Tadhg Morley: 'We played this year like we never won it'

Having 38 All-Ireland titles to their name, it's perhaps no surprise that Kerry are keen to come back for more, with players Tadhg Morley and Paul Murphy stressing their intent to retain Sam Maguire.

In 2022, the Green and Gold ended an eight-year All-Ireland wait. That's a famine, an eternity in the Kingdom.

Thoughts on winning No 39 weren't from the collective minds even before the days shortened.

At times this year, we wondered about Kerry's well-being, yet there was always a view that they would time their run. There seemed to be no desire to retain their league title; Munster, as usual these days, was won in a canter. On to the round-robin and Mayo proved too sprightly down in Killarney. Wins over Cork and Louth did follow, but Kerry weren't expected to top their group.

Mayo's loss by the banks of the Lee saw them rise to the summit. Onwards to the quarter-final and their best performance of the season against Tyrone. That was emphatic. A fortnight later, Derry caused them more than a few problems; Jack O'Connor's side, on a few occasions teetered on the brink. A strong finish, with a few subs and David Clifford showing the way, saw them over the line.

And now it's the presence of the Dubs in another final on Sunday. For Tadhg Morley, a pivotal presence in the heart of the Kerry defence, thoughts of a successful defence weren't long surfacing after last year's triumph over Galway.

The Templenoe clubman told RTÉ Sport: "We parked the All-Ireland final once we went back training. We obviously celebrated it and were delighted with it last year, the relief that it brought and the satisfaction it gave the Kerry people. Once it was over we drew a line on it and we played this year like we never won it.

"That's the attitude we