Furious Kerry intent on slaying their big blue dragon

All-Ireland final day. The mantra coming out of both camps will of course be the obligatory 'it's just another game’. Nonsense. No All-Ireland is ‘just another game’. They are as different as a mock exam to the real deal, a driving lesson to the driving test, a sparring contest to a full-blooded fight.

And certainly this one is far from 'just another game'.

It is a bonafide era-defining game even before the ball is thrown in. It’s the transcendent nature of it. All-Ireland finals echo through our history, remembered in a way that other games aren’t. They are their very own time capsules, where key moments become iconic right before our eyes.

As a player you know that. One voice on your shoulder might try to hide it in a back corner of your mind while pushing the old ‘it’s just another game’ line but on the other shoulder you’ve got the mischief maker trying to distract you with the perilous ‘what if’s’.

What if we are one down and you get put through one on one deep in injury-time? What if I buck it up? Fair enough, by this stage the players have the skills to shut out that type of chat, but the truth is, that scenario is very plausible.

This game will come down to the wire. It will hinge on only a handful of key plays, mistakes or decisions. Like in nature, the pressure will produce the diamonds. Those moments and performances that excite and inspire us and that will stand the test of time.

While open to critique there is also a validity in All-Star teams being skewed towards the teams that make it to the big one. For all the players on Sunday, no matter how well they have played up to now, this season will be remembered for this one performance. It’s under the biggest pressure and against the best opponent. The ultimate no