Darragh Ó Sé

Darragh Ó Sé

Contributor

Darragh Ó Sé won six All-Ireland titles during a glittering career with Kerry. Darragh writes exclusively for The Irish Times every Wednesday.

Darragh Ó Sé: Kerry came to win Sam Maguire, Donegal came to see if they could hang in the fight

The ultimate example came at the start of both halves - Gavin White steamed on to the ball while Donegal players were caught on their heels

Darragh Ó Sé on the Kerry team: Profiling the 15 men bidding to win the Kingdom’s 39th Sam Maguire

As always, much will be expected of David Clifford and his brother Paudie

Darragh Ó Sé: The margins are tight but Kerry have one thing that Donegal don’t

The hurling final gave the players preparing for the football final a warning: do your job or it can all go very badly very quickly

Darragh Ó Sé: Kerry and Donegal are operating at a level above because everyone knows their role

The new rules have suited Joe O’Connor down to the ground and he’s been a revelation in midfield for Kerry

Darragh Ó Sé: Kerry and Donegal have shown a different gear and should be too strong for Tyrone and Meath

All-Ireland quarter-finals clarified the picture and it looks as though the field of likely champions has reduced to two

Darragh Ó Sé: David Clifford and Seán O’Shea showed the leadership that inspired Kerry’s victory over Armagh

Tyrone’s Eoin McElholm also marked himself out as a special talent in a thrilling weekend at GAA headquarters

Darragh Ó Sé: Donegal are right - there’s no way they should have to play on a six-day turnaround

The squeezed season means that player welfare is way down the list behind bums on seats and keeping TV stations happy

Darragh Ó Sé: There’s an air of finality around Kerry after losing to Meath

The problem isn’t the injuries, it’s that so many of the next wave of players are untested at the highest level of football

Darragh Ó Sé: Galway, Dublin and Derry have only themselves to blame for their troubles

All three sides have lacked leaders at times and come Saturday night the summer will be over for one of them

Darragh Ó Sé: Good decision-makers are gold dust – Armagh had Rory Grugan, Dublin missed Con O’Callaghan

There was little between last two All-Ireland champions on Sunday, but Kieran McGeeney had a trump card

Darragh Ó Sé: Rian O’Neill being back for Armagh is good news for everyone, especially Rian O’Neill

I doubt anyone in Kieran McGeeney’s dressing room has an issue with O’Neill’s return – if they do, they better get over it

Darragh Ó Sé: Galway won’t be down after Dubs defeat - now is the time to get battle-hardened

Kerry aren’t getting anything like the tests that the other contenders have faced so far and it could catch them in the end

Darragh Ó Sé: Fatigue could separate football’s contenders from pretenders - and that’s bad news for Kerry and Donegal

Ulster final showed that exhaustion is a huge factor under new rules

Darragh Ó Sé: Donegal and Armagh won’t come up short like Mayo did in their use of the new rules

The two-point arc has been a game changer, with the best teams making hay while others struggle

Darragh Ó Sé: Dublin aren’t dead in the water - a return to Croke Park will make them a huge threat

The new game is all about getting comfortable in chaos and if Dessie Farrell can get everyone fit, the Dubs will have a big say

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