Kerry's exhaustion crux: someone will have to take a look at it, says Jack O'Connor

The All-Ireland champions will be down around a dozen potential starters for their League opener and it's not down to their Croke Park run to July

Kerry manager Jack O'Connor: 'You have to give lads time off to recover mentally and physically'. Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

Like handing the captaincy to the county champions, the divisional championships are part of Kerry's football heritage. December's North Kerry final, the battle for the Jack Murphy Cup in South Kerry and the O'Donoghue Cup in East Kerry.

But more and more the sense is that, going forward, they may be won and lost without the Kingdom's star turns.