Random theory probably provides the best guide to Saturday's All-Ireland final. Although a big-match replay occasionally throws up a match like the Meath-Mayo replay of four years ago which went much as the drawn match did, the second day is generally governed by different rhythms.

Tom Carr, last night reappointed as Dublin manager for a further two years, has been involved, either as a player or a manager, in all Dublin's seven replays over the past 10 years. His view is that teams must prepare for the replay exactly as they did for the first match, acknowledge the different context and bear in mind that it may well be a totally different game.

"All the hype has drained away for Galway and Kerry," he says. "What's left is purely about the match rather than the occasion. The big thing is to mentally tune themselves to the replay, reproduce the best of their form from the first day on a more consistent basis.

"It's a tough mental task because the course of the game could be totally different. Kerry could get two goals early on or Galway could do well in the first half and come under pressure later. A team has to be aware of improving its performance but be as prepared as on the first day."

There is a thin line to be walked between learning nothing from the draw and cluttering players' heads with ultimately needless data. The physical side of preparation is obviously minimal. A summer's work isn't going to be either improved or lost in the space of 13 days. The biggest challenge, according to Carr is psychological readiness.

"Keeping fellas mentally fresh is the main thing. You hear people saying after a draw: `we've a lot of work to do in the next two weeks'. Bullshit. The big danger is overkill. You mustn't bog players down with endless video analysis and talking for hours in front of a television. That ultimately tires players.

"In these situations you don't have to do a lot. Players know if they've made mistakes. And what costs a team more often than not is silly mistakes. The secret to improvement is not so much doing more of something but doing less. It's easier and more practical to get a team to go out and make less mistakes than it is to tell them to go out and shoot more long-range points."

Both sides are experienced in big-time replays. Kerry drew with Armagh only seven weeks ago and won the replay. Two years ago, Galway's drawn Connacht final against Roscommon went on to be regarded as a watershed in their triumphant season. Thirteen of the players who started that replay were involved in the tie with Kerry nine days ago.

Otherwise the counties haven't too much experience of coming back for a second day. The vast preponderance of blockbuster replays take place in Leinster, a source of great comfort to the provincial council. But there is a large slice of luck involved in the frequency with which the province has been able to stage sell-out replays.

The big three in the province, Dublin, Kildare and Meath have drawn with each other on a total of eight occasions in the last decade. This competitiveness has benefited the province's representatives who have gone 40 years since losing a replay in an All-Ireland fixture (Down beat Offaly in 1960).

Statistically, Kerry have more of a history of drawing All-Irelands. They have failed to settle an All-Ireland on the first day seven times, including ominously the only All-Ireland football final to require two replays, against Kildare in 1903 - not played until 1905 because of general delays rather than those caused by the replays.

On five of those seven occasions Kerry have won the title. Interestingly one of the two defeats was in Galway's only replay, in 1938. That final was, like this year's, the first to be played in front of a new stand and the drawn match was also whistled up without sufficient injury-time but the GAA will hope the resemblance ends there. In the replay the match had to be played out after a crowd invasion triggered by what many took to be the final whistle.

Kerry completed the final minute without a full complement of 15 players but actually managed to score a point before Galway were declared the winners.