“The Kerry players will absolutely have doubts in their heads.”
This Sunday sees two titans clash as the current All-Ireland champions take on Kerry in a repeat of the 2019 final that was so nail-bitingly close.
Even in a world where structure and order has gone out the window due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you still can’t win an All-Ireland title in the month of May – so just how important is this National League tie?
Colm Parkinson pressed the question on The GAA Hour, asking: “Is this a game that Kerry have to win? They obviously lost in the All-Ireland final to them [Dublin] but they did play them last year in the league and they played a really brilliant game that was a draw.”
Former Dublin All-Ireland winner, Ger Brennan, believes that this game could have a huge impact on which county ends up lifting the Sam Maguire at the end of the season. “If Kerry were to win at the weekend in the league, then I would have to put them down as favourites to win the All-Ireland,” claimed the St Vincent’s man.
“I think they’ll get great confidence from it. Despite the amount of scorers and goals they put away against Galway at the weekend, they will still have doubts in the back of their head that they’re not good enough to beat Dublin.”
Brennan confessed that his own Dublin side had to go through a similar battle with roles reversed, as it once seemed like the men in blue would never get one over The Kingdom side, no matter how well they were performing against different oppositions.
“Until we beat Kerry in the National League down at the Fitzgerald Stadium in 2009 or 2010, that confidence then transfers into the championship,” Brennan continued.
“Yes, there’ll be a few different personnel there, but generally speaking it’s the same team, and if we can beat them down there, then we can beat them in Croke Park.
“The Kerry players will absolutely have doubts in the back of their heads that they will take into the field at the weekend. Psychologically, Dublin will probably have a four or five [point] lead and for me, if Kerry are to win, they’re going to have to win by four or five to get over the line.”
Kerry were in flying form against the dismantled Galway last weekend, while Dublin looked comfortable against Roscommon, but unlike Kerry, the Dubs chose to hold back a few of their star players.
“It depends what team Dessie puts out as well,” said Brennan. “They were after blooding a couple of guys. Kerry went out with a fairly strong team last weekend and played some lovely football, but the championship 15 isn’t the 15 that played against Roscommon.
“It will be interesting to see what Dessie and the lads do and whether they go with their strongest team for that psychological battle, that might come later on in the championship.”
Listen to the full discussion on The GAA Hour now
