Éamonn Fitzmaurice: No room for shadow boxing as old rivals step into the ring again

It is 20 years since the memorable Dublin-Kerry championship clashes in 2001 and if we get anything close to that kind of drama tomorrow we will be happy

It is 20 years since the memorable Dublin-Kerry championship clashes in 2001 and if we get anything close to that kind of drama tomorrow we will be happy, writes Eamonn Fitzmaurice

One of the features of this year’s mini-league is that games are taking on some significance already.

Padraic Joyce and Galway need a huge reaction in Salthill tomorrow against Roscommon. Their body language needs to show that they care and that they are deeply wounded from last week’s Tralee annihilation.

If nothing else they have to make contact with the opposition as their socially distant marking against Kerry was baffling and costly.

The football will follow but attitude must come first. I wonder were they trying a new defensive system that worked fine on paper and on the training pitch but not in combat.

Either way, they need to adjust as Roscommon have good forwards. Another defeat and the Joyce project is in a precarious position. Laois and Cork is also a huge game this evening, particularly with the added cost associated with relegation in relation to next year’s championship.

The main game of the weekend, of course, is Sunday’s feature show in Semple Stadium. It is 20 years since those memorable championship clashes in 2001 that I was lucky enough to play in and if we get anything close to that kind of drama tomorrow we will be happy.

There was cautious optimism in Kerry this week. People were delighted with last Saturday’s performance while being equally cognisant of the complete lack of challenge from Galway. Dublin will give Kerry a more accurate measurement of exactly where they are at.

In my experience of playing against Dublin, since Jim Gavin took over, they always raised their game for Kerry. To me, it seemed that they were super-motivated to make sure that they kept Kerry down. They will deny this of course, explaining that they treated every opposition the same but that wasn’t my reality.

I think the players left from the ‘startled earwigs’ performance in 2009, and possibly Gavin himself from his own playing days, were always hugely hungry to make a point and drove the agenda in the squad. I get this. I was the same when facing Tyrone as a manager. Because of the pain they had inflicted on us in the noughties I was always really up for those games. Sometimes the players were looking at me thinking ‘alright relax Éamonn, we always beat them’. That additional motivation should not be underestimated.

I feel Dublin will be the same tomorrow. They will want to puncture Kerry’s enthusiasm before it becomes a monster and Kerry can’t lack motivation. It is a shot to nothing for both teams as the next time they can play is an All-Ireland final. Kerry can’t play in a League decider if they get there as they are playing championship a week later.

This should mean there won’t be any shadow boxing. Both teams will go at it, neither will be too upset with the result but they will look for a performance and will have a decent sense of their current standing after.

Significantly, it is also a chance for Kerry to get a run out in Semple Stadium prior to an expected Munster semi-final against Tipperary there. Many of the younger players, including David Clifford, have never played in the home of hurling and the experience will stand to them down the line.

With regard to the game itself, there are a few areas I will be watching out for.

Dublin will have noticed how Galway stood off Kerry and allowed them to kick the ball up the field at will to forwards in acres of space. Hence a massacre. Dublin will aim to put pressure on the deliveries and will be much tighter and more physical with the Kerry forwards.

I will be keen to see how the Kerry lads react to this. Will they absorb the physicality and keep focus or will they get distracted and bite back and play into the Dublin defenders’ hands? Jonny Cooper is expected back and will try to set the tone. For Kerry, there is a fine line between allowing yourself to be bullied and not getting distracted.

Kerry pressed Bernard Power well last weekend and it paid off handsomely. Will they have the same success against Dublin? Will Dublin overload and catch Kerry open? We first did that real aggressive press in the 2016 All-Ireland semi-final where we pushed 12 players into the opposition half.

Most teams are doing some form of it now, even with goalkeepers like Niall Morgan and Rory Beggan pushing on as kick-out disrupters late in games last weekend.

Significantly many teams are money-balling many aspects of their game-plan, in particular their kick-outs. What are the likely outcomes from their own restarts and which kick out serves them best and translates into a shot at the posts at the other end? Which approach suits best on the opposition kick-out?

Right now the percentages are highly in favour of the aggressive press with the likes of the Jack McCaffrey goal in the 2019 final being an outlier. Teams will stick with the press while this pattern persists and what I am currently really interested in is to see which team comes up with the best innovation to break the press, which in turn will inevitably set up a goal chance at the other end. I have a few ideas around this for another day but will look on with interest over the next few weeks to see what the different teams bring.

The final aspect of tomorrow’s Dublin and Kerry clash I am looking forward to is seeing how the Kerry rearguard copes with the Dublin attack.

To win the All-Ireland the defence has to be solid, mean and united. I saw elements of this last weekend but these elements need to form the central planks of the backs’ identity, week in week out. They will be well tested this weekend.