Taking Dublin out of Croker? Of course it makes a difference

Around the 40m line on the open terrace in Tralee, two feet frozen but the heart warming, we ticked off the little tests this new Kerry side were passing, one by one. Work-rate and support? Yes. Gameplan? Yes. Young lads standing up? Absolutely. Decision-making under pressure? Mainly, writes Colm Cooper.

Around the 40m line on the open terrace in Tralee, two feet frozen but the heart warming, we ticked off the little tests this new Kerry side were passing, one by one. Work-rate and support? Yes. Gameplan? Yes. Young lads standing up? Absolutely. Senior players reenergised? Definitely. Decision-making under pressure? Most of the time, writes Colm Cooper.

It was my first time seeing Peter Keane's new regime. Tralee in February is very different from Croke Park in August. And a Dublin side nowhere near full pelt still racked up twenty points. But the intensity, the want and the willingness of the Kerry players to run themselves to a standstill wasn't long firing me and every other local supporter up. We came with plenty of questions and left Austin Stack Park with lots of positives.