Four things to watch out for...

How Kerry cope without Collins

There was so much going on around that time it was possible to miss the significance of Daniel Collins coming off injured.

To be fair there were just a couple of minutes to go in the second half of extra-time in Por tlaoise and Padraig Boyle would seconds later hit an effor t for a goal off the upright. Still the sight of Collins limping across the pitch after the game should have raised more alarm bells than it did.

It took until Fintan O’Connor’s confirmation earlier this week that he would likely miss the entirety of this campaign due to a grade two tear in his hamstring for its true significance to become apparent and now that it has it’s clearly a huge blow for the Kingdom.

How they manage to cope with it could be the defining thing about this year’s Leinster championship campaign. He seemed to have settled into a really important role for Kerry on the half-back line, but the game with Laois showed his enduring versatility and that value of it to Kerry.

His move to centre-field was the catalyst to turning that Kerry performance around. Will Fintan O’Connor and co have as much latitude to think and change on the fly without the Kilmoyley man?

The battle for the number 1 shirt

It’s probably a more common occurrence for the Kerry footballers than the hurlers for the captain to find himself on the bench.

We’ve had it in recent years guys like Kieran O’Leary and even more established stars like Bryan Sheehan and Kieran Donaghy who weren’t certain of a place on the starting fifteen.

That’s been less of an issue for the hurlers. Strong leaders like Daniel Collins, John Griffin and John Egan demanded inclusion, but this year it seems that Kerry’s captain, Aidan McCabe, might not make the starting fifteen.

And that’s not because he’s unworthy of a place in the starting fifteen. It’s more so to do with the fact that the level of competition seems remarkably strong – Mar tin Stackpoole seems to have wrestled the number one shir t away from his captain and doesn’t look in much mood to give it up.

Which is not to say that McCabe can’t and won’t be able to win it back. Until the team is named we can’t be sure who the outright number 1 is, but the number 1 for the trip to Navan will be the number 1 for the rest of the championship most likely.

O’Leary’s return to boost Kingdom

Kerry long waited for the return of the O’Leary brothers to the fold during the National Hurling League.

Brendan returned to the fold a little before Michael, but the younger brother did play in both of the final two games. In neither game was he as good as he can be, but given his impor tance to the side it was wor th the risk of playing him.

In Por taloise he wasn’t as effective as he’d like to be, but that game will have brought him on in leaps and bounds. Without much hurling under his belt he’s going to be raring to go this weekend. That can only be good for Kerry.

It’s a similar story with Mikey Boyle. The Ballyduff man was rushed back for the relegation play-off and probably played a couple of weeks before he should have done.

He wasn’t at his best that day but still contributed significantly. Having missed much of the league he too will be keen to make up for lost time.

Kerry’s evolving system

When the news came through that Fintan O’Connor was to be appointed Kerry hurling boss people wondered whether we’d see the Waterford system (for the previous three seasons he’d be Derek McGrath’s right hand man) introduced to the Kingdom.

It’d be an exaggeration to say we have but Kerry have been evolving a way of playing the game throughout the National League. Lixnaw’s John Buckley is named on the full-forward line but more often than not drops deep to around the middle third of the pitch to with Jordan Conway and Padraig Boyle playing as a two man inside line. Midfielder Jack Goulding, meanwhile, seems to have a little extra licence to roam as a result. It’s not a rigid system, however, players do seem to have the responsibility to think on their feet.