Never before have we all needed Kerry like we do now
THE great hope is that Kerry make as little fuss about tomorrow’s Munster final as is expected. Without them on the march, and Cork elbowed to one side and into the qualifiers, our summer of football will look ominous and Dublin’s path to their historic third All-Ireland title in-a-row will be in grave danger of becoming a parade. Two of the four threats to Dublin have already hit the dust. And Mayo and Donegal will have enough self-doubt to deal with over the next two months without even thinking of aiming themselves at the reigning champions. Tyrone, the fourth, and a distant fourth at that, will fancy themselves and talk themselves up as usual – which is why we need to see more from them (preferably in Croke Park) before believing their drubbing of Donegal was a statement with real substance to it. That leaves Éamonn Fitzmaurice’s men. They’ve beaten Dublin once already this year in the League final, and they would have made it two defeats if Paul Murphy had not fluffed his lines when the teams met earlier in the League in Tralee. For 2017 to live up to its billing we need Kerry like we have never needed them before. Kerry are the only team out there who genuinely hold no fear of Jim Gavin’s rampaging boys. And with so many teams falling to their knees before them, it’s also looking like Kerry might be the only true test the Dubs will meet this summer. As long as Kerry themselves remain standing.