Tomás Quinn: Clouds darken around Dublin and Kerry's old rivalry

Kerry are trying to create situations during games to take Dublin out of their comfort zone, writes Tomás Quinn.

IT has been an interesting week in the long relationship between Kerry and Dublin football. For years, when we talked of the great rivalry between the counties, we also spoke of the respect and friendship between past players, managers, and supporters.

Yet, even before last Sunday’s final round of league results threw up another meeting, to be played in Croke Park this weekend, fresh fuel was poured on the fiery mood.

Former Dublin wing back, Paul Curran, gave an interview in which he took Kerry to task for their tactics in the recent drawn league game in Tralee. His main point was that Kerry had long looked down upon a northern style of football, yet here they were implementing a similar gameplan to get a result.

It has been suggested that Dublin have been responsible for orchestrated messages being sent out in advance of games. But I don’t know if Curran had the foresight to predict today’s final pairing. Or maybe he just felt strongly enough about what he saw that night in Tralee.

Kerry manager, Éamonn Fitzmaurice, felt the need to respond strongly this week, “as a duty to his players”. As Fitzmaurice acknowledged himself, usually he would kick a question like that to touch, but he decided not to let this go and challenged some of the prevailing narratives, in advance of another important game for his team.

As Fitzmaurice said, and like the majority of great sports teams, there is a hard edge to this Dublin team. I don’t see how that could be considered a negative description or how someone from Dublin should have an issue with it. There is a difference between being considered a team with a hard edge and being a dirty team.

For too long, Dublin would have been considered a soft touch by many teams, especially Kerry. I was part of a Dublin squad for a number of years that could not beat Kerry. From 2003-09, we played Kerry nine times in league and championship. Kerry won seven and two were draws. The sequence culminated in that 17-point beating of Dublin in the 2009 All-Ireland quarter-final. After walking away from results like that, it was hard to listen to the stories and tales of the past and what a great rivalry it is, when we hadn’t earned the right, on the pitch, to be considered rivals.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. After five losses to Dublin in a row, Donnchadh Walsh admitted much the same feeling, earlier this week: “It’s only a rivalry if we start beating Dublin.” In 2010, the Dublin squad, under Pat Gilroy, was in a similar place to where this Kerry squad is now. There is a desperate need for Kerry to change what is happening against their old foes, so they are exploring alternative methods.

Kerry experienced something similar with Tyrone, when they trained their sights on the Red Hand county after a poor set of results. The celebrations after Kerry finally beat Tyrone, in the All-Ireland qualifier in Killarney in 2012, showed how much it meant to get the monkey off their backs.

Now, the focus on catching the Dubs is why we are seeing the continued use of Paul Murphy at centre-forward, rather than a traditional, creative forward. It is the reason Jack Barry was detailed to get physical, and direct so much attention towards Brian Fenton, in Tralee, a few weeks ago.

Kerry know that going toe to toe with this Dublin squad, in an open game of football over 75 minutes, is unlikely to be successful. So, they are trying to create situations during games to take Dublin out of their comfort zone.

They need to find a balance. Those Kerry teams of the 00s had a harder edge than our Dublin teams, but they were also a better football team, some days significantly and some days just about. With every defeat, our frustration levels grew. Much of Kerry’s frustration with this current Dublin team stems from having lost so many tight games in the closing stages. It is often remarked that Kerry feel they left the 2011 final behind, that it was Dublin who stole that one from them. This was the starting point of where this rivalry is now, and the leaders and characters in the Dublin dressing room are very keen to keep things on the same path. The leaders in the Kerry dressing room are doing everything in their power to change course.

I have seen the word ‘hate’ thrown around recently in discussion about these teams. Hate is a very strong word. How can you hate a man who is chasing the same dream as you?

Things may have gotten slightly darker in recent weeks, but, hopefully, the football will shine through today.