Tyrone the tip
There is "baggage" there from the 2003 meeting of the counties in the semi-final but it's not as if this will make them any more highly motivated. And, talk that Kerry need to beat a northern team to prove that they are worthy champions is amusing for a county with such an enviable record of achievement in the championship.
You can forget about the line that's often trotted out, that it will be down to whoever team "wants it the most", as if to suggest that any team would ever be half-hearted about their intentions. Okay, there are issues on the side, but at the end of the day it's no different from any final. A lot of pride is at stake, not to mention the richest prize in Gaelic football.
What makes it so intriguing is that, on the one hand, Kerry beat all-comers with relative ease, while Tyrone were three times taken to replays. Kerry's only real test, readily acknowledged by the management, was against Limerick in the Munster semi-final at the Gaelic Grounds. But, apart from the fact that game was played as far back as June 19, it didn't come near what Jack O'Connor describes as "the sustained intensity" of the Tyrone/Armagh semi-final three weeks ago.
Tyrone won that day in dramatic fashion, with an injury-time point from Peter Canavan. The game was played only eight days after Tyrone defeated Dublin in their quarter-final replay, in what was possibly their best display of the championship. I didn't think that they would triumph - and on the day a draw would have been a fair result - but they surprised me that they were so strong going into the last 20 minutes. And, that's one of the main reasons why I expect them to win their second title tomorrow.
Based on what Kerry have achieved and the personnel in the team, it would be accepted they don't have a weak link. Yet, for all that he has achieved - and he was inspirational as captain last season - Dara Ó Cinnéide's form has been mixed. He was outstanding as a second half substitute against Limerick, but didn't perform in the Munster final. He was left out for the semi-final, but that may have been for tactical reasons in putting in a big man (Bryan Sheehan) on Graham Canty to curb his influence.
Both managers agree that the issue of which team will benefit most from their campaign is the big imponderable. I would go further and apply this to the battle for supremacy between the Tyrone full-back line - not just Ryan McMenamin, who is expected to be the one to mark him - and Colm Cooper. Make no mistake, Cooper's form is central to Kerry's victory prospects.
He has proved this in virtually every big game he has played over the last two years - the goal he "set" up for Eoin Brosnan in Killarney last year and the penalty he won, his brilliant goal in last year's final and another against Mayo in the quarter-final. And, while it was the team's combined strength which overpowered Cork in the last game, his early scores were critical in undermining their surprisingly weak challenge.
Clearly, Mickey Harte will have devoted a lot of attention to planning how Tyrone can lessen his influence by limiting the amount of quality ball that is played into him. It's a tributeto Kerry's outfield play that he rarely has to fight for his possession, (although he is well able to win his ball that way), that it is invariably played into space in front of him.
Kerry will need big-game displays from Eoin Brosnan and Declan O'Sullivan in the central positions, but O'Connor will know that he can depend on the crafty Liam Hassett and the industrious Paul Galvin to supply the inside players on a fairly regular basis.
Different views will be expressed about midfield, but the game has changed so much that neither side can expect to dominate for long periods. However, Kerry will expect to exert a strong control at half-back, especially given that nowadays there are periods in games where Tomas Ó Sé performs like an extra forward.
Tyrone will know that they have to seriously penetrate in the half-forward line if they are to mount a winning challenge. And, we all know just how consistent and how effective Kerry's inside backs have been all through.
To recap, there's no apparent weakness in the Kerry team and if the Tyrone side doesn't have the same "settled" look - because there has been such a movement of players around different positions - it's real strength lies in the cumulative abilities of the starting XV. And, at the time of writing, the suspicion is that Peter Canavan - though selected - will not be one of them, that once more he will be held in reserve as an impact sub.
My preference for Tyrone is based on the battling qualities they have displayed all through their campaign and, of course, the innate ability of their key players and the particular challenge posed by Stephen O'Neill, Sean Cavanagh and Owen Mulligan, in that order. The more I watch Brian Dooher, the more I admire his composite talents.
It's not that I doubt the character of this Kerry team - and certainly not their skill - but I just feel that Tyrone's tougher route to the final better prepares them for victory.
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