We will thrive on big stage

IT'S BEEN a roller-coaster year, but I'm not ready for the long goodbye just yet. The bookies have made Kildare clear underdogs for tomorrow's Leinster final. Thanks to them.

Our lads are unproven, but they are game and ready for anything. They will never have experienced anything like the scale of Croke Park with over 70,000 screaming supporters, but the qualifier back door will allow them some breathing space.

Don't interpret that as defeatist. It just means that Kildare should not crack under the pressure of losing. They can now express themselves. Fear of defeat induces anxiety, but with the safety net of re-entry into the Championship, I'll be surprised if our fellas don't show their best side.

It's been an educational type of year, my 49th Championship season. There has been no real hype around Kildare, either inside the county or nationally. Expectations were low, and I was fearful of Louth in our first outing.

However, the Championship draw had thrown us a lifeline, something to hang onto the opposite side of the draw to our traditional bogey sides, Dublin and Meath.

It was some relief to overcome Louth by a point, similarly Offaly after two games. The players are learning, we are learning. Has the Leinster final come to soon for this Kildare team? Well, has it come too soon for a young Dublin side? We won't know that until tomorrow evening.

It was difficult to envisage what lay in store during the League campaign, although we did unearth one or two lads during the early part of the season. Other things changed too. Because the age profile is significantly different to the side of 1998, we have altered the training regime, making it more ball-based, less lung work. There are other differences, of course. That '98 side that contested the All-Ireland final was a well drilled, well established outfit, with a set pattern of play. This incarnation is very much a work in progress.

My own lad, Karl, is back in from the start. We took something of a gamble in bringing him in against Offaly in the replay. He did well enough but he wasn't fully fit. Tomorrow, Kildare will need his accuracy, both in scoring and distribution of possession. Croke Park is a bigger pitch now, and the more a team loses the ball, the more time it will spend trying to recover it. Therefore, throwing away possession is suicidal against a hungry young team like Dublin.

Manning the centre of our defence will be Damien Hendy, a player recommended to me by Martin McHugh, who was in charge of Sligo IT's Sigerson Cup campaign. On that basis, we threw him in at No 6 in the League against Down and he swam. He is typical of the new wave of Lilywhites, full of belief in his own ability.

Most of this week's publicity has been about the old codger in charge of Kildare and that's perfect if it keeps the players under the parapet. We had a run-out at Croke Park on Monday night, a useful exercise, but nothing can replicate the atmosphere, which will crackle to the sound of 77,000 supporters. Here's hoping Kildare do themselves justice. I firmly believe we will.

Down in Munster, I can see only one winner. And as the field spreads out, I suspect Cork will have a big say in this year's All-Ireland.

The quarter-finals could involve some hit duels. The question, of course, if how much benefit has that been, therefore, to the smaller counties.

I thought the new system was tailored to help the small lads.

A debate for another day.