'As the adrenalin seeps out of the players, the first half hour in the players' lounge is eerily quiet. It's a very strange place to be'

While the fans are scampering for last minute tickets or fuelling the system, GAA headquarters will be fine-tuning itself for the biggest day of the year. Brendan O'Brien got a sneak preview.

SOME time tomorrow between 1.30 and 2pm, the coaches ferrying the Kerry and Tyrone teams will finally snake their way through the rapidly multiplying crowds outside Croke Park.

Both will come to a smooth halt in the cavernous belly of the Hogan Stand, no more than five metres from each dressing room door, before unloading their prized cargo into what will be their last sanctuary before zero hour.