Maurice Brosnan: Kerry and Tyrone showed football the way. They can do it again

OLD RIVALRIES RENEWED: Tyrone’s Conn Kilpatrick and Diarmuid O'Connor of Kerry.

There are few more enjoyable leisurely hours for the GAA obsessed than a trip down the YouTube rabbit hole. Search greatest scores. Search best passes. Search epic matches. Sit back and enjoy.

Eventually all roads lead to one promised land. A passage in a game that was as good as it gets. A while back during one such mindless venture over old footage I came across the 2008 All-Ireland final in all of its glory.

Throughout there are various iconic moments that stand the test of time. Darragh Ó Sé’s first quarter domination in the air. The drama of Stephen O’Neill’s recall and introduction after 25 minutes. The deployment of the McMahons at the heart of Tyrone’s defence. Brian Dooher’s point.

My word. That ridiculous point.

What a remarkable demonstration of fortitude and drive and all that allowed their current co-manager to redefine the wing forward position. What a colossal disservice to the contest to limit its brilliance to that score rather than the entire play.

It is 107 breathless seconds. Pascal McConnell booms a kickout long and Seamus Scanlon lets it slip. The break finds Ryan Mellon and eventually Brian McGuigan boots a shot into the sky. Sean Cavanagh soars, collects and is blocked down by a full-length Declan O’Sullivan. Now Kerry attack.

Killian Young delivers a sensational kickpass from deep inside his own half to deep inside Tyrone’s to find Colm Cooper. Cooper dinks a pass over the top, again pin perfect. Tommy Walsh is in on goal and is denied by a great save. Cooper collects the rebound but is dispossessed by a vice-like Colin Holmes tackle.

After all of that, Dooher wins possession on his own 65 and carries to the opposite 21. He then slices an outside of the boot wonder score over the bar, into the Hill 16 end.

An insane passage of play. pic.twitter.com/4cV1NXQT9Y

— Maurice Brosnan (@m_brosnan) June 29, 2023

Few plays in Gaelic football history so succinctly display all of the primary skills at such an elite level. The block. The tackle. Fielding and kicking and soloing with the head up. The emerging sophistication is also evident in the support running and swarm tackling.

This is not some rose-tinted nostalgia for a tradition of yesteryear. The 2017 and first half of the 2019 replay belong in the same lofty bracket. Crucially, it settled in a spot that suited all parties perfectly. Where tactical innovation met bravery of spirit. There was still a healthy dose of athleticism and pregame analysis above all else, a balance.

“I was more worried about where the Gooch was than Brian’s score,” says Conor Gormley with a laugh when ask about his memory of it. The defender ended that campaign with his third All-Star.

“I just remember the reaction of the crowd. It started when we turned them over and just built until he put it out. He loved that shot. He did surely. It was nearly a natural thing; I don’t remember him practising them much. He was an amazing player and amazing captain.

Kerry's Kieran Donaghy in a Tyrone jersey.

“The important thing about that skill, he was doing it at a serious pace. All of them were. Under real fatigue but at a high level. He wasn’t going to be stopped. It epitomised what he was about.”

Kerry and Tyrone came as a pair and elevated the game. As winners, they dictated the popular fashion. Kieran Donaghy set a trend just like Dooher did. Marauding forward on and off the field. Mickey Harte’s maiden All-Ireland was secured with help from sports science specialist Paddy Tally. Now he has crossed codes.

“The fitness levels we had allowed us to play a bit more of expansive and a faster game,” says Gormley. “Our teams pushed up that bit higher, trusted each other and understand each other. If play was sent down one side, Dooher would tuck back in and help our defence on the other side. Now teams don’t want to lose. But if they went at it a bit more, the reward is definitely there.”

Collectively they spawned a culture. One underpinned by curiosity and craft and raw ambition.

Jack O’Connor’s admissions about Tyrone’s tackling were outlined in his autobiography and repeatedly brought up ever since. In Kerry they didn’t know how to do it. Not like Tyrone and Armagh did. He had to learn and his confidants, like dual legend Johnny Culloty, had to learn to deal with it.

Tyrone were endlessly learning.

“Mickey used to have us in groups trying to get us to think for ourselves,” recalls Gormley.

“He gave us problems and we had to come up with solutions. That actually transferred to the sessions with Paddy Tally or Fergal McCann, God rest him. Then that led into gameday. These situations arise and we’d find a way to cope. We’d great thinking footballers, like Enda McGinley, Collie Holmes, Kevin Hughes. Intelligent lads who know where to be.”

What those sides inspired was a net positive for Gaelic football. Unlike Jim McGuinness’s system or Dublin’s possession-based approach, even pale imitations still led to enthralling and engaging matches.

Yet when it comes to perception, they are polls apart. General observations decried Harte’s blanket defence and promoted the romanticism of Kerry football. O’Connor’s sense to acquire wisdom from Tyrone is just one in a long list of examples of their arch-pragmatism.

Their last three meetings were all engrossing in their own way. More importantly, they were revealing. Cathal McShane up front almost drove Tyrone to the decider in 2019, but to be champions they needed more supply and a wider spread.

Pádraig McCurry and Conor Meyler were the other two players named in the inside line that day. They drifted back along with Niall Sludden and Peter Harte while Matthew Donnelly was on the 45. Darren McCurry came on for the final five minutes. He started alongside Donnelly and Conor McKenna two years later. McShane was introduced early in the second half and scored 1-3.

That afternoon Kerry realised their dial was turned too far to the other side. They conceded over 30 turnovers which led to 2-9. Galway were only able to force 11 for 0-2 in the 2022 final. Back-to-back triumphs that perfectly reflect an attainable middle ground.

For all the bemoaning of the spectacle so far this season and the pleas for further rule changes, it is worth reflecting on the greatest drive of change the game has, winning. A common defence of a conservative approach is that it is all about getting it done. How much silverware has it actually generated?

Kerry and Tyrone are capable of conquering this year and have the capability to do so with style. They once showed the way. They can do so again.