The 16th Man

IT’S the dream All-Ireland final, the one the GAA has been waiting for since 1985.

Tickets are to be treasured like rare jewels and if Croke Park held 150,000 people it’d be full when Dublin take on Kerry next Sunday.

With the Premiership back in full swing and the Rugby World Cup up and running Gaelic football could struggle for oxygen. But there’s no danger of anyone ignoring this All-Ireland final.

People talk about the rivalry between these two counties, but in truth that’s based on a brief period, often viewed through rose-tinted glasses, around 30 years ago.

The Dubs, as will be often quoted this week, haven’t beaten the Kingdom since Elvis Presley was alive. They have only played four times in Championship football in the past 25 years, with Kerry winning three and drawing the other.

This final pairing does hold a special mystique though. The most successful county in football history taking on the capital. It’s the classic city-country coming together.

So, what’s going to happen? Well, that’s not an easy one to answer because this is one of the toughest All-Ireland finals to call in recent years.

Without doubt Kerry are worthy favourites. They are the team that has been there and done that.

Most of Jack O’Connor’s team have pocketfuls of All-Ireland medals and many of his men have played in six-plus deciders.

Not a single Dub has ever played on the biggest stage, which is hardly surprising since their last appearance in the Sam Maguire decider was all of 16 years ago.

Dublin will find it easier, a little bit at least, to create space and attack than they did against the massed ranks of Donegal defenders in last month’s All-Ireland semi-final.

But they’ll also be facing a team capable of racking up significantly more than the miserable six points that the Ulster Champions managed in more than 70 minutes of football.

Dublin are set up very differently from the side that bombed against Kerry in the 2009 All-Ireland quarter-final, which ended in a joint-record 17-point defeat, and they don’t look like a team who will be heavily beaten by any team.

So this is setting up to be a tight game. Kerry definitely have the better forwards, but Dublin have a better defence. Midfield might not be an issue given the tactics that are being applied to kick-outs these days.

These are two well-matched sides, but the Kingdom have the better individuals. That looks like being the difference on the day.

AS Sunday’s All-Ireland hurling final proved, big games can be won on the sideline as well as on the pitch.

Kilkenny out-fought Tipperary inside the white lines, but Brian Cody comprehensively out-thought his opposite number Declan Ryan in the dugout.

He set up his team correctly from the start, got his match-ups in defence just right, made the proper switches and had his players prepared to perfection.

With this in mind, there promises to be a fascinating sideline battle of wits in Sunday week’s All-Ireland football final between Dublin and Kerry.

The Kingdom’s Jack O’Connor has repeatedly proven himself to be one of the smartest managers in the business and he has gotten the better of pretty much every one of his contemporaries – bar Tyrone’s Mickey Harte, of course.

His match-winning, season-defining moves have included converting Kieran Donaghy to a full-forward, shifting Declan O’Sullivan to the edge of the square in times of emergency and persuading Mike McCarthy to return from retirement.

This year he has lured Eoin Brosnan back from self-imposed exile while he has reignited Bryan Sheehan’s career by playing him at midfield this season.

Dublin boss Pat Gilroy has yet to win an All-Ireland as a manager, O’Connor has three, and he has learned some harsh lessons on the line.

O’Connor was the first one to expose him in 2009 when the Kingdom beat the Dubs by a joint-record 17-points at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage.

Gilroy is an intelligent man and after that game he went away, decided what was wrong and set about rectifying it.

Last year he came back with a whole new system, based on massed defence and quick counter attacks. It got them as far as the semi-finals and here, against Cork, it was late indiscipline that let them down.

Since then the Boys in Blue have worked tirelessly on their tackling and cutting down on the number of scoreable frees they concede.

Gilroy is regularly in touch with Croke Park looking for feedback, enquiring why referees made certain decisions.

This all shows a keen mind and each of his three campaigns in charge have seen steady progress. 2011 has already seen another step forward – Dublin’s first All-Ireland final appearance in 16 years – but he won’t want to stop here.

O’Connor is the master, having seen and done it all already. Gilroy remains the pupil, but he has learned fast.

Their duel as much as anything that happens on the field will decide the destination of the Sam Magiure on September 18.