Much has been said about the current assembly of Kerry forwards, but "dangerous" is the one recurring theme. As a unit, they leave no room for complacency. Give them an inch, then chances are they'll turn it into a point. And as individuals, any one of them can turn a game without a moment's notice.

Three years ago, Mike Francis Russell did exactly that. As a 19-year-old novice, he entered the All-Ireland semi-final against Cavan at a time when victory hung in the balance, with Kerry struggling to break ahead. Not long after, his goal effectively decided the match, sending Kerry on their way to their first All-Ireland in 11 years.

A few months later, Russell was the unanimous choice for young footballer of the year. Talk of potential went unhindered, and Kerry's long lineage of scoring forwards seemed assured. Yet the road from then to now hasn't been without its problems for the Killorglin youngster, with injuries chief among them. Russell spent most of last year shaking off a knee injury which never quite threatened his future but did force him to reassess certain elements of his game.

This year, he has emerged a stronger, more productive player. Like his colleagues in the forward line, he was running amok by the time of the league semi-final in April, a performance that was dramatically surpassed by the late charge of a still boiling Meath. Entering the championship, his rebirth at right corner forward was now complete, emphasised by consistent and influential displays against both Cork and Clare.

But it has taken some extra effort. Throughout the winter months, Russell's commitment to strength-building was something that greatly impressed Kerry selector and training advisor John O'Keeffe, whose stamp of approval when it comes to strength and fitness isn't given easily.

"I was very pleased with the way Mike wintered, where he put in a lot of strength work," says O'Keeffe. "I think he made a conscious effort to work on his strength, and he spent a lot of time in the gym, especially working on the weights. But that was important for him as a player. He's not the biggest man on the field, but he is a solid player now, much more so than previous years. He was quite determined to show that difference this year."

Still a few months short of 23, Russell was reared on other people's memories of Kerry football. He was just eight years old when a Kerry team last paraded an All-Ireland final in Croke Park before he himself took part in the 1997 success. But no one has ever doubted Russell's talent, one that was recognised from an early stage as among the best Kerry has produced in recent years.

In 1994, he won a minor All-Ireland medal as a 16-year-old and two years later he played a leading role in helping intermediate school Killorglin to All-Ireland colleges' honours for the first time. In the same year, he won an All-Ireland under-21 medal with Kerry - scoring the defining goal - and repeated that feat in 1998 when Kerry defeated a highly rated Laois side in the final.

"I first noticed him in that minor championship and then the colleges' final a few years later," says O'Keeffe. "Along with Pa O'Sullivan, he was clearly a player of great potential from that minor team, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he was drafted into the seniors."

Russell was indeed nurtured into the senior panel in 1997, quietly introduced for all their games in the championship, but no appearance was more significant than that semi-final with Cavan. The sides were level at 0-12 to 1-9 but Kerry battled hard to pull a couple of points clear. On 66 minutes, Maurice Fitzgerald sent through an imaginative ball, leaving Russell in a oneon-one with Cavan's Ciaran Brady. One turn later and Russell had cracked the ball into the net. Before the end, he had added a point for a 1-1 tally.

Kerry surrendered their All-Ireland crown in the 1998 semi-final against Kildare, and a few months later Russell was forced out of football for a number of months. Early in November, he was playing for his club Laune Rangers when he collided with his colleague, Paul Griffin. Russell hastened to visit Dublin specialist Dr Pat O'Neill, where he was relieved to learn that the cruciate ligament in his knee was not damaged. However, he had badly torn the lateral ligament, an injury which put him in a cast for a month and required a sustained period of physiotherapy.

Apart from a hamstring injury picked up during the course of the Sigerson Cup run with Tralee IT earlier that year, it was his first really serious injury. Yet it could have been worse. At the time, many onlookers suspected he had broken his leg.

It was Russell's commitment to the game which helped bring about his steady return to top level football. Current Cavan manager Val Andrews was in charge of the victorious Tralee IT team which featured Russell in 1998, and he recalls a range of qualities which made him so prominent.

"It's hard to know where to start with Mike," he says. "He is totally committed to the game, and I think football is very much central to his life. He puts in an awful lot of work on his own, but as a player he is capable of so much. He's got a great foot, left and right, and of course he has a deadly finish. On top of that, he can be such an elusive player to man-mark.

"But to be honest, 1998 wasn't a great year for him because he was struggling a little bit with a hamstring injury. But I think he has progressed a great deal this year. Some of the points he's been firing in the last couple of games have been exceptional. And he really is the ideal player from a manager's point of view because he is so easy to get along with."

Anyone who has worked with Russell from colleges competition up to senior level will echo those sentiments, but it is the image of Russell out on the field in his own free time, practising spot kicks from across the line, that perhaps strikes the greatest reflection of his qualities.

"In many ways, he is your dream corner forward, a typical poacher," says O'Keeffe. "He's an excellent striker from close range and is very quick on the turn. Plus he can play off both sides, which is a great advantage. And he has terrific pace. Of course a lot of his game will depend on the quality of supply, but he is going very well at the moment."

Among the testers that O'Keeffe has for this Kerry team is the running circuits on a 200 metre sand track in Killarney's Legion club grounds. "That's where a lot of the hard work has been done," he says, "and that's where Mike has been most impressive."

Put him on the hard surface of Croke Park, and he's likely to prove unstoppable.