connell

Every clash involving Kerry and Dublin evokes memories from the past. It is an enduring rivalry, and Jack O’Connor has his own history in the fixture.

O’Connor, now in his third stint as Kerry senior manager, is fully aware that things can alter quickly in Championship football.

In 2009 Kerry demolished Dublin in an All-Ireland Quarter-Final. It was a statement and signature performance, but within two years Dublin had captured the Sam Maguire Cup. Stephen Cluxton lofted a late free over the bar to fracture Kerry hearts. A decade of blue success followed.

Now 12 years later O’Connor is in charge of Kerry again. His opposite number 12 years ago, Pat Gilroy, is part of Dessie Farrell’s backroom team. There is never any shortage of sub plots.

"We were bitterly disappointed after ’11 obviously losing an agonising final with the last kick of the game,” O’Connor reflects. “A very tough loss for us. But even in my disappointment at the time I acknowledged what an achievement it was by Pat Gilroy to bring that team back from where they were in ’09 to winning two years later.

“It was some achievement. That’s one of the reasons why Pat Gilroy has been brought back into the fold in Dublin, that they are well aware of how big a breakthrough that was in ’11. It was a snowball effect, they went from strength to strength and they became a monster then for the six in a row.”

O’Connor knows about the value and relevance of momentum. "The bottom line is that winning creates an aura around a team and it creates a culture and a sense of invincibility and you win six All-Irelands in a row, and they were tested in a lot of those All-Irelands, they were really tested by Mayo in two or three of those All-Irelands and still they found a way,” he adds.

“That gives you a ferocious confidence, so there’s a confidence about Dublin – I won’t call it arrogance – and an aura about - that can be worth a lot. They have the whole thing with the Hill and the crowd and the atmosphere and all that.

"Look, Kerry haven’t beaten Dublin in an All-Ireland final since 1985, that’s 38 years ago, so we’re well aware of the gigantic task that’s ahead of us.”

In the capital Cluxton, Jack McCaffrey, and Paul Mannion have all returned to the senior fold in 2023. Gilroy is on the line too. At the Kerry press event ahead of the upcoming decider O’Connor is asked about key figures returning to the Dublin set-up.

“Well, whatever about surprised it was a signal of intent,” O’Connor says. “I think I said [last week] that these boys weren’t coming back for the craic. These boys were coming back to win an All-Ireland.

“The likes of Cluxton and those fellas don’t come back after winning eight All-Irelands just to go through motions and say ‘arra we’ll have another go, we’ll tip away from another year’.

“You come back to win another All-Ireland and separate themselves from the pack of the five Kerry boys that won eight and the slew of Dublin boys who have won eight already. They want to stand out not just as the best team of all time, but also to be clearly among the best players of all time.”

Last year’s All-Ireland Semi-Final between the two counties went the distance. Dublin were without the injured Con O’Callaghan and those players who have recently re-joined the panel.

"Someone threw a stat at me that the lads who were missing last year had a combined total of 24 All-Ireland between them, that’s fair experience to be bringing back into the dressing room, isn’t it,” O’Connor adds.

“And God only knows how many All Stars, so it would appear from the outside that Dublin are throwing the kitchen sink at this.

"Obviously those boys still have the hunger and still have the talent. Gilroy is a very respected man in Dublin football circles, and he was the fella who masterminded the breakthrough in ’11 so that tells you they were going to leave no stone unturned on and off the field to get this right.”

O’Connor wouldn’t have it any other way. The planning and plotting always takes place. Immediately after the gripping Derry encounter at the penultimate stage, the focus switched to the July 30 showpiece.

"It is all consuming, certainly this week, but very enjoyable,” O’Connor says. “I tell you, I’d rather be dealing with it than to be up the side of the mountain talking to my dog and regretting things we did and didn’t do last Sunday (against Derry).

“It’s a good kind of tiredness, it’s a great feeling. There’s nothing better than two weeks leading up to a final in Kerry. The county comes alive, there’s just a great buzz, particularly that it’s Dublin, there’s great history between the two teams.”

The present, though, is what concerns O’Connor. At the end of 2022 the Kerry manager ‘parked’ that All-Ireland winning campaign. "I didn’t look on anything from last year since Christmas,” he says.

“I made a conscious decision that last year was parked New Year’s Day because last year is last year and this is a different year, different dynamic, and what happened last year will have very little bearing on what’s going to happen this year.

“We played them in the league last year, but league is league. I mean if you were watching us in the league this year you wouldn’t be saying we’ll be talking to those fellas the week before the All-Ireland.

"The name of the game for us this year was just surviving in the division because we’re realistic enough to know there were teams two months ahead of us preparation-wise.

"It’s no secret that we were later coming back than any team in the country, we didn’t start training until the new year. We didn’t do that deliberately, it was just the logistical fact of the matter that the club season in Kerry went very late, out of necessity, and on top of that we had the holiday then at the end of the year.

“So you’d be hoping that the fact we started later that we’d be hoping that we’re coming into form now and we’re hitting our peak, but, sure, that remains to be seen. I’m sure Dublin tailored their programme to peak around now as well.”

Ultimately, it ensures the next instalment on Sunday will be worth monitoring.