Lee Keegan: Kerry and Dublin more even than ever before

Lee Keegan says that next week's All-Ireland SFC final meeting of Dublin and Kerry is the hardest one to call in their recent rivalry.

After going without a championship victory over the men from the Kingdom between 1977 and 2011, the Blues then went six games unbeaten against Kerry until last year's All-Ireland semi-final loss.

We can now look forward to a 15th ever All-Ireland final meeting between the game's two most successful counties but the dynamic has changed a little bit since last season.

While Kerry are looking to do back-to-back All-Irelands under Jack O'Connor for the first time, Dublin have been able to bring back some experienced players into their squad in an attempt to reclaim Sam Maguire.

For Keegan, who was speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podcast, the return of the likes of Jack McCaffrey, Paul Mannion and Stephen Cluxton makes the Dubs stronger than they were last season.

But the former Mayo defender, who played in four All-Ireland against Dublin during his career, says their returns only acts to even up the scales between the counties, rather than pushing the Dubs to the heights they achieved under former manager Jim Gavin in the last decade.

"I don't think they're at the level that they were," he began.

"That crop of players were just different because they were on such a momentum train.

"They're not far off it. I just find it hard to classify this grade versus the old grade. A lot of new guys have come through and it's very hard to compare.

"We've seen some traits and the band getting back together this year and I think they're back to get that revenge factor.

"When Jim Gavin had that team, their bench then compared to now...you were coming down the stretch against Dublin and you were in the game and you're praying