It needs to be a big summer ahead for...

David Moran

The Strand Road man is, on his day, a thoroughbred, a devastatingly effective performer in the middle third of the pitch.

Nobody who was in the Gaelic Grounds in 2014 to witness his towering performance against Mayo will soon forget it. After several high profile injuries over the years, that day in Limerick marked his coming out par ty. He’d finally arrived as the player he always had the potential to be.

Moran maintained a high level of performance for a number of seasons since then, but in 2017 he never quite seemed to get going. An injury sustained in the build up to the Clare game in Ennis – he was replaced last minute by Anthony Maher – seemed to take from his game for the rest of the season (he had been Kerry’s best performer in their triumphant National League campaign before that).

Closing in on his thir tieth bir thday Moran will be keen to get back to his best and to put those injury niggles, which have effected him in the last twelve months, behind him (he did miss an early club championship match in April unfor tunately). A fully fit Moran playing at near his best would be a huge asset for Kerry.

Seán O’Shea

In a way there shouldn’t be that much pressure on the young Kenmare man and, yet, Kerry being Kerry and the level of expectation being what it is on the Kerry team (and even on him as an individual) this stands to be a big summer for Seán O’Shea.

On Sunday afternoon he’ll almost certainly (an injury is about the only thing that could stop him making the starting fifteen we’d suggest) make his championship debut – a huge moment in any inter-county footballer’s career.

How he performs on Sunday – or even how he performs over the season as a whole – won’t be make or break for his career, he’s got a brilliant future ahead of him regardless, but O’Shea does seem the type of player who’ll adapt to the senior inter-county game with relative ease.

If he can maintain the kind of form he showed in the league, he should be a key player for the Kingdom straight away.

Kieran Donaghy

With the man they call Star never say never. Our suspicion is that this season will mark his last hurrah with the Kerry senior footballers, but we suspected similar things in the past too and the Austin Stacks man proved us wrong.

You do get the sense that he’d like to go out on a high and were Kerry to win this year’s All Ireland he’d more happily walk away. Given all we’ve seen from him over the years you wouldn’t put it past him to perform in such a way as to have his wish granted. He has a flair for the dramatic and the spectacular.

Obviously it’s somewhat unlikely he’ll be a star ter on a regular basis this summer – then again, as we’ve already said, if anybody is going to prove us wrong it’s Donaghy – so whatever impact he does make will probably be off the bench.

It wouldn’t be a new experience for him either. Remember how he turned Kerry’s season around in 2014 with an intervention off the bench against Mayo? History has a way of repeating itself don’t forget.

Jason Foley

It’s not really ideal that so much pressure and so much expectation is being placed upon the shoulders of a 21-year old footballer to solve what’s been a problem position for the Kingdom for the best par t of ten years, but, hey, nobody said life was fair and probably the last person to complain about that is a teak tough defender from North Kerry.

Ballydonoghue man Jason Foley – judging by what we saw in the league – looks set to be handed the number three jersey for the championship summer. That’s a big responsibility.

There were times during the league when he showed real promise in the position and others when he was given a bit of a run around – against Kildare’s Daniel Flynn – and that’s perfectly normal and acceptable for a young player.

It’s by doing that you learn and, yet, championship is a different kettle of fish entirely. Where people give a young player the benefit of the doubt in league they’re likely to be more critical come championship.

How Foley performs and how he copes with all that will be most interesting.

Shane Murphy

In his early performances in the national league Murphy was slightly subdued compared to how he plays with Dr Crokes. It was clear he was just trying to find his footing, do the simple things right and not make any mistakes during the early phase of his inter-county career.

It was a most sensible approach to take, even if for those who championed his elevation to the team hoping to see more of those spectacular kick-outs, which could revolutionise how Kerry go about their business, it may have been a little underwhelming.

Murphy knew better and by the time he got to the mid-point of the campaign – the game against Dublin in Croke Park was a big turning point – he looked increasingly like the player we see in black and amber. Bit by bit he’s getting comfortable in himself and in his role with Kerry.

Those brilliant kick-outs of his, those ones that skip the midfield entirely and pick out a runner on the half-forward line should be a real weapon for the Kingdom in the big games when space and time is at a premium. They could provide the x-factor Kerry have needed at times against the Dubs.